“It is our belief that an event takes at least five years to fulfil its promise we are now only in our third year, so there are still big things to come. In association with Athletics South Africa (ASA) we are going all out to organise a family-friendly event, not just a race. The fact that a new public holiday has been added might affect the field size from the point of view of locals going away for the weekend, but this should work in favour of out of town visitors who will now have an extra day to travel,” he added.
Scott also confirmed that the banking group would donate an additional R5 over and above the athletes donations per finisher of the marathon to the Sports Trust.
Outgoing CEO of ASA, Linda Ferns confirmed that entries were going according to plan. “The entry level is ahead of last years entries, so we are catering for a big field.”
The race is expected to draw the countrys elite athletes. Current SA Marathon champion Coolboy Ngamole and the first winner of the race in 2005 and also former African Marathon champion Johannes Kekana have already confirmed their entries. The prize money which includes a purse of R60 000 for first prize is expected to lure even more stars.
The race starts and finishes at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens and starts at 6:30am. The 10-kilometre starts at 7am and there is also a 5km fun run which gets under way at 7:45am. The marathon is the last qualifier for this years Comrades Marathon. SAPA
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