THE City of Bulawayo is set to host the inaugural Baldmin Holdings half marathon and fun run at White City Stadium on April 19.
The event is anticipated to attract at least 1 000 participants, including top professionals and recreational runners eager to compete in the 21km, 10km and 5km races.
The competition will include diverse categories, including open, veterans, masters, grandmasters, Wheelchair and junior divisions.
Stakes are high for the top finishers in the main event, with the winner set to claim US$500, while the second and third-place finishers will receive US$400 and US$300, respectively.
Costar Takawira, Baldmin Holdings chief executive officer and founder, said preparations for hosting the event are progressing well.
"We as Baldmin Holdings are in partnership with the Bulawayo team and we are sponsoring the Baldmin Bulawayo half marathon. All the preparations are now at an advanced stage with the prizes; the uniforms for the runners, medals and all the necessary items that are required for the event to take place have been acquired," he said.
“But this event, we are not sponsoring it alone, we have a few minority partners ( from South Africa) who are chipping in. We would be working with the City of Bulawayo, which is also part of the main organising team.
“We want to make it an annual event and it's also part of Baldmin Holdings' effort to contribute towards the uplifting of athletes around the country. We will try to have these marathons in Bulawayo, Harare and Mutare, as we want to ensure that we promote and emancipate athletes,” he said.
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Baldmin Holdings has a strong track record of supporting local athletics, having been the primary sponsor for competitions such as the Gift Chigwere Junior Championships and the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe triangular series.
"We have been involved in quite a lot of development or grassroots levels within the rural areas. This is now our new target area. We will support the association whenever we're called. But at the moment, we are doing events from the grassroots so that we promote our junior athletes, upcoming athletes, from the previous years. We are also building our clubs in disadvantaged areas and that's our main focus at the moment,” the former sprinter said.
