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Nairobi Runners Flock to Karura Forest's 50km Trail Network
Nairobi's best running is found in Karura Forest, Kenya's largest gazetted urban forest with over 50 kilometres of colour-coded trails, at an altitude that has long drawn runners training alongside Kenya's world-record distance culture.
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Nairobi sits at nearly 1,800 metres of altitude, the same rarefied air that has produced generations of world-record distance runners from Kenya's Rift Valley towns, and its forest reserves give visiting and local runners a genuine reason to train here rather than simply pass through. Here are some of the best running routes in Nairobi.
Karura Forest
Karura Forest, Kenya's largest gazetted urban forest, is jointly managed by the Kenya Forest Service and the community group Friends of Karura Forest. It offers more than 50 kilometres of signposted, numbered trails on packed red-murram forest paths, with colour-coded running loops. The forest includes a waterfall and the Mau Mau caves, used by fighters during Kenya's independence struggle in the 1950s and now marked with a memorial. Manned gates and ranger patrols make it one of the safer forest runs in the city, for a small entry fee.
Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary
About 6 kilometres from the central business district off Ngong Road, Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary is one of very few gazetted forests located inside a capital city's limits. Runners typically use a perimeter loop or trail running on dirt single-track through indigenous forest. Security has historically been more of a concern here than at Karura, so daytime group runs are the recommended approach.
Nairobi Arboretum
Roughly 3 kilometres from the city centre off State House Road, the Nairobi Arboretum is a compact botanical reserve with well-maintained paths and a genuine variety of indigenous and exotic tree species, a good option for a shorter loop close to the CBD.
Ngong Hills Nature Reserve
On the city's western edge, Ngong Hills Nature Reserve offers a hillier, higher-altitude option favoured by more serious runners, with undulating terrain and views over the Rift Valley escarpment.
Running the Nairobi Marathon Route
The Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon, held annually with marathon, half-marathon, 10 kilometre and 5 kilometre categories, is the city's marquee running event, and a real annual reason locals train on the routes above.
Practical Guide to Running in Nairobi
Karura Forest is the most reliable, best-managed choice for a longer run; the Arboretum and Uhuru Park suit a shorter loop close to the centre.