November 2, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
THE People's Marathon, South Africa's richest standard marathon, takes place on Sunday, 6 November through the streets of Soweto. The People's Marathon is the popular name of the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon.
The race, now in its 14th year, draws thousands of onlookers along the route.
It will also be broadcast live on SABC2. Athletics South Africa's manager of events, marketing and communication, Phiwe Tsholetsane, says, "The marathon will be televised for four hours, from 6am to 10am on SABC2."
The annual 42km standard marathon starts and finishes at Nasrec.
Prize money totals R420 000, for events that include the 42km race, a 10km run and a 20km walk. The first male and female to cross the finish line will each win R50 000, while the first place finishers in the 10km race will each receive R5 000.
"We are now open for late entries until the last day before the race," Tsholetsane says. "We are expecting the number of entries to increase by up to 50 percent more than what we've received over the past weeks."
The marathon starts at Nasrec Road and follows last year's route. It runs along Vilakazi Street, past Archbishop Desmond Tutu's house and Nelson Mandela's first house, then turns right at Maseko Street and on to Khumalo Street from the Hector Pieterson Memorial, before rejoining Vilakazi Street.
After turning left at Butshingi Street, the route joins Mtipa Street. The 10km race and the 20km walk start outside Gate 2 at the Nasrec Expo centre.
Entrance fees are R55 for the marathon, R30 for the walk and R25 for the 10km race. Entry forms can be collected from the Athletics South Africa offices in Houghton or from Total Sports stores at Westgate, Southgate, Eastgate, East Rand Mall, Cresta Shopping Centre and Menlyn Park in Pretoria.
Sponsors include Old Mutual, City of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Water, ABI, Kaya FM, Coca-Cola, PowerAde, Adidas, Total Sports and Clinix.
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