More than 500 athletes will tomorrow (Saturday) compete at the inaugural Run Maun Marathon, an event organised by Botswana Tertiary Student Sports Association (BOTESSA) in partnership with First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB).
The event consists of four races being in the 5km, 10km, 21km and the 42.2k categories, and the starting and finishing point will be Maun Sports Complex. Botswana junior athletics team is also expected to take part in the event.
BOTESSA marketing and public relations consultant, Obonye Malope indicated that among the 500 athletes registered some are from the local tertiary institutions while others are from international institutions. Participants will include both professional athletes and beginners.
Malope explained that in 2018, FNBB allocated an amount of P1 million to BOTESSA to sponsor its preferred sporting events for a period of three years and Maun Marathon was among one of the events they were planning for, and Covid affected their plans around the marathon for the past 2 years.
The event which was initially launched as Maun Marathon later changed to Run Maun Marathon after it turned out that the first name was already registered with Companies and Intellectual Property Authority is Botswana (CIPA).
For his part, chairman of Run Maun Local Organising Committee, Chandy Moruti explained that the marathon will help boost the Ngamiland tourism and hospitality industry, and provides an opportunity for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to thrive.
He indicated that they will also hold a boat cruise and picnic at Gateway Resort in Chanoga where they will hire local boat owners and Djs to provide services. Moruti has added that the marathon will play a part in reviving the tourism industry as it has been hardly hit by the impacts of Covid-19.
Moruti said further to the overwhelming support they have received since from various stakeholders, they recently held the marathon activation event at Maun Sports Complex that attracted many people.
He also added that one of the core benefits of the marathon is the promotion of health and wellness among participants. The marathon’s Local Organizing Committee was launched on the 10th of March 2022 at Chanoga Village where its official logo was also unveiled.
