adminThupeyo Muleya in BEITBRIDGE
THE eighth edition of the Beitbridge Mayor’s anti-litter half marathon will be held on June 3 along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo highway, with organisers opening registration early to allow many people to participate.
The race is being organised by Beitbridge Municipality as part of raising awareness on littering and pollution issues in the border town and along the major highways leading to the major cities of Bulawayo and Harare.
Littering has become a perennial headache for the local authority especially in the high and medium density suburbs and along the major highways.
It is reported that the town produces over 1 000 tonnes of solid waste monthly with a further 100 tonnes going to land pollution.
The Municipality is reportedly collecting 700 tonnes.
As part of the event, there is a 25km race starting from Mtetengwe, the 15km race starting off at Malala Business Centre and a 5km power walk competition from Mabidi suburb.
All the races will end at the town centre.
Beitbridge Municipality spokesperson, Raniel Ndou said they were targeting 1 000 athletes in all the races.
“This is our eighth anniversary year and we have opened registration early to allow many people to participate,” he said.
“Our target is to register at least 700 athletes”.
Those interested in the marathon should register at Beitbridge Municipality’s main offices or at the housing offices in Dulilvhadzimu suburb or Tshithaudze Clinic.
More disabled people are encouraged to take part in this race. Entry fees, Ndou said, were pegged at R50 or US$3 and that they were putting together a lot of prizes for the athletes.
“You may note there is a shift from the November calendar to June. We had provisionally settled for November for the past three years owing to Covid19 restrictions. Otherwise the normal calendar is June since this is a cooler month,” said Ndou.
Online Reporter