Kapchorwa: The New Running Paradise
About Run Kapchorwa
Run Kapchorwa has always strived to become a sustainable, local run organization. In line with this objective, Hope Charlotte Cherotich was appointed general manager in October 2023. Charlotte started her journey with Run Kapchorwa in October 2021. First as Community Operations Coordinator, later as manager of customer service. Charlotte is the Director of Kapchorwa Adventure Sports & Tourism Organisation (KASTO).
KASTO is dedicated to empowering the youth & women through sports, culture, and tourism promotion.
By focusing on sustainable development, community building, and personal growth, we aim to nurture a generation of young people who are actively involved in promoting and preserving their cultural heritage, while simultaneously embracing the vitality and opportunities of the sports and tourism sectors.
Run Kapchorwa founders Daan (From Coach to Coach) & Mark (Adventures in Running / Sport for Africa) have been active in community sport development, capacity building and coaching in Uganda for several years.
From Coach to Coach began organizing running sessions for tourists in Kapchorwa in 2016, led by passionate running guide George Mwoko and with revenues going to community sport development.
In 2018, Daan and Mark joined forces to increase the profile of running tourism in Kapchorwa, using the ‘Home of Friends’ Guesthouse in Barawa (which Daan manages) as an operational base.
The ‘Run Kapchorwa’ initiative was further enabled in 2020 by Adventure Tourism Uganda, a three year project co-funded by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This project focuses on adventure and cultural tourism and aims to make the Ugandan tourism industry more diverse as well as socially and environmentally sustainable.
Our Objectives
To promote Kapchorwa as a leading destination for sports tourism in East Africa
To offer accessible sports training, tournaments, and events for youth & women in Kapchorwa and surrounding areas.
To promote tourism opportunities that celebrate the region’s natural beauty and cultural richness.
To engage young people in cultural activities that foster pride in their heritage.
To provide career development resources and opportunities within sports, tourism, and cultural sectors.
To encourage environmental stewardship and sustainable tourism practices among youth & women.
To promote physical and mental well-being through active participation in sports.
Why Kapchorwa?
Kapchorwa is one of only a handful of established high altitude training destinations in East Africa - a hotbed of endurance running talent.
Recognised as the running mecca of Uganda, it is a permanent home and training base to hundreds of elite endurance runners from Uganda and beyond. The presence of celebrated Ugandan Olympic and World champions such as Joshua Cheptegei, Jacob Kiplimo, Peruth Chemutai and Stephen Kiprotich has given the region the title: ‘The Land of Champions’.
Kapchorwa is a simple farming town perched at 1800m altitude on the flanks of the extinct volcano Mount Elgon and offers stunning views over the plateau far below. Visitors are rewarded with fresh mountain air, challenging terrain rising to 2600m, minimal traffic and endless trails of the famous red dirt to run.
Due to it’s remote nature, the region is still relatively untouched by tourism. It’s only in recent years that tourists have ventured here to run, hike and cycle amongst the beautiful nature, passing through villages, banana plantations and farmland alongside the athletes who train morning and evening as they aspire to become champions themselves.
With the construction of a high-altitude elite training facility in Teryet at 2600 metres above sea level well on the way, the future is bright for the running community in Kapchorwa.
“Promoting Kapchorwa as a prime destination for running tourism in order to facilitate community development, create employment opportunities and boost the local economy.”
