Author: YASINTA AMOS
AfricaPress-Tanzania: GABRIEL Geay from the Talent Club of Arusha emerged the overall winner of the Ngorongoro Race 2020 in the male’s 21 kilometers category.
He finished the race in the time of 1 hour: 4 minutes and 42 seconds, to beat last year’s record winner Abraham Too from Kenya, who clocked 1:5:59.
In the second position came Herman Sule from Mbulu, who used 1:6:10, while in the third place was Josephat Joshua from Police Tanzania, who covered the 21 kilometers race in 1:6:57.
In the female category, the overall winner was Failuna Matanga from Talent Club of Arusha. She covered her distance in 1:16:3. Failuna also beat the last year’s winner, Esther Chesang from Kenya, who used 1:16:49.
The second winner in the female category went to Natalia Sule from Talent Club, who raced in 1:16:43, still again beating last year’s overall winner from Kenya.
In other words Kenyans athletes who topped the race last year, had their records beaten by Tanzanians even though the formers couldn’t participate this year due to Covid-19 lockdown in their country.
With the absence of Kenyan runners, Tanzania athletes dominated the 2020 Ngorongoro race, which was held over the weekend, becoming yet another spectacular sporting event of the year.
Fully funded by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), the 13th installment of the Half-Marathon race, as usual, flagged off from the Loduare Gate in Ngorongoro, with runners racing down into Karatu and Rhotia Townships of Karatu District, before ending the marathon at Mazingira Bora grounds.
The NCAA Deputy Commissioner of Conservation Ephraim Mwangomo, who also raced in the Marathon, maintained that, Ngorongoro race was an important tool in promoting Ngorongoro and Serengeti locally and internationally.
The Arusha Regional Commissioner, Idd Kimanta was the Guest of Honour during the event and stated that from next year his office will take active involvement of the race, so that prizes can be increased in order to make the event more attractive, relevant and respectable.
The Loduare Gate, where the race is usually flagged off, happens to be the official entrance postern into Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park as well as Olduvai Gorge, making it the most important pillar of Tanzania Tourism.
Other than the NCAA the annual race was also co-sponsored by the Moshi based soft drinks Company of Bonite Bottlers. The Ngorongoro Marathon resumed this month of September following the last April postponement.
Organised by Meta Sports Promotion, the race, which carried the theme of promoting domestic tourism, usually takes place every April but this year it had to be temporarily shelved due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Meta said there has been some adjustments to the Ngorongoro race, because the usual children oriented fun race of 5 kilometers has been stretched to now cover 10 kilometers.
