Blantyre Marathon put on hold
The inaugural Blantyre Marathon has been shifted from November 17 2013 to next year with main organisers, Sports Council, citing limited preparatory time.
Key stakeholders in the race, the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM), confirmed on Thursday that a meeting of Wednesday with council arrived at the postponement.
“Sports Council were to be the main sponsors and they told us that if we fancied holding our own marathon, we can go ahead, but we see sense in their position that they need more time and make the prizes even better,” said AAM president Godfrey Phiri.
The winner of the 42-kilometre race was poised to receive K300 000 (about $750), a development which excited many runners.
“I know athletes such as Francis Khanje, Henry Moyo and George Kayange cancelled their plans to participate in Soweto Marathon in South Africa opting for the Blantyre Marathon. They surely will be disappointed, but let us accept this,” Phiri said.
Sports Council executive secretary George Jana said they wanted to administer a professional marathon “in a way how these things should be run and managed”.
“Our idea was to advertise it and make it big in the context of the Boston Marathon type of event. We think that one month is too short to have every arrangement in place and to allow other people who are not regular marathoners to patronise the event,” Jana explained.
