Marekele National Park in Limpopo will be hosting their annual Marakele marathon on March 3, 2018. Marakele National Park will host the event in partnership with SANParks Honorary Rangers and Thabazimbi marathon club and Coca Cola Beverages South Africa as the title sponsor.
The aim of the event is to bring together the public and the running community to take “a run on the wild side”. The marathon provides an opportunity for runners to experience the wild. Park Manager at Marakele, Mphadeni Nthangeni, said the marathon was held in March to accommodate professional runners who would like to participate in all the major races that lead to the Comrades Marathon. The new logo and medals will feature the Big Five.
“We thought that since Marakele is a Big 5 National Park, we should introduce medals that will be unique to the race and something that people can remember their experience by”, said Nthangeni.
Participants can choose to complete one of three races, the full marathon (42.2 km), half marathon (21.1 km) or 10 km race. There is also a 5 km fun run planned for the whole family. Participants are limited to 300 runners per race, however there is no limit on the 5 km fun run. The proceeds from this marathon will go to the Honorary Rangers who will utilise the funds for conservation activities within the park.
Those who wish to participate can register online at www.racetime.co.za or at your nearest Pick n Pay retail outlet. Alternatively, for manual entries and accommodation in the park, please contact Elise Coetzer on [email protected] or fax 086 613 0720.