Durban - The uMzinyathi District Municipality will be officially launching the 2023 annual Prince Mangosuthu Ultra Marathon on 1 March, according to municipal spokesperson Nkanyiso Cebekhulu.
The municipality said the ultra marathon was first held in 2011 and hosted in partnership with the Biggerburg Athletics Club.
Cebekhulu said the ultra marathon takes place annually as part of Umzinyathi District Municipality’s commitment to promoting healthy living activities, personal discipline, social cohesion, and nation building through sport and recreation.
He said people from rural areas in their district get the rare chance to participate in a marathon and win big prizes.
“The key objective of the Prince Mangosuthu Ultra Marathon is contributing to the development and empowerment of our local communities in Nquthu, Endumeni, Msinga, and Umvoti.
Cebekhulu further explained that it would be awarding cash prizes worth over R762 000 for the top 10 runners.
“This marathon will provide runners an opportunity to experience world-standard performance in marathon running,” he said.
He added that the marathon is now part of their culture as it has been held for more than 10 years.
Cebekhulu said hosting the marathon had not been without challenges in recent years. However, the marathon is now back in full swing.
“There was an issue of changes in office (bearers) due to politics in the District, which affected the marathon, but in 2019, we took the decision to honour Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi by hosting a marathon using his name. In 2020 it was halted by Covid-19, but it was back in 2021,” explained Cebekhulu.
The launch of the marathon will be held at the Southern Sun Maharani Hotel in Durban.