HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has declared that this year’s edition of Sunshine City Half Marathon, which is set to take place at Harare Gardens this weekend, will be bigger and better than the inaugural edition in terms of the number of athletes taking part.
Mafume was speaking at the launch of the second edition of the Sunshine City Half Marathon at Town House on Tuesday.
The Sunshine City Half Marathon will see competition come in 21km, 10km and 5 km races while there will be braai, zumba, tug of war and entertainment from HMP Band, among other activities.
The race starts at 6am at Harare Gardens.
Mafume said this year’s event is going to be bigger and better.
“This is our second year running (for the Sunshine City Half Marathon) and the last one, we had over 213 participants in the half marathon and we want to thank those who participated,” he said.
“We are looking at an improved number of athletes this time around so that our event can be bigger and better.”
The marathon event is organised by the City of Harare in partnership with oil expresser Pure Gold and mobile network operator Econet.
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Winners in the 21km race will walk away with US$200, with the 10km competition promising a US$150 purse and 5km athletes fighting for US$100.
Mafume also revealed the municipality’s vision to restore Harare’s sports economy.
“As you know, we set up a sports committee chaired by councillor Stanley Manyenga and he is here and the reason why we set up a sports committee is to restore the sports economy of Harare,” he said.
“As you know, the sports economy of Harare was underpinned by the City of Harare. We have over 13 swimming pools, over 20 stadiums in terms of soccer.
“Cricket is played at some of our fields and rugby is played at the city’s sports clubs. Many of the sporting activities that happen in Harare such as hockey, athletics and so forth are underpinned by the City of Harare.”
Added Mafume: “So, if we do well in maintaining our sports facilities, we will then be able to create a sports economy for Harare and that will help the citizens. Right now, we have refurbished Rufaro Stadium for local standards. We are working on making it an international stadium.
“We are entering into partnerships for Mabvuku Ground 1. Very soon, we will have signed a memorandum of understanding to make it a good stadium. Likewise, Gwanzura, DZ [Dzivaresekwa] and many other sporting facilities and now we are dealing with athletics.”
