All systems go for Rights race

EXCITING running action is on the cards in King William’s Town this weekend as the second annual Human Rights Day race sets off from the Victoria Grounds.

The event is being organised by Border Athletics, in partnership with the Eastern Cape department of sport, recreation, arts and culture and runners are encouraged to come and take part.

A 10km race and 5km fun run will be the main attractions and is expected to draw a large and competitive field to take part.

“We are expecting round about six to seven hundred runners for the 10km race and then about 500 runners for the 5km fun run,” said Border Athletics president Daan Louw.

“We are expecting a very competitive field and with great prizes up for grabs, the runners will be going all out.”

In the main 10km race cash prizes for the first to fifth open male and female finishers are on offer, with R5 000 for the winner and R2 500 for the runner-up.

Age group prizes for the junior male and female, and then from the age groups of 35-39 up to 60+ will also be available for the top three runners in those categories, with the total prize-money for the run tallied at R48 600.

With great monetary prizes on the cards some of the region’s best runners should be interested in taking part in the main race. “The top local runners from Border, EP and from the [former] Transkei are all going to be taking part in the race,” said Louw.

“We expect a very exciting race and believe that it will go down to the wire in both the men’s and women’s divisions.”

With this being the second run of its kind Border Athletics are excited for the future of the race and believe that along with the backing of DSRAC Eastern Cape the event can become a major highlight on the local runnimng calendar over the coming years.

“We are going to make this race a yearly thing to recognise the heroes of our province and bring the people of the Eastern Cape together,” explained Louw.

“Last year this race was held at Fort Hare in Alice and I think the plan is to move the race around the Eastern Cape each year, so this year it’s in King William’s Town and then we will see where it moves on to next year.

“This is to make the race more accessible to some runners who perhaps cannot travel long distances to take part in the race, so we will bring it to them.”

Entrants for the 5km fun run will receive a T-shirt and medals, but no prize-money has been allocated for that run. Entries cost R20 for the 10km and R10 for the 5km. Entries for the race can be found at Total Sport in Mdantsane, Vincent and King William’s Town, as well as at the district office, at Fort Hare and at the department of sport, recreation, arts and culture.

The action gets under way on Sunday morning at 6.30am at the Victoria Grounds in King William’s Town.