Naigambo, Niitembu in Victory race wins

BEATA Naigambo made a high-speed dash to the finish line to take the half marathon title for women, during the second leg of the annual Old Mutual Victory Race Series in Swakopmund last Saturday.

The men’s half marathon saw Johannes Naitembu keep up a blistering pace of 1 hour 06 minutes 04 seconds to ensure his place as number one. Naigambo crossed the line in 01:15:20, while Helena Iipinge was hot on her tracks finishing second in 01:17:08. Otilie Aimwata took a well-deserved third place with a time of 1:24:39 in a tough race for the female competitors.Second spot was wrapped up by Meinhardt Kauanivi in 01:06:21, while Erich Goeieman finished in third place with a solid run of 1:06:41.Werner Nghipopi finished in 01:16:24 whilst Lavinia Haitope came in at a time of 01:29:17, claiming gold under the junior male and female categories respectively.The series once again attracted athletes from all walks of life, and featured professional athletes as well as enthusiasts participating in this challenging road race.The Swakopmund leg attracted double the entries received from the previous year, demonstrating not only the popularity of the Victory Race Series, but also the appreciation of participants for the platform which the races provides.Old Mutual recognises the Victory Race Series annually and sponsors prize money as well as further training possibilities and even international exposure into events such as the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town. The Swakopmund winners received cash prizes of N$ 1000 (1st place), N$500 (2nd place) and N$300 (3rd place).The final leg of the Victory Race will take place in Windhoek on August 8 at Jan Mohr Secondary School. The grand finale will see athletes from all regions competing for the sought after prize money, which is N$10 000 (1st place), N$ 5000 (2nd place) and N$ 3000 (3rd place).