Econet marathon warms up Comrades

THE Econet Victoria Falls Marathon’s rapid growth has attracted the attention of organisers of the world’s oldest race, the Comrades.

Marathon in South Africa who are seeking partnerships with other events around the world.

Established in 1921, the Comrades Marathon is an annual ultra-marathon event of 90km and takes place in KwaZulu-Natal between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

The Comrades Marathon is the world’s largest and oldest ultra-marathon race attracting more than 30 000 runners from 85 countries.

The 2023 Econet Victoria Falls Marathon attracted 4 500 runners from 42 countries and organisers said it has grown bigger after starting with 50 runners 15 years ago.

The Comrades Marathon Association which organises the South African event exhibited for the first time at the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon in an effort to interact personally with runners and potential registrants in preparation for next year’s event.

Victoria Falls became the Comrades Marathon’s first port of call in it’s plans to visit all marathons worldwide because Zimbabwe provides the biggest number of runners to the KZN event.

Comrades Marathon Association marketing co-ordinator Sifiso Mngoma said the visit to the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon was to raise awareness about the South African event and acquaint runners with information.

“We are here at the at the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon because the Comrades Marathon receives runners from over 85 countries around the world and what’s interesting mostly about Zimbabwe is that it has more runners than all these countries participate.

“So we started this campaign and we didn’t have to look further than Zimbabwe since they are our neighbours and also we receive quite a lot of runners from this region. So we are here to assist runners with information so that they can know how to enter and also give them any other information about the Comrades Marathon,” said Mngoma.

He said the Comrades Marathon Association once toured some marathons but stopped because of some challenges chief among them the Covid-19 pandemic three years ago.

“This is our first one as we have mentioned and next month we are going to Brazil and St Paulo Marathon. Comrades Marathon is the most prestigious brand in running. We are not just a bigger brand but we are the oldest ultra-marathon and the biggest in the world,” he said.

Unlike other marathons where runners compete full race individually and there are different categories such as the 42km and 21km for the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon, the Comrades Marathon is a full 90km race.

Mngoma said the distance however varies with the route changes and ranges between 87km and 90km.
The Econet Victoria Falls Marathon is in its 15th year and is sponsored by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe which also celebrated its silver jubilee this year.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe chief operations officer Kezito Makuni said the event keeps growing each year. — @ncubeleon