A fantastic day of running action was enjoyed by all this past Saturday as the Inaugural Umzimvubu half-marathon was held in KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere).
Runners from all over the Eastern Cape as well as some well-known national runners took part in the event.
“It was a great success. We were thrilled with the response and everything went off without a hitch,” said event organiser Novuko Kubone.
“We had runners all the way from Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal who came to take part, so we were really excited with the calibre of athletes that competed in the race.”
Three distances were competed, with the main 21km race, a 10km run and a 5km fun run all being held on the day.
In the end it was KZN runner Siyabonga Nkonde who took the win in the main race, followed by Anele Dlamini, while local Eastern Cape athlete Xolisa Tyali finished third.
Cape Town athlete Bulelwa Simae then triumphed on the women’s side ahead of Lusanda Bomvana and Loveness Madziva. The first male over the line in the 10km race was Gift Mbanjwa, while the first woman was Vuyiseka Nkumenge, and in the 5km run Mongezi Ngobe was the first man and Nosiva Kekelana the first woman to finish.
“All the winners were deserved champions in the end and the races were all extremely competitive, which was great to see,” said Kubone.
“We were expecting to get plus-minus 350 athletes, but we ended up getting more than 400 athletes which was really beautiful.”
The event organisers will now look to build on the success of the first showing of the run and make it a major race on the running calendar going forward.
“We loved the fact that the Daily Dispatch and Umhlobo Wenene were with us and we look forward to a wonderful partnership going forward,” said Kubone.
“This is definitely going to be an annual event on the calendar going forward. Some of the runners gave us some good ideas which we will certainly look into, and after this start it can only get bigger and better going forward.”
Best foot forward for KwaBhaca’s inaugural 21km
Runners from all over the Eastern Cape as well as some well-known national runners took part in the event.
“It was a great success. We were thrilled with the response and everything went off without a hitch,” said event organiser Novuko Kubone.
“We had runners all the way from Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal who came to take part, so we were really excited with the calibre of athletes that competed in the race.”
Three distances were competed, with the main 21km race, a 10km run and a 5km fun run all being held on the day.
In the end it was KZN runner Siyabonga Nkonde who took the win in the main race, followed by Anele Dlamini, while local Eastern Cape athlete Xolisa Tyali finished third.
Cape Town athlete Bulelwa Simae then triumphed on the women’s side ahead of Lusanda Bomvana and Loveness Madziva. The first male over the line in the 10km race was Gift Mbanjwa, while the first woman was Vuyiseka Nkumenge, and in the 5km run Mongezi Ngobe was the first man and Nosiva Kekelana the first woman to finish.
“All the winners were deserved champions in the end and the races were all extremely competitive, which was great to see,” said Kubone.
“We were expecting to get plus-minus 350 athletes, but we ended up getting more than 400 athletes which was really beautiful.”
The event organisers will now look to build on the success of the first showing of the run and make it a major race on the running calendar going forward.
“We loved the fact that the Daily Dispatch and Umhlobo Wenene were with us and we look forward to a wonderful partnership going forward,” said Kubone.
“This is definitely going to be an annual event on the calendar going forward. Some of the runners gave us some good ideas which we will certainly look into, and after this start it can only get bigger and better going forward.”
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