THE Nkulumane Spar 10km Fun Run road race has been renamed Choppies 10km race, Bulawayo Athletics Board secretary-general Dailes Bingadadi said yesterday.
SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER
This year’s competition will be held on December 8. “The Nkulumane 10km race is now called Choppies 10km race. It has been renamed because the supermarkets are no longer called Spar, but Choppies. We will retain last year’s prizes, but the route has been changed,” she said.
Last year’s edition of the competition had prize money of R100 000. “The race used to start at Nkulumane Spar to Bellevue Spar and back to Nkulumane Spar using the same route, but has since been changed at the requests of the sponsors,” she said.
Bingadadi said the race would now see athletes start from Nkulumane Complex into GMB Tshabalala Silos along Masiye Phambili Drive, Bullet Shops and Queen Elizabeth Primary School to Old Khami Road before returning to the starting point. Wirimai Juwawo and Rutendo Nyahora won last year’s edition of the race and pocketed R5 000 each.
Nyahora defended the title she won in 2011 clocking 31mins 10secs, breaking her 2011 record of 32mins 41secs. Juwawo won the race in a time of 27mins 24secs also beating the 2011 record of 27mins 33,36secs set by Lewis Masunda who did not take part in last year’s race due to injury.
The runners-up will receive R3 000 while the third and fourth-placed athletes will get R1 500 and R500 each. The winners of the junior men and women’s section and athletes in wheelchairs in both the men and women’s sections will walk away with R1 500 for the top spot, R1 000 for the runners-up while athletes to romp home third will get R750.
The registration fee is $5 for seniors and $3 for juniors. Bingadadi said they were grateful for the sponsorship. “We are happy with the number of races we have had this year. We have had the Four-Minute Mile Challenge, PPC Zimbabwe Matopos 33-Miler ultra-marathon, Masiyephambili marathon and the Old Mutual 10km race.
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“We have faced challenges, but we have tried to get races so that our athletes participate. We hope to learn from our mistakes and improve,” Bingadadi added.
