The popular Soweto Marathon will take place in November this year with a new headline sponsor coming on board.
The renowned African Bank will partner with the event as a main sponsor in a long-term partnership along with the City of Johannesburg and Rand Water.
There were recent unconfirmed reports that the annual event would be cancelled due to lack of funding.
There were conflicting reports about whether the popular annual event was going to take place or not.
But the new sponsorship from a renowned bank will ensure that the marathon will take place on the 5th of November this year.
The governing body, Athletics South Africa (ASA), says cancelling the event was going to have negative ripple effects:
ASA’s President, James Moloi says, “This event has got history, and we will not allow the situation where we will cancel this event. Most of the business people in Soweto are benefiting from this and some of the tourists come to Soweto and run the marathon and in return, they will stay in Soweto so that they can plough back and give money to Soweto business people and support and buy in Soweto.”
Good news for the runners is that the entry fees have been reduced compared to last year.
The marathon is targeting at least 50 000 participants, including international runners, which will be a new record for the event.
Soweto Marathon Trustee, Thokozani Mazibuko, says they have reduced entry fees to attract more runners.
“What we saw fit was there was an outcry. The athletes were saying the entry fee is too high. We then weighed options to increase the prize money and keep entry fee the same. So, we decided to keep the entry fee the same because we are the only marathon that is paying R250 000 and give runners the relief on the entry fee. So, we reduced the entry fee which will make our race grow and hopefully, attract 50 000 people.”
The marathon will follow exactly the same route, starting and finishing at the FNB Stadium.
The prize money will remain the same for all three categories – the 10 kilometres run, the half marathon and marathon.
Race director, Danny Blumberg, admits the internal politics is a hindrance, but they are trying their best to make the race a success.
Blumberg says, “We are not gonna shy away from politics. I think it has been in the media space. We are trying to run the operation parallel with sorting out the politics, and we are proud to have African Bank on board as our main sponsor. We are looking forward to working with them through the hardships. We have had to clean up our house.”
Race Director Danny Blumberg says that there will be a nice surprise when entries open at midnight with decreased entry fees of R380 for the Marathon; R300 for the half marathon, and R280 for the 10km! All entries will include a race tee! #SowetoMarathon2023 #ABSM2023 pic.twitter.com/3klpUgMw84
— African Bank Soweto Marathon (@SowetoMarathon) July 12, 2023
Registration for entries opens at midnight on the website, Sowetomarathon.com.
