When James Mwaura became the first Kenyan to run 956 kilometres in 14 days, he demonstrated no physical limitations.
Mwaura started a run from Kisumu to Nairobi to collect money and awareness for congenital heart disease.
Mwaura claims he has been competing in professional sports, such as triathlon and duathlon, for ten years. He won the Kenyan duathlon championship in 2021.
"I am an incredible person, and when I competed in the national duathlon championship, I had the honour of engaging with young people with heart issues after the race. To increase awareness of congenital cardiac disorders, I offered the notion of running a long distance.
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People were a little sceptical when I said I intended to run 2000 kilometres, but after I was introduced to Care for a Child's Heart (CFACH), things got going, he continued.
It took him 1.5 years to train for the marathon and complete his goal of running from Kisumu to Mombasa in 10 days, which is exceptionally long for such an intense activity.
He remembered getting up at three in the morning to work out. He claimed, "I have about 200 burpees that are required, run about 15 kilometers, and swim about 5 to 10 kilometers every day."
Being the first person to run from Kisumu to Mombasa, Mwaura says it was highly emotional to cross the finish line in Mombasa after 14 days of intense running. Mwaura struggled with problems such as soreness in his shins, heels, and knees. He had to take breaks as a result of this.
"I had intended to complete the run in 10 days, running 100 km every day, but in Kericho, my knees started to hurt, and I ran into specific problems that prevented me from doing it. In addition to being pursued by elephants in Tsavo and having a brush with lions in Bomet, he stated that we also had accidents.
His goal was to raise Ksh10 million, but he only succeeded in raising Ksh130,000.
"The most significant achievement was raising awareness of congenital heart disease. Since I had just crossed the finish line, discomfort was just momentary. I completed 956 miles. Additionally, I overcame myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually," he claimed.
