Japanese marathoner and philanthropist Chiaki Morikawa is lending a hand to Kenya’s next generation of runners through a new partnership with the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK). Click this link https://a.meridianbet.ke/c/C7pYjz to start gaming and stand a chance of winning big with Meridianbet.
Through her Tokyo-based organisation, Wayz Running, Morikawa will donate training and competition shoes to underprivileged Kenyan athletes. SJAK will distribute the shoes on her behalf as part of its corporate social responsibility activities.
“As SJAK, we have CSR activities, and we will choose a needy camp with needy athletes and donate the shoes,” said SJAK President James Waindi, who received the donation. “So, it goes a long way in helping the athletes better their standards of training and competition.”
Morikawa, the CEO of Wayz Running, founded the organisation to support women runners in Japan across multiple areas including physiotherapy, to help them reach their potential. She continues to compete in the 1500m, 5000m, half marathons and full marathons.
The 38-year-old went into semi-retirement in 2018 after deciding she wanted to do more for the community.
Her personal bests include 4:12.75 over 1500m set in Osaka in 2016, 15:36.66 for 5000m in Yokohama in 2013, and a marathon best of 2:35:06 at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon. She also ran 2:37:25 at this year’s Tokyo Marathon on March 1, and 1:22:37 at the Medio Maraton Internacional de Coban in Guatemala on May 31.
Morikawa has a strong connection to Kenya. She finished 9th overall at the Bangsaen21 Half Marathon in Chon Buri, Thailand, on Dec. 18, 2022, in a race won by Kenyan Helen Obiri. She counts several Kenyan runners among her friends, including Rosemary Monica Wanjiru, one of the fastest women in marathon history with a personal best of 2:16:14. Wanjiru won the 2025 Berlin Marathon and the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.
“The reason why I started this donation project is that one of my teammates in Japan was training barefoot,” Morikawa said. “By looking at that I decided that I will help Kenyan children and athletes become better athletes. By having this type of shoes, I believe that everybody will have a bright future and bring them close to their dreams, and I am glad to be the supporter of that movement.”
She added that she is working with several organisations in Kenya, including the County Government of Kajiado led by Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, to support needy children to compete in the Amboseli Marathon in March next year.
Morikawa said she hopes to run the Amboseli Marathon herself.
