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Uhuru promotes Kipchoge running shoes at Safari Rally event


President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday, June 25, 2021, turned up in style to flag off the World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari Rally in Nairobi.

The international sporting event was making a comeback to the Kenyan capital after two decades and President Kenyatta, who never shies away from showing his fashion style, chose to wear black Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37, a shoe designed by world Marathon holder Eliud Kipchoge.

The shoe boasts a thick sole that is white and a shade of Green at the front completing the colours on the Kenyan flag.

The shoes also feature the runner’s initials and 1:59:40 – a record time the Kenyan athlete ran in Vienna to become the first man to run the marathon in under two hours.

The Kipchoge line was released by Nike in November 2020 and features four different types of shoes.

The Nike Air Zoom 37 Eliud Kipchoge Running Shoe comes with different shoes for men and women.

This is also the case for Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% Eliud Kipchoge Men’s Racing shoe which Kipchoge, the world’s faster marathoner, wore in the 2020 London Marathon.

The Nike Air Zoom 37 Eliud Kipchoge Running Shoe is not available in black on any online store leading to speculation that President Uhuru’s pair was custom made.

The men’s running shoe is out of stock at the moment while the women’s equivalent retails at between Sh10,500 Sh30,000.

When speaking to Runner’s World in October about what the Kenyan colourway meant to him, Kipchoge said, “It’s really crucial. It’s really important to me to wear a shoe on Sunday which has Kenyan colours. I believe I represent Kenya around the clock and this shoe can do the same. People can wear the flag all around the world. That’s how people can become one.”

Kenyatta, who is also the patron of the Safari Rally, was joined by FIA president Jean Todt, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, and the WRC Safari Rally CEO Phineas Kimathi for the ceremonial flag off.

This marked a 19-year wait for the WRC event to return to the country and will have 58 crews.