Prince William Joins Eliud Kipchoge for Historic Kenyan Marathon [VIDEO]

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton.
File
Charles McQuillan

The Duke of Cambridge Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, popularly referred to simply as Prince William, on June 27, announced that he would be taking part in the historic #TuskLewaSafariChallenge.

“I’m also about to do a run myself, as part of this virtual challenge. Like many of you, I’m very sad not to be able to do this run in Lewa’s beautiful surroundings - though also rather relieved to be spared the altitude and the heat," he enthusiastically stated.

He further explained that the marathon was not a traditional race where an eventual winner is the intended outcome, but rather a show of solidarity with conservation efforts on the African continent.

“This is not a race, there is no stopwatch. It is our way of showing Africa’s conservation community that we’re all in this together," he reiterated.

Marathon World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge (centre) runs with rangers at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy on May 23, 2020
Marathon World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge (centre) runs with rangers at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy on May 23, 2020
Daily Nation

In a video shared via Tusk social media, the Duke of Cambridge thanked world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who was set to run on Sunday, June 28 as part of the virtual challenge, for the invitation to participate.

“As the world comes together to tackle the impact of the coronavirus, please join me by participating in the Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon.

"I am very pleased to back Lewa and Tusk in their efforts to raise the much-needed funds to protect Kenya’s wildlife and provide vital support for communities and schools across my country in this time of crisis," Kipchoge who also serves as a Lewa Ambassador posted on his social media pages.

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, located in northern Kenya, launched the June 2020, virtual marathon challenge in a bid to raise awareness on the importance of championing for conservation.

"This is a virtual event you can do at any time whilst keeping yourself safe with social distancing. You don’t have to run or walk the full distance in one go – you may like to accumulate the miles over a few days and challenge yourself to run a mile or two a day – the choice is yours," reads an excerpt from the Lewa Safari Marathon website.

Prince William became Royal Patron of Tusk in 2005 and has been an advocate for Tusk’s work to support conservation, education and community development across Africa ever since.

Tusk is a non-profit organisation that was set up three decades ago to amplify the impact of progressive conservation initiatives across Africa.

“The Duke’s support for Tusk over the years has been immensely helpful in raising both the profile of the charity and the funds that we need.

"His ability to draw global attention to the plight of endangered species being decimated by illegal wildlife trade has been warmly welcomed by conservationists across the globe and we are enormously grateful to him," Tusk's CEO Charlie Mayhew stated in a past interview.

Watch Prince William announcing his participation in the #TuskLewaSafariChallenge below:

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