Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
CONFUSION prevailed over organisers of the inaugural Bulawayo Half Marathon who postponed the road run citing precaution against the cholera outbreak.
With less than a week before the race that was scheduled for September 29, the organisers first turned away potential runners from registering before announcing that the race will go ahead 24 hours and then eventually postponing it a day later.
Sources close to the organisers painted a gloomy picture, saying the cholera excuse had saved them from embarrassment as they were not prepared to stage a race of this magnitude.
“Things were not going as planned as some partners were taking long to commit, making it difficult to release a prize schedule. The other option was to use money received from registration, but the problem was that the numbers were low,” said a source.
In most races, athletes usually register on the eve of the event and in the case of the Bulawayo Half Marathon, top runners had been calling the Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) inquiring about the prizes before registering.
Registration fees for the races were $10 for the main 21km, $7 and $5 for the 11km and 5km fun runs.
However, Jackie Chirambaguhwa, a representative of the race organisers, The Marathon Company, said: “Unfortunately I’m not in a position to comment about the budget, but what I can tell you is that we were ready to host the event. We were forced to cancel the race to a later date as a precautionary measure following the cholera outbreak.
We will give you more details pertaining the new date for the race in October.” – @ZililoR
Online Reporter