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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau

IT’S all systems go for the Beitbridge Mayor’s ninth edition of the anti-litter half marathon set for tomorrow morning along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo highway.

The race is being held to raise awareness on littering issues in a town which produces at least 1000 tonnes of solid waste monthly.

At the moment, the council is only able to collect at least 700 tonnes of solid waste every month. Race spokesperson, Raniel Ndou said they have covered a lot of ground in terms of preparations and were ready to roll.

He said the event will be held under the theme “Beitbridge My Home, My Smart City: Running Against Litter.
“This is our ninth edition of the Mayor’s Half Marathon. The race registration fee is US$5 or equivalent bank rate of the day. Preparations are advanced and we hope to reach our target of 500 athletes”, said Ndou.

“We are going to maintain our route along the Beitbridge to Bulawayo highway since there is less traffic where we will have three main races including the 21,1km, 10km and 5km power walk.

The power walk starts at the roundabout separating the highways to Bulawayo and Harare and passes through Tshitaudze and Dulivhadzimu suburbs. The five kilometre running is only for the junior category 16-19 years.

Ndou said they had also invited mayors and councillors from other towns to participate and witness the race.
He said they were receiving overwhelming support from the community and were looking forward to another successful event.

Ndou called for more organisations and individuals to support the adding they need to register on time so that they don’t miss out.

“So far, 125 participants in total have registered, 20 of these registered through our online platform. We shall have 13 water points manned by different organisations/companies.

“A clean-up will be carried out on Friday (today) along the marathon route. “We shall go a step further and live stream the event this year,” he said.