The Sunday News
Lovemore Dube
THE Econet Victoria Falls Marathon started in Bulawayo this morning with a relay team of nine athletes. Some of them have run the Comrades Marathon.
Mehluli Sibanda, David Gondongwe, Talent Ncube, Delight Murukayi, Federlis Bhebhe, Liam Savari, Rudo Sibanda, Andrew Mhere and Stanley Sibanda will today run 175km before retiring to continue tomorrow up to Hwange. The team of runners is also composed of Econet employees mainly from the Southern Region.
This team will amplify the hype of the main attraction which is the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon by stopping at towns on their way and promoting the event.
Speaking at the athletes send off dinner that was held at a local hotel last night, Fungai Tanara, of Geronimo Advertising said:
“This year once again Geronimo Advertising on behalf of Econet Wireless is conducting another relay with the Hello 25 Celebrations being top of mind! Last year the same relay was run from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls taking 5G to the Smoke that Thunders! Eight runners ran the relay. We are happy to be working with nine elite runners. The relay will have stops where we will have activations. We are asking for people from Matabeleland to come join us as Econet turns 25 years. The Econet Victoria Falls Marathon is going to be live streamed from Harare to Victoria Falls.”
The Econet Victoria Falls Marathon has become one of the biggest road races on the calendar. It’s fully flavoured with international athletes drawn from several countries giving locals exposure.