The Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium National Marathon Championships to crown Namibia’s marathon champions takes place on Saturday, 15 February at the athletics stadium in Vineta, Swakopmund.
Hosted by the Swakop Striders Athletics Club, this is the 23rd consecutive year that the event, which drew 95 marathon runners in 2013, is sponsored by Rössing. The first prize in the Men’s Open and Ladies Open categories is N$10 000.
The National Defence Force athlete, Paulus Iyambo, won the Rössing marathon in 2013 for the second year in a row in two hours, eighteen minutes and sixteen seconds (2:18:16).
Other events on the day include a 10km run, the Uranium Relay Run (a team event over 10 kilometres for uranium company employees) and the popular 5km Charity Fun Walk in aid of the Cancer Association of Namibia.
The running events start at seven o’clock from the athletics stadium in Vineta. The cut-off time for the marathon is twelve o’clock. Entry fees are N$60 for the marathon (N$100 for international athletes), N$30 for the 10km run (N$50 for international athletes), N$80 per team for the uranium team relay and N$10 per person for the fun walk.
The Charity Fun Walk starts at 09h00, with the prize-giving ceremony at 10h00. The event concludes with a prize-giving ceremony with tokens of appreciation for taking part. The fun walk competition categories are: Best costume, Most original hat, Tallest walker, Youngest and oldest walkers and Largest group. Walkers can also take part in a lucky draw scheduled for after the prize-giving event.
The theme for this year’s event is ‘Champions maintain their health – Keep up the pace.”
Rössing Manager Health, Safety, Environment and Security, Benadicta Uris, explained: “Rössing continues to be committed to promoting a healthy workforce and community through awareness creation and educational campaigns. The marathon championship is a great opportunity as a first step on your way to wellness or as further encouragement if you have already embarked on this path.”
Registration for the championship takes place at the Vineta athletics stadium on Friday, 14 February, from 18h00 to 21h00. On Saturday, 15 February, registration will take place from 06h00 to 06h30. All participants must be at the starting line fifteen minutes before the start of the race for the race rules announcement. Athletes participating in the marathon and 10km run events will receive their race numbers and T-shirts at registration.
Entry forms and more information about the event can be found on the Rössing website at www.rossing.com or contact Frank Slabbert of Swakop Striders at tel. 064 405788 (h) / cell 081 240 3383 or Botha Ellis of Rössing at tel. 064 520 2426 (w) / cell 081 286 0456.
