Karibib to host third Navachab half-marathon The third annual Navachab half-marathon is set to take place in Karibib on Saturday.Since its introduction in 2014, the race has become a staple on the Namibian calendar even though last year’s entrants did not match the number of the maiden edition.
The first race had about 250 runners but last year only had 180 athletes taking part in the various categories.
The Navachab Gold Mine at Karibib is the main sponsor of the event, while Namibia Marble and Granite Company has joined in funding this year’s event.
In addition to giving N$5 000 to the organisers, the marble company will also man one of the water points during the race.
FNB Karibib, which has been one of the co-sponsors since the launch of the event, and the Karibib town council will man other water points.
“This event has been marked for mass participation and we expect runners from all the regions,” said Bethold Karumendu, the regional sport officer and organiser of the Navachab half-marathon.
He added that the directorate of sport has made about seven buses available to transport athletes to the race.
“We will house those that do not have accommodation at the Usakos Youth Hostel, which is about 30km from Karibib,” he stated.
Navachab spokesman Lion Kahimise said the excitement of hosting the event is reaching fever pitch in Karibib.
“The town is ready to accept you and we would like to encourage everyone to come out in numbers to participate,” Kahimise said at the launch of the race in Windhoek yesterday.
The winners of the senior (men and women) 21km race will walk away with N$5 000 prize money while the junior (men and women between 13-19 years) race winners will get N$2 000.
The veterans (40-49) will get N$2 000 and the masters (50+) will take home N$1 500 for coming home first.
Registrations for the race start on Friday.
“We will do registrations in town on Friday before moving to the Usab Field later in the afternoon to continue until late. We will also do late registrations on the morning of the race,” Karumendu said.
HECTOR MAWONGA