This route is probably the most well known and popular out and back route to Pt Lenana on Mount Kenya, called the Naro Moru Route named after the village at its base. The route was (and probably still is) the most well known of all (4) routes to the summit (Chogoria Route, Sirimon Route, Kamweti Route and Naro Moru Route). I lived for 7 years in Kenya in the 1970s climbing Pt Lenana 46 times in total, and pioneered the Kamweti Route as well as running up and down Pt Lenana via the Naro Moru Route in 4hrs 38 mins, hence this FKT.
This route probably has the earliest history of all the routes on Mt Kenya with a hotel at its base (the Naro Moru River Lodge) which has been there many years (established in 1949) and is the base from which many walkers and climbers have ascended Mt Kenya over the years. Logistically, the route starts from the Met Station Camp at 3,050m altitude, which is the end of the vehicular track, and winds its pathway through the forest, the giant groundsel and into Teleki Valley where there is another camp called Mackinders Camp (4,300m altitude). The route then climbs some steep screes to Top Hut (4,790m) and finally a scramble along the remains of Lewis Glacier to the Pt Lenana Summit (4,985m).
My route is a ’there and back’ route, beginning and ending at the same point (the Met Station clearing) and I have provided copies of my log of the run including times to the various key points. The run was done solo with no support at all. I spent the previous night in the Met Station Lodge at the start of the route and commenced the attempt at 0740 hours having made sure there were no buffalo or elephant blocking the way through the forest path. The only witness was a friend named Bill Indge who waited at the finish to confirm the overall time, and a few local Kenyan porters in Teleki Valley who could not believe that a "mzungu" was mad enough to run up and down this mountain!
The details of the run are in the attached diary pages and the picture shows Pt Lenana (left hand side of photo) with a lot more snow and ice than current years (picture taken later in 1976). I was lucky to have lived in Kenya for some years and was therefore pretty well acclimatised to the higher altitudes. In addition this was my 19th ascent of Pt Lenana, and 2 overnight ascents of Nelion Peak (17,022 ft) the second highest and a rock climbing Mt Kenya peak. I therefore did not suffer from altitude sickness or indeed any of the lesser ailments such as head aches or sickness.