The popular 1City Marathon has found a new home.
The race, which previously took place at the Fairview racecourse, consisting of distances over 42.2km, 21.1km, 10km and 5km, will now be held at Baywest Mall (entrance 4) on December 6.
The ninth edition of the race will be presented by EP Athletics in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, and is part of the NMB Legacy Project.
Race organiser Michael Mbambani hopes the change of venue will attract more road runners to join in the fun.
The marathon will start at 5.30am, followed by the half-marathon and 10km at 5.45am. The 5km race will begin at 7am.
“Last year, we had challenges with our old venue, mainly due to limited accessibility, as there is only one road going to the venue,” Mbambani said.
“There is nothing wrong with the venue as it is super perfect, but if the race comprises more than 2,000 runners, that means there is a chance of attracting more than 1,000 vehicles onto the same road where we have to run.
“So those are the things that we had to consider.
“Baywest Mall has more than 3,000 parking bays, which alone gives it a big plus.
“Second, though there will be a new route, it will still incorporate the old course in the Greenbushes and St Albans areas.
“This year, we have pushed ourselves to the maximum and we are targeting 3,000 runners for the event. If we get more, we will pat ourselves on the back.
“Last year, we had a groundbreaking turnout where we had about 2,300 entries for the race.
“The runners must just come in their numbers with their families to the festival.”
He said Baywest Mall would have plenty of lucky draws to be won on the day.
Bay road running ace Melikhaya Frans and Zimbabwean Danielle Wild were the big winners at the 1City Marathon in 2024.
Frans, 34, of Ikhamva Athletics Club, sprinted to the finish line to win in two hours, 20 minutes and six seconds.
He was closely followed by Mphatso Nadolo (Entsika AC) in 2.20:07, with Jonas Makhele (Entsika) third in 2.20:26.
Wild (Sterk Span AC) won the women’s race in a time of 2.56:23.
Nedbank Running Club’s Refeloe Solomons was second, clocking 3.06:20, and was followed by Annalisa Scholtz (Nedbank) in 3.07:39.
The Herald
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