Sierra Leonean Athlete Tops Street Child Support Kiln Marathon Race

23 year old Idrissa Kargbo emerged winner of the first ever run full marathon race for men in Sierra Leone organized by a Non-Governmental Organization called Street Children of Sierra Leone (SCoSL) in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs.  (Photo:  Sierra Leone’s very own Idrissa Kargbo, winner of the men’s full marathon)

The event took place in the Northern city of Makeni on Saturday June 9 over the weekend. Idrissa Kargbo ran a breath-taking distance speed of 10 Kilometers, (equivalent to 26 miles running distance) within a time limit of 2:46:46 in the full marathon race for men to clinch the medal in a race tagged “the run of their lives”.

A total of 400 runners competed in the race including first timers and veteran athletes from different parts of the world including the United Kingdom, United States, Latin America, Asia, South Africa and Europe plus the host Sierra Leone to give the event the taste it deserved.

The race abridged the difference between blacks and whites in a common cause to save the plights of children living and working in the various streets of Sierra Leone.

The event started at the Birch Memorial Secondary School and the athletes ran through Mangaha, the turning point, running straight back to the Birch center, the host of the tournament. Timothy Kelsey an athlete from the United Kingdom (UK) emerged first runner up followed by Osman Charlie of the SSGI security agency, one of the sponsors of the tournament.

The crowd of onlookers cheered on the athletes in the presence of the Residence Minister North, Mayor of the Makeni city Mr. Moses Kanu, the Minister of Defense, Retired Major Palo Conteh who ran a 5k distance in the race, the retired Executive Director of Help A needy Child International (HANCI), former head of the British Army, representative from the sponsors, First Aid team, members of the Republic of the Sierra Leone Police and Military Forces, and a host of important dignitaries, including members of the press both international and local.

In an interview with the CEO of Street Child Sierra Leone, Tim told Sierra Express Sports that the event was organized to raise funds in support of children whose lives are entirely led and controlled by the street. Tim said the event followed the result of statistical data on the street children headcount survey they jointly undertook in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs and the NGO Help A Needy Child –Sierra Leone (HANCi-SL).

Proceeds of the event, according to Tim are going to be utilized in the cause of street children in Sierra Leone and in the list of programs lined for them are counseling programs of different levels of approaches. Tim’s exact words were ‘the street child project is a special charity my NGO has adopted to create an impact in the strides towards removing children from the various streets of the country.’

The former Executive Director of HANCI, Dr. Foday Roland Kargbo said he was elated to see that the marathon race achieved such a success aimed at revitalizing his dream quest of saving the children of Sierra Leone from the menace of lack of care and support as a result of lack of good parenting. He was full of thanks and appreciation of the efforts of the organizers.

Minister of Defence Palo Conteh said he was passionate to be part of history marking the establishment of a fund to ameliorate the plight of Sierra Leonean children living and working the various streets of the country. He said their situations are pathetic. His presence on the occasion, he said was manifestation of the love he has for the children of Sierra Leone.

In an interview with Idrissa Kargbo, winner of the full marathon race, he gave the glory to God for being part of history which recorded him to be the athlete of the day in the wholesome event. He dedicated the trophy to all the children of Sierra Leone living and working in the various streets of the country. He thanked his fitness coach, the Sierra Leone Athletics Association, and Street Child Sierra Leone for providing him the opportunity to partake in his first real contest of a marathon race, saying such thing has never happened in his life!

Photographs from the event:

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