Kenya is home to the world’s fastest endurance runners. And now, we’ll be home to some world class running shoes.
A kickstarter campaign by Navalayo Osembo-Ombati and Weldon Kennedy has raised more than Sh5 million in less than a week.
“We are creating the first world-class Kenyan running shoes based on the advice, skills, and experiences of great Kenyan athletes.
But we can’t do it without the help of the Kickstarter community. We need your help to start production, and in exchange we’re offering some exciting rewards – all of which help us achieve our goal of having a positive impact in Kenya,” reads the description.
The shoes will be made in Kenyan colours, namely green, red and black. They will have the word ‘Harambee’ under the sole.
Enda, the company making them, was seeking $75,000 and it looks like they’ll be getting there soon.
The founders believe Kenya by virtue of being the world’s undisputed king of the track should make the shoes runners wear on the track.
“It wasn’t until I first left Kenya that it struck me just how much the rest of the world thinks of Kenya as a land of great runners, and the pace of the campaign is showing just how much people respect Kenya’s running expertise,” said Navalayo. “Our goal is to help runners around connect with the style and culture of Kenyan running, all while using the income generated to help local community causes.”
“As a runner, there’s always been something almost mystical about Kenya,” said Weldon. “When Navalayo and I started talking about Kenyan made running shoes, it just made immediate sense. Of course the land of the best runners should also make the best running shoes.”
