Times of Eswatini

Swazi Coolers partners with TZD Marathon

- BY MELUSI MKHABELA

MBABANE – It promises to be bigger and better.

That is the Lubombo Marathon that is being presented by TZD Sports. It takes centre stage on Saturday April 1, 2023 at Siteki.

Beverages company Swazi Coolers is the latest partner for the festivitie­s.

The company will provide refreshmen­ts for all water stations at the event. “We have a long working relationsh­ip with Athletics Eswatini (AE) and TZD, there has been a number of races that we’ve done together. It was very good, so we wanted to do it again,” said Thandokuhl­e Dlamini who represente­d Swazi Coolers.

TZD has also partnered with the likes of George Investment­s, MulaSport and Dixie’s Internatio­nal, to name but a few.

TZD Director Zakhele Dlamini, on the other hand, mentioned that the budget for the event stood at E100 000 and that included the prize money, medals and trophies.

Accommodat­ion

With the event starting so early in the day, accommodat­ion is one of the things athletes will be on the lookout for.

“We have athletes coming in from South Africa and Mozambique who are already fully registered; some of the athletes have made their book

LUBOMBO MARATHON PRIZE BREAKDOWN:

42KM POSITION MALE

1. E2 500

2. E2 000

3. E1 500

4. E1 000

5. E500 VET 1 E500 VET 2 E300 MAS 1 E500 MAS 2 E300 Jnr (U18) (1) E500 Jnr (U18) (2) E500

FEMALE E2 500 E2 000 E1500 E1 000 E500 E500 E300 E500 E300 21.1KM

MALE FEMALE E1 500 E1 500 E1 000 E1 000 E500 E500 E500 E500 E300 E300 E300 E300 E200 E200 E300 E300 E200 E200

ings for accommodat­ion around Siteki town,” he said.

There are goodie bags for the first 500 athletes to register. Athletes are advised to register as early as possible. The marathon is divided into three 10KM MALE E1 000 E500 E300

E250 E150 E250 E150

FEMALE E1 000 E500 E300

E250 E150 E250 E150

distances; namely 42km, 21.1km and 10km. They all have the same registrati­on fee of E150. However, if you are a non-licence holder, then you pay an additional fee of E30 to provide you with a temporary licence. All profession­al runners are supposed to have licensing from EA.

“Fortunatel­y enough, most runners that represent a club have licences and their clubs are able to subscribe for them every year,” mentioned Dlamini during an interview.

Athletes will assemble at Siteki Sports Ground, where allocated buses will transport them to their different starting points. The 42km race will commence first at 5:30am. It will be followed by the 21.1km and 10km at 6:00am.

There is an added incentive, as there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunit­y.

One local athlete will win a ticket to attend the June 2023 Palau Internatio­nal Marathon in Taiwan.

However, the athlete needs to be within the qualifying time. The 42km men qualifying time is 2 hours 20 minutes.

The 42km female qualifying time is 2hours 55 minutes. The 21.1km men and female qualifying times are 1:05 and 1:25 hours, in that order.

The Siteki Hotel was approached for a special rate for the athletes taking part in the event. “As of now we are still waiting for them to get back to us with the special rate figures,” mentioned Dlamini.

For more informatio­n, would be participan­ts can contact the organisers on 7604 8762/ 7902 0673/ 7671

or email: tzd673@gmail.com.

 ?? (Pic: Mengameli Mabuza) ?? Some of the pupils during yesterday’s athletics competitio­n at the Mavuso Sports Centre, in one of the races which was organised by the Manzini branch high schools.
(Pic: Mengameli Mabuza) Some of the pupils during yesterday’s athletics competitio­n at the Mavuso Sports Centre, in one of the races which was organised by the Manzini branch high schools.
 ?? (File pic) ?? Some runners race to the winning point during a previous race. Focus shifts to the TZD Marathon.
(File pic) Some runners race to the winning point during a previous race. Focus shifts to the TZD Marathon.

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