Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE third edition of the Bulawayo Public Library Half Marathon will be held on Sunday with the aim of saving the book house from collapse.
Rita Budi, the chief librarian, confirmed the race saying they are expecting a good number of athletes to register for the competition for the worthy charity cause.
“It’s on November 16 and this is the third marathon that we have had,” Budi said.
“We are always trying by all means to save the Bulawayo Public Library.”
The theme of the marathon is “Running with a book in mind.”
“Not that I’m saying we are shutting down but for the operations, the renovations, something like that, because we have at least the braille session that was having water coming in from the roof,” Budi said.
“We tried to fix that one with the last marathon that we had.
“The last time we had paint donated by Proton Bakeries, we painted the section.”
She said there are still some renovations and sprucing up to be done at the library, the oldest in the country.
“We are still trying to further advance and do renovations at the library so that at least it becomes a conducive space for people to read in and for people to do discussions,” Budi said.
“That is the whole purpose of the marathon, to save the library.”
She, however said, interest from athletes and fitness enthusiasts has been low to date, but they were expecting more to register before the race on Sunday.
“It’s unfortunate we haven’t reached out to so many people, but not bad so far, considering that this is our third marathon,” she said.
“The participation is not really bad, but we’ll be expecting more people to come in, more people to save the library, considering that so many people have been helped by this library.
“This is the first library in our country that has been there in Bulawayo.”
She said the main goal is to have the library reopened.
“We are expecting that many people should come in and just run, whether for the sake of fun, for the sake of saving the library, or for the sake of the future generations that are coming, you know, so that we try by all means to open it and have more people coming in to read in the library and be safe,” Budi said.
“Many people are now no longer reading, they’re using cell phones, they’re using so many things, but those things are not really giving them the feel of the library.
“You know how it is when you get into the library, the peace, the quietness, the feel of the book.”
The race will feature the 21km half marathon, 10km, 5km and a 5km fun walk.
Registration is US$15 for the 21km race, US$10 for the US10km run, US$5 for the 5km race and the fun walk.
The Bulawayo Public Library has support from the Bulawayo Athletics Board.
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