TRAVEL REPORT About Selecta Kenya:
Selecta has several locations in East African countries like Kenya, a large cut flower producer for Europe, and Uganda. Our farm in Kenya is located north of Nairobi between Nairobi and Thika. It has 19.5 ha (48.5 acres) and produces 120 million cuttings each year. It employs an average of 750 employees. The farm is also one of the locations for Selecta’s Breeding and Re- search department and home of several breed- ing programs such as Solidago. Variety trials for local markets are also part of their responsibil- ity.
and energy, benefitting thousands of locals in the remote Northern range land areas and lately, the rest of Kenya. Among the other beneficiaries of the Lewa Marathon are Mount Kenya Trust, Lewa Communities Development Programme, Ngare Ndare Forest Trust, Kenya Wide Projects, and the Kenya Red Cross. Top names on the world athletics stage have participated in previous Lewa Marathon events, and this year it was no exception. During the event on June 27, 950 competitors took part in the half marathon (21Km), while another 150 are going for the full marathon (42 Km). Apart from these, 150 children participated in the 5 Km kids fun run. The full marathon attracts individual participation, whereas the half marathon is a team event, consisting of 5 to 10 runners.
A
s Selecta Kenya, we have been participating with a team of seven people coming from Kenya, Uganda, Spain, and Germany. It has
been a wonderful “one-of-a-kind experience” to be able to run as a team, literally in between wildlife, and have the spectacular scenery of the Lewa conservancy and Mount Kenya while running the half marathon. As it is the characteristic of the Lewa Marathon to be in the middle of wildlife, security is of utmost importance: armed rangers, two choppers, and a spotter plane had been deployed to watch over us runners in the conservancy, which is home to over 100 rhinos, herds of elephants, giraffes, lions, and antelopes, amongst other wild animals. Actually one of our team members, Jordi, was forced to run back, as rangers spotted elephants standing right on the track. Only after the choppers came to chase the elephants away could he continue the race. Of course he told us that he would have been a lot faster without that incident, but our team decided that he was only being our fastest runner because he got a free adrenalin boost!
W
ell - after running 21 Km at an altitude of 1900 m with the equatorial sun boiling our heads, we were more than happy to
finally reach the goal, but having passed the finish line, everybody on our team was of the very same opinion: we have to be there again in 2012! It was just fantastic!
Per Klemm is COO Selecta Group and as Managing Director, responsible for the Selecta URC production.
The oldest marathon runner was 82 years old.
Early morning. Our team ready for the half marathon.
We made it!
www.SelectaCutFlowers.com FloralNews 13 8 8
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