Slave Route Challenge a must to participate in
THOUSANDS of people are expected to take part in the historic Slave Route Challenge on March 31, which traces Cape Town’s prominent heritage sites and provides a diverse cultural history.
Interest in South Africa’s “favourite road races”, which started in 2011 with 2000 runners, has grown, with the race voted Road Race of the Year for 2018 by Western Province Athletics.
Last year’s event attracted more than 9 000 participants, with host club Brimstone Itheko Sport Athletic Club expecting to top that in 2019 because March is a traditionally busy period in the Mother City.
Event organiser from Itheko Sports Management Farouk Meyer said: “Hosting the challenge in March potentially opens the event up to a greater audience, including the hordes of international visitors who will be in the city over the period.
“It is a wonderful opportunity to share our history, and what better way to do so than through the fun of running together through the streets of Cape Town.”
Meyer said this year’s race beneficiary was the Mary Harding School, which provided vital educational assistance to young people with mild to moderate mental impairment.
Participants will receive a voucher to visit the Castle of Good Hope during April and entry to District Six Museum.
Runners and walkers come from across the country – and some from as far away as Réunion Island, off Madagascar in the Indian Ocean – for this wonderful route that winds past some of Cape Town’s most prominent and intriguing heritage sites.
There are four different events: a half-marathon (21.1km), a 10km r un, a 10km big walk and a 5km fun run/walk. Organisers aimed to incorporate the novice, the occasional walker, the intermediate runner and the avid runner.
The route will begin at the City Hall in Darling Street, embracing District 6, Gardens, the Company Gardens, Wale Street, Bo Kaap, Sea Point (Cape Town Stadium), Green Point (Fort Wynyard), the CBD, up Adderley Street into Spin Street (Slave Plaque) and then through the Castle of Good Hope to finish on the Grand Parade.
Entries can be made online at Webtickets and at all Sportsman Warehouse outlets in the Western Cape. For details, visit www.slaveroute.co.za