The organiser of the Navachab Half Marathon, Berthold Karumendu, says preparations are at an advanced stage for the eighth edition of the annual competition scheduled for Karibib on Saturday.

Speaking at a media conference in the capital on Tuesday, Karumendu said the event makes a long-awaited welcome back following a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19.

“Karibib is ready, everything is in place. We are waiting for the athletes to make their way to Karibib for the race. We will have registration until 18h00 on Friday on the main street, before moving the stadium to continue until midnight. We will also have late registration Saturday morning,” he said.

Karumendu noted that most road races in Namibia are being discontinued due to lack of funding, hence his appreciation to Navachab Mine’s for the continued support of the marathon.

“As I was having a meeting with the sponsors I told them that for us to keep the race alive and move it to an international event, we must put up good prize monies that will attract top quality racers from around the world,” he said.

Karumendu added that he always gets calls from athletes from all over the continent, but they are discouraged by the low prize money, hence their decision to compete in neighbouring countries like South Africa and Botswana which have competitive prizes.

The hardworking Erongo Regional Sports Officer said this year the prizes have been increased from N.dollars 5 000 to N. dollars 7 000 for the winners of the elite races in both the male and female categories.

The veterans, junior men and women will each receive N.dollars 5 000, while the Master’s winners will get N.dollars 3 000.

The winners of the second and third places will be awarded N.dollars 5 000 and N.dollars 3 000.

The Navachab employees who will participate and come first in both the men’s and women’s categories will get N.dollars 1 000.

Learners who are winners will each get N.dollars 500.

Meanwhile, Karumendu said they are planning to make the event an International Bronze Event (with minimum prize money of N.dollars 25 000) to attract international runners.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency