Meru County plans to host the World Mountain run championships in 2025.

Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza says her government was doing everything possible to host the event, which is expected to have numerous ripple effects in economic impact for the region.

Speaking yesterday during the third edition of Mount Kenya mountain run national championships at Ntirimiti in Mount Kenya forest, she said the County has kicked off consultations with Athletics Kenya and Sports Kenya on how the event will be hosted.

She said the event will be a big boost to the fight against cancer which was the main agenda behind the establishment of the annual run.

“The aim of this run is to promote sports and wellness, promoting environmental conservation, promoting mountain tourism, and creating cancer awareness. We are certain that all these will receive a big boost if we get an opportunity to host the event,” said Ms Mwangaza.

On his part, Deputy Governor Mutuma M’Ethinkia said that the county will come up with a program to encourage young people to engage in sports as a source of income and to ensure they are healthy.

“This is a career like any other and we should therefore encourage our people to engage in these sports,” said M’Ethinkia.

This year’s edition attracted more than 4000 participants and the winner of the 13-kilometre race was Mr Josphat Kiprotich who walked away with a Kes500,000 reward.