Patrick Kagiri Kuria has left many in shock after he declared that he will climb and descend Mount Kenya in a record 12 hours, on November 20, 2021.
Usually, the hike takes a person between 6-7 days, but Kuria states he is well prepared to take on the challenge in one single day.
While speaking in a recent interview, he stated that he is confident because he has taken similar hikes on even higher mountains.
“I have been doing many one-day hikes in our hills, such as Longonot, Aberdares, Maparasha, Ngong, they are so many.
“About two weeks ago, I actually climbed Mount Kilimanjaro which is the highest Mountain in Africa. It takes about seven days to scale it, but I did it in 24 hours,” Kuria stated.
He proceeded to add that being able to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in 24 hours has encouraged him to take on tougher challenges.
Patrick, who is an accountant by profession, started hiking in 1998, before upgrading to high end mountains in 2012.
Patrick mentioned that although climbing the mountain is literally staring at a possibility of death, he always fights fear because it could end up being the greatest setback.
“I wouldn’t say I’m scared because there is usually no fear when I do it. I have done this over the years, and I always do a training which prepares me to go up the mountain," he noted.
Notably, Kuria shared that he does this challenge with the aim of helping the country achieve its target of forest cover.
“What I try to achieve is that for every second I’m on the mountain, we are aiming to plant a tree. For 12 hours, that is over 45,000 trees,” he noted.
“I will be helping in raising the awareness of the need to conserve our forest and help address Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15,” Kuria expressed.
He has therefore urged all Kenyans to support him by buying tree seedlings, when he takes on the challenge. Should he be successful, Kuria will have helped the country plant a significant number of trees.
