AfricaPress-Tanzania: AFTER a four months hiatus due to the outbreak of the infectious Covid-19, Meta Sports, who are organisers of the annual Ngorongoro Marathon, have revealed that the event will now take place next August.
The 21 kilometres’ Ngorongoro Half-Marathon is an athletic event racing from Loduare entry gate in Ngorongoro, down to Rhotia Township then back again climaxing at Mazingira Bora grounds in Karatu District.
More than 2,000 runners were expected to race in the 2020 installment of the annual Ngorongoro race, which was to take place a week after Easter, attracting participants from Tanzania, Kenya and other countries.
Organised by Meta Sports and bankrolled by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), the event is annually flagged off from the Loduare gate, with the main race sticking to the usual half-marathon distance of 21 kilometres.
The event also features 5 kilometres fun-racing as well as the children category topping at the 2.5 kilometres’ distance run.
Now the race coordinator, Petro Meta revealed here that they intend to organise the race on August 2nd this year over four months since the previously mentioned date of April 19th 2020.
Runners will race all the way to Rhotia Hills, then turn back and complete the Marathon at the Mazingira Bora grounds of Karatu Township. It usually rains when the race is held in April, but for August, dust will prevail.
This year’s theme ‘Race Against Poaching, Promote Domestic Tourism,’ also remains as it is expected that the race will highly promote tourism activities at the Conservation Area as well as keeping the adjacent Karatu Township busy.
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Khamis Kigwangalla participated in the Ngorongoro Race for two consecutive years–2018 and 2019.
During the previous Ngorongoro Half-Marathon 2019, it was a Kenyan runner, Abraham Too, who won the race in a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes and 59 seconds.
In second place was Tanzanian Michael Kishiba from the National Service (JKT), who covered the distance in 1:5.45 seconds. He was ahead of the third winner, Kenyan Festus Cheboi.
The same case applied to the female runners winning bill; Esther Chesang from Kenya topped the lot having raced the 21 kilometers in 1:16.49 seconds. She beat Natalie Elisante from Talent Club of Arusha, who completed the round in 1:1641 seconds.
