BY Sports Reporter THE inaugural Mashwede 10km road run scheduled for this Saturday at Mashwede Village along High Glen Road has incorporated the nappy dash in their bid to introduce athletics at the youngest age possible.
Professional athletes currently preparing for the Victoria Falls marathon set for July 3 in the resort town have also confirmed their participation, making it a race to remember.
Another group that will be taking part in the 10km race are teenagers and young adults who are patrons of the Mashwede Village.
However, it is the nappy dash that has had more inquiries than expected with parents registering for their children to take part in this new event on the racing calendar.
The nappy dash was popularised in Jamaica and it is no coincidence that the Caribbean Island has produced many Olympic gold medallists because children are introduced to athletics at a very young age. Mashwede Holdings have always invested in grassroots sport development, having sponsored the National Association of Secondary School Heads Under-17 football tournament for over a decade. Nappy dash race coordinator Martha Mashamhanda said she was inspired by the Jamaican sprinters.
“Nappy dash was conceived from my dream of developing athletes from kids as young as 0 to 4 years. For a long time, I had been fascinated by the young athletes in Jamaica then I said to myself why not try it with our own children,” she said.
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“The idea is about involving our young African child by tapping into their talents and God-given skills and helping to nurture it to fruition. We want to eradicate the mindset of saying sport is for the affluent and those that have material wealth, but it’s for all.
“I noticed that the zero to four-year-old category have no platform to showcase their athletics skills since the schools start absorbing the five-year olds and above. As Mashwede, we then decided to cover the gap by creating a competitive platform where kids have fun and in the process seeds are sown about a future in athletics. I hope this nappy dash concept will be an ongoing event and would like it to grow into a national and International event. As the old adage says, catch them young, we would like to see these young ones grow into elite athletes.”
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