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MANZINI – The Voice of the Church (VOC) Half Marathon is back with some vibe and an improved sponsorship deal.
This will be the third edition of the race, after it was founded in 2019 and, thereafter, took a break as result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It returns this year with a good sponsorship package of E50 000, from E40 000 in previous two editions. It is expected to attract close to 2 000 athletes and road runners from churches, clubs and individuals on May 6. The last time it was staged, in 2019, it saw about 1 000 athletes participating.
The race was launched yesterday by the radio station National Director Reverend Zachariah Mthethwa, which he said it aimed at building physical fitness in the church and the nation.
“The radio station has a vision of assisting churches fulfil their great commission, but that vision goes with bringing up healthy bodies in the church. We then felt it’s proper to collaborate with each and every church in the country so they can be part of the marathon,” Mthethwa explained in the presence of some church representatives.
It will start and finish at Zakhele Sports Ground in Manzini. The registration is already open, currently done at VOC office and its digital
MANZINI – Athletics Eswatini (AE) has expressed its happiness and thanked the Voice of the Church (VOC) for ensuring the return of the race after the tough COVID-19 spell.
These sentiments were shared by AE Vice President Sipho Vilakati on behalf of President Zakhele Dlamini, during the launch of the race. Vilakati described the race as one of their special events, as it was where the physical met the spiritual.
“This is indeed a special race as it gets to feed men in his entirety. The association wishes to thank the organisers of this event for their resilience in ensuring that it is brought back. COVID-19 came with so many casualties, we have had some events that were even older than the VOC race but up to now they have not been re-launched,” Vilakati noted.
platform, as they are still to announce more registration points. It has three categories; 5km, 10km and the half marathon, which is 21km, each with its own registration fee.
“We’re in collaboration with Zithande Athletics Club and this race has been accredited by Eswatini Athletics (AE). I’m proud to say we’ve pumped 5km: 10km: 21km:
He said they were happy with another addition to their calendar which, Vilakati added that it would help keep runners active. He also promised that they were yet to reveal more exciting news for road running enthusiast. “We further wish to invite more partners to come on board as organising a race is not a joke and requires a lot of resources. I’m sure the organisers need all the help they can get, in terms of T-shirts, medals, water-points and prize money,” Vilakati said.
He added the AE called upon its entire clubs, churches and the general public to come and be part of this wonderful initiative.
in E50 000 this time around, which we are still to announce the prize breakdown for the different categories,” Mthethwa added.
Presenting during the launch, among others, was Manzini Free Evangelical Church’s Pastor Shodi Msibi and Mbabane Alliance Church’s Reverend Johannes Mazibuko.