Africa Day half marathon

EXCITING running action is on the cards this weekend with the Africa Day Half Marathon, which leaves from the Jan Smuts Stadium.

This will be the inaugural race, with three distances available – the main 21.1km race, a 10km run and a 5km fun run – and has been confirmed to be on the running calendar for at least the next three years.

“Border Athletics along with the department of sport and the municipality have come to an agreement that we will host the Africa Day Half Marathon for the next three years,” said Border Athletics President Daan Louw.

“It is just to start the Africa Day week each year at this time, so it starts off on a good note.”

Runners from across the province are expected to turn out for the race, with some of the country’s best athletes taking part.

The Eastern Cape’s premier long distance runner, Lusapho April, will be there, and he will be eager to win what is a home event for him, with much of his training done in the city.

“Having Lusapho is exciting, and we are also going to have runners coming from Gauteng, Free State and of course from all over the Eastern Cape,” said Louw.

“It is two weeks until the Comrades, so for all our local runners this is a great chance to come and get in a good long distance race before they really taper down.”

An enticing prize purse is up for grabs for the runners and this should make the action exceptionally fierce as they go all out for the win.

“It is going to be a very exciting race and is great for all of our local runners,” enthused Louw.

“Especially when you see the prize money which has now been raised to R120 000, split between the 21.1km and 10km races, with the main prize up for grabs R20 000 each for the first man and woman to cross the finish line in the half marathon.”

Louw said they are expecting about a thousand runners to take part across the three distances.

He believes it will become a very popular race, as all three routes are enjoyable. He was really looking forward to it, he added.

“The race is from the Jan Smuts to the IDZ and back along Settlers Way, while the 10km is on the same route and turns back half way from the IDZ,” explained Louw.

“The 5km is from the Jan Smuts down to the beach and back, so it will be very scenic.”

“The course is flat and fast and we expect to see some very quick times.”

Entry for the runs will cost R60 for the half marathon, R40 for the 10km and R10 for the 5km, while a temporary licence of R30 for the 21.2km and R20 for the 10km will need to be acquired for those who do not have.

All proceeds from the event will go to Border Athletics for development and training.

For more information contact Alex Kambule on 084-2024-827 or Ronald Lottering on 083-5540480.

The action gets under way this Sunday from 7am.