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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ECONET Wireless, sponsors of one of the country’s biggest marathons, the Victoria Falls Marathon, have come up with another instalment for long distance runners with the launch of the Buddie Beatz ‘Run Thae beat Virtual Marathon’.

The inaugural edition of the marathon will take place on December 12.

The Buddie Beatz ‘Run The beat Virtual Marathon’ will become an annual event and is part of the mobile network operator’s drive to support and promote local music talent. Proceeds from the race will go towards supporting and promoting local musicians.

Econet also said the virtual marathon is in line with its ethos of promoting a healthy lifestyle among its customers and the general population.

“We are excited to introduce the new virtual marathon, which underlines our quest to promote healthy lifestyles through exercise and sports, especially through running. Together with our fitness partners, we look forward to helping expand fitness opportunities to hundreds of thousands of people.

We are calling upon amateur and professional athletes to join the virtual marathon, which has race categories to suit different people, including 5km and 7.5km fun runs, 21km half-marathon and a 42km full marathon,” said Econet in a statement.

In a virtual marathon, athletes register and pay the requisite amount for their preferred distance then run on the set date at their own time, along their own chosen route within a prescribed time frame.

Athletes record the finishing time and upload it on the race website and get certificates of participation, which they can print out.

A virtual marathon can be held in any location one chooses and organisers of most events on the continent have gone virtual and attract larger audiences from all over the world.

The virtual marathon is supported by Econet’s Buddie Beatz Music App, a music streaming pioneer service in Zimbabwe, with over 45 000 songs and more than 4 000 artists signed up to the platform.

The platform, which is accessible to anyone from any mobile network locally and across the world, has brought the best exciting Afro and international music to Buddie Beatz customers globally.

The Buddie Beatz music content appeals to various age groups and demographics, giving choice and variety to music lovers. The most popular genres include Zimdancehall, Urban Grooves, House, Afro-fusion, Sungura and traditional, Chimurenga and Jazz music.

Buddie Beatz also sustains the livelihoods of Zimbabwean artists, with over 3 500 artists that have received royalty payouts for their music being streamed on the platform.

Those wanting to participate in the inaugural Buddie Beatz “Run the Beat Virtual Marathon have to pay a token of $100 registration fee via EcoCash or using the Paynow payment portal.

Runners can also pay US$1 via their MasterCard or Visa cards, on the Econet PayPal registration platform.

To register, a runner needs to visit the website https://runthebeat.paynow.co.zw and follow the instructions. — @nnocentskizoe