A History of Aloi Marathon

• The history of the Marathon is not very clear but believed to have started way back in around 1950s
• It was orginally named “NGWEC ALOI” in the local language meaning Aloi Run
• It would occasionally set off from the Moroto County HQ (the present Alebtong District HQ) to Lira Town (now the City of Lira) about 47kms in total
• Participants were given different awards including livestock and bicycles
• A well known participant in this Ngwec Aloi was Obal Erecania (one of our member’s late Father)
• The Marathon was somehow shelved and faded off into a distant memory possibly due to poor mobilisation, lack of interest, lack of resources plus the insurgency.

• In 2001, there was an attempt to revive the Marathon with participants setting off from Aloi and ending  at Lira (Aki Bua Sports ground)
• This attracted participants from across the country with 42 people participating and the total distance covered being about 42km
• The winner was a military man from Arua who finished in an impressive 2 hrs 16 mins 55sec.
• The second position was taken by a lady from Aloi named Apio Rehema

Objectives

• To raise funds through marathon-related fundraising efforts to support community development projects.
• To launch an awareness campaign to highlight socio-economic issues, reaching at least 10,000 people locally and globally.
• To develop a collaborative action plan with these partners to address identified challenges.
• To allocate at least 80% of raised funds directly to healthcare, education and infrastructure improvements.
• To establish partnerships with at least 20 local organizations and 10 international NGOs or institutions.
• To implement a monitoring and evaluation framework to track the progress and impact of initiatives supported by the marathon.
• To conduct quarterly reviews involving community representatives and international partners to ensure transparency and effectiveness.

Experiences from Other Marathons

In the recent past there have been more than 4 marathon runs held in Uganda, the most impactful being the Rotary Cancer Run.

Other marathons include;

i.Kabaka Birthday run,

ii.Rwenzori Marathon,

iii.MTN Marathon

A brief report of each Marathon is in the attachment to this presentation.