R150k winners purse up for grabs as Prince Mangosuthu Ultra-Marathon ups prize money
Since it's inception in 2018, the Prince Mangosuthu Ultra-Marathon has been one of the highest paying races in South Africa. For the first six editions, the 52km race which is run between Dundee and Inquthi in the northern KwaZulu-Natal, paid a winner's prize of R100 000. However there was more good news for runners as the organizers of this race named after late Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP) founder Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi announced that the winners in both men's and women's category of the 2025 edition of the gruelling ultra marathon will pocket R150 000 each.
This wonderful news for the region's top ultra runners was made public during a media briefing held on Friday 7 February at the Southern Sun Hotel in Durban, which doubled as the launch for this year's race scheduled for 27 April. Siyabonga Ngobese, Chairperson of Biggersberg Athletics Club who organize the race, was over the moon when he announced the 50% increase in the prize purse. But he was even more excited that local businesses are supporting this event more and more as they relied heavily relied on Umzinyathi District municipality as the main sponsor in the past.
"We are so pleased to see the sponsors putting more prize money especially with the winner going to pocket R150 000 for both men's and women's category. It is good news as the race hasn't had an increase for the past six years. With this news, I'm hoping to see more athletes coming in numbers to challenge for the money. My hope though is to see local athletes excelling in the race and walking away with a top prize. We are not done as we are still seeking for more sponsors to inject more funds in the 21km and 10km in order for athletes to change their lives through running."
Race Director Celi Makhoba also welcomed the good news about the increase in prize money saying that he hopes the athletes will take advantage of the opportunity. Makhoba also challenged organisers of the race which was won by Lesotho's Lekhotla Pulinyana last year, to continue to work tirelessly to grow the race while keeping the legacy of Prince Buthelezi alive.
"It's now up to the runners to train hard. Many sports people do wonderful things through the money obtain from running. So it's good news to us. My main wish however, is for organisers not to rely less on government from sponsorship because anything can happen. A different party can take power and decide to end this wonderful project. So I hope organisers can go out there to find more sponsors to keep the legacy of Buthelezi alive."
Opmerkingen