The 2003 race attracted a huge crowd

RELATED LINKS: Highest prize money for race Perhaps it is because it coincides with the opening of the Nelson Mandela Bridge - the mammoth development project linking Braamfontein to Newtown - that the 21km Blue IQ Joburg City Challenge half marathon carries the largest prize money for any race of its kind in the country. Read more Blue IQ Blue IQ is a multi-billion rand initiative of the Gauteng provincial government to invest in economic infrastructure development in identified mega-projects in the areas of tourism, technology, transport and high value-added manufacturing. Read more Newtown: your guide Located in the western sector of the Johannesburg city centre, Newtown covers an area that stretches from the marshalling yards and railway lines to the north, the M2 motor-way in the south, West Street in the east and Quinn Street in the west. Read more

City Challenge reaches out to schools April 21, 2004 By Ndaba Dlamini A WHOPPING R20 000 prize will be offered to the winning school in this year's Blue IQ Joburg City Challenge race to be held on 18 July, Nelson Mandela's birthday, said Gauteng MEC for finance and economic affairs, Jabu Moleketi, on Tuesday. In addition to the first prize, the schools' campaign will also offer prizes of R10 000 and R5 000 for the second and third finishing schools respectively. The challenge, billed as Africa's richest road race, will see more than 600 Gauteng high schools vying for first place in the 10km schools' competition. Places will be decided on the highest number of placed, registered finishers. Speaking to the media during the launch of the competition, Blue IQ project leader Irvin Naidoo said: "This annual race will mark our 10 years of freedom and also celebrate the City of Johannesburg's contribution in the development of our country. It is indeed a special opportunity for all our people, young and old, to come together and become part of the economic transformation under way." The highlight of the challenge will be the 21km half marathon, which will showcase some of the country's talented athletes running alongside the best from Africa and the rest of the world. Besides the 10km race, there will also be a street mile for invited guests. More than R750 000 has been set aside for prizes, with both the first man and woman half-marathoners assured of R175 000. Entry to the schools' competition is free, the half-marathon is R30 and the 10km race R20. In line with Athletics South Africa's requirements, entrants who are not athletics club members will be required to pay an additional temporary licence fee of R12 and R10 for the half-marathon and 10km respectively. Transport for school-going race participants from around Gauteng to Johannesburg's inner city will be provided. The inaugural high school competition was last year scooped by Fons Luminis Secondary School in Diepkloof, Soweto. Entry forms for the schools' competition will soon be available at various Gauteng high schools. For more information, contact Ratanang Lebeko on 011 712 9600. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za