Rock City Marathon launched in Mwanza

Dar es Salaam. The 9th edition of the Rock City Marathon was launched at an impressive ceremony at the Rock City Mall in Mwanza this weekend.

The launch of the race organised by Capital Plus International (CPI) was also attended by representatives of all Lake Zone RCs that include Simiyu, Geita, Shinyanga, Mara and Kagera.

Speaking during the occasion Nyamagana  District Commissioner,  Merry Tesha who represented the Mwanza Regional Commissioner, John Mongella said there was a need for tourist and sports stakeholders in the region to ensure they use the tournament to publicize all the opportunities and tourism attractions available in the region.

"That is why the government is very pleased to see the private sector designs and applies the best practices like this of using sports platforms to improve the tourism industry particularly in our Lake Zone. We are currently fighting to add value in the tourism sector,’’ she said.

Speaking of athletic development especially in the zone Tesha said there was a need for stakeholders to make sure that they are properly using the existing increase in a number of races in the country to produce new talents who could save the nation during the international tournaments.

Rock City Marathon has increasingly gained popularity with Tiper, Puma Energy Tanzania, New Mwanza Hotel, Precision Air, KK Security, CF Hospital, Rock City Mall, Dasani, Metro Fm, Global Education Link, Barmedas TV, Gold Crest Hotel, NSSF, EF Outdoor and SDS coming on board as sponsors so far while more sponsors were urged to use the opportunity to market their products and services.

“We have decided to launch the event much earlier to give the runners ample time to prepare”,  Zenno, Ngowi, Chairman of the Steering Committee said, adding: “The marathon will be held at the CCM Kirumba on October 28 with runners coming from all East African region, Europe, United States and Asia.’’

“We purposely chose the Mwanza region as hosts, because it is home to the Lake Zone Tourism circuit. It has always been a tradition that after the event, participants, especially visitors from abroad sample the various tourism products on offer from the region, such as the beaches along Lake Victoria, as well as the culture, and take game drives to see our wildlife in Serengeti National Park which is a two-hour drive from Mwanza, thereby contributing to our national economy,” said  Ngowi.

 Apart from 42km race he mentioned other categories of the marathon that are a 21-kilometers’ race for men and women, a 5-kilometers’ corporate classic race, a 3-kilometer race for people with albinism, a 3-kilometer race for the elderly who are 55years and above, and a 2.5 -kilometer race for children aged between 7 and 10 years.