By Bongani Majola
THE winner of this year's prestigious 50km City-to-City ultra-marathon, between Johannesburg and Tshwane, which takes place in September will take home a purse of R55 000, double last year's prize money.
The race, on Sunday 7 September, is expected to draw a crowd of 10 000 athletes.
Run between Gauteng's premier centres, the City-to-City Heritage Marathon is a celebration of the two cities, and "a chance to pitch the race among the world's best ultra-marathons this year", said Gauteng MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Mondli Gungubele.
Gungubele, speaking at a media briefing in Sandton, was flanked by Jacaranda FM station manager Mike Siluma, CEO of Athletics South Africa (ASA) Banele Sindane, and empowerment consortium New Africa Investment Limited (NAIL) executive Aggrey Klaaste.
"We want to turn the marathon into something profoundly South African, away from just another marathon on the calendar," said Klaaste, whose consortium was sponsoring the race to the tune of R1,5-million.
Jacaranda 94.2 promised to commit airtime to the tune of R300 000 to promote the race, Siluma announced. "We will do this because, like the race, we share a history of racial exclusivity. Whereas years ago, Jacaranda was an exclusively Afrikaans station, today 66 percent of our listeners are black. So we recognise the value of sport in bridging racial gaps".
There was no doubt, said Gungubele, about sport's capacity to bring people together. "Sports unite people from radically different backgrounds and, to us, it doesn't matter who wins the race as long as it is run on South African soil, because we are a nation that is passionate about sports".
Taking place in September, heritage month, the race was being held at a time "when we celebrate all the achievements by South Africans. So we dare not underestimate the significance of the race and, in particular, its history of racial exclusivity," said Gungubele.
Launched in 1936, the 50km ultra-marathon was first run to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of gold in the then Transvaal. Exclusively white and male, that race was won by Fred Morrison.
Following the inclusion of black athletes in 1980, the race saw some of the most dramatic sporting achievements in the country's road running history. In 1982 Ben Choeu, a black athlete from Giyani in Limpopo, set the course record of 2:46:08, which was still unbroken. Linda Xaba became the first black woman to win an ultra-marathon in Africa, finishing a good 30 minutes ahead of the second woman.
With options of a 20km walk and a 20km halfway run from Midrand, the City-to-City race has grown from 4 500 participants in 1936 to an expected 10 000 this year. It starts at 6am at the Centurion Rugby Club in Tshwane and finishes at the Wanderers Cricket Stadium, Johannesburg.
Entry forms are available at selected sports shops, Central Gauteng Athletics, Athletics Gauteng North, the council offices of Johannesburg and Tshwane, and at the Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.
For more information contact Nomazwe Ntlokwana at (011) 355 2578 or 083 507 8068.
