21 Jul 2024

The 27th edition of BotswanaLife classic national half marathon has grown.

This was said by the organiser of the marathon, Tebogo Keepetswe, who is also the BIHL group head of marketing and communications, in an interview after the race in Gaborone yesterday.

She said the marathon used to register about 750 participants pre-COVID 19, but that this year it was almost double that.

“Today, we had 1 250 participants under all the three categories being the kiddies run, 10km and the main 21.1km. We also had great support from major stakeholders such as Botswana Police  Service and Botswana Athletics Association,” she said.

Keepetswe also said they were happy that the half marathon attracted foreign participants from South Africa, Zimbabwe and even Kenya.

“The bulk of the participants were, however, locals,” she said, adding that the success of the race also made them to look forward to next year with the hope of even better things to come.

Keepetswe also urged Batswana to continue taking care of themselves against non-communicable diseases, saying it was one of the objectives of the race.

“This marathon’s purpose is just to remind people about safe health, exercising and eating healthy, which can help prolong their lifespan,” she said.

Meanwhile, the winner of the men’s 21.1km category, Ebel Chibanda also hailed the organisation of the race, which he said made it easy and safe to manoeuvre the city.

Chibanda, who also won this year’s 21.1km Diacore half marathon, said although he was happy with his time, he felt he could have done better was it not for the cold weather.

“I have also ran too many marathons of recent and this might have contributed to the slow time. This might be a hint that my body needs a rest,” he said.

Chibanda was followed at second place by Folavio Sehohle with Lazarus Too taking position three

Winner in the women’s category, Boikhutso Bakha also faulted the cold weather for her slow time. “When the weather is as cold as it was, muscles do not respond well and chances of having muscle pulls, as it happened, are high,” she said.

She also decried the low participation of women in marathons, which she said affected competition.

Bakha was followed by Kitsiso Joseph while Lesedinyana Tumelo took position three.

In the 10km men’s category, Sylvester Koko took position one while Othusitse Gabolelwe and Lame Rankonyane took positions two and three respectively.

The women’s category was won by Mosadikwena Gotswakgoosi followed by Kefilwe Galeitsiwe and Botlhe Mazwiduma in positions two and three respectively.

The winner of the 21.1km race walked away with P20 000, position two attracted P15 00 while position three took home P10 000.

In the 10km, position one was rewarded with P10 000 while positions two and three took P5 000 and P3 000.

In the corporate sector 10km category, Parliament of Botswana emerged victorious followed by The Butcher Shop and MVA Fund. ENDS