A new Rössing Namibia Marathon Champion was crowned today in Swakopmund at the annual Rössing Namibia Marathon Championship event. The event was hosted for the 21st consecutive year by Rössing this year.

Paulus Iyambo of the Namibian Defense Force became a first-time champion in the 42.2 km race with a personal best time of 2:23:04.

"It was a special but difficult victory. The wind was a factor today and the competition was very stiff, but I'm very happy to have won for the first time here during the Rössing Marathon.

Short on his heels was Frans Hosea, also from the NDF, and in his very first marathon in a time of 02:24:38 while another NDF teammate, Simon Shipanga finished third in 02:25:21.

The 80 marathon runners ran into a relatively strong northerly wind for the first half of the marathon on the Henties Bay road, but conditions cleared towards midday and sunny weather prevailed until the end of the event. The marathon record is still held by Luketz Swartbooi who ran it in 2:11:23 in 1992.

The Marathon Ladies Open winner was for the second time in a row the NDF runner Helaria Johannes (02:51:58) followed by Selma Nambadi (03:20:01) and Rachel Akukutela (03:24:55) in third place.

Helaria already qualified for the 2012 Olympics and will be representing Namibia in the Marathon.

 

Mens Marathon winner - Paulus Iyambo with Rossing MD, Chris Salisbury & Dep Minister Sport, Pohamba Shifeta	Ladies Marathon winner - Helaria Johannes with Rossing MD, Chris Salisbury and Dep. Minister Sport, Pohamba Shifeta
Mens 10km winner - Johannes Skrywer	Ladies 10km winner - Beata Naigambo
Runners on the Henties Bay road	Ladies marathon winner - Helaria Johannes

 

The very popular 10 km Run, with increased prize money, saw a total of 156 runners entering. The Swakop Striders athlete, Johannes Skrywer, took home gold in the 10km Run in the Men's Open in a time of 00:30:38 whilst Beata Naigambo took first place in this year's 10km Ladies Open with a time of 00:33:04. Beata is the other Namibian lady to represent Namibia at the 2012 Olympics in the Marathon category later this year.

The Men's Open and Ladies' Open winners won N$10 000 cash each as well as the recently introduced Development Bonus worth N$20 000 each in support of the continued development of the athletics careers of these two champions over the remainder of the season in 2012. The total cash prize money in all categories was over N$60 000.

The 10km Team Relay Run for uranium companies was won by the “Blue Team” of Langer Heinrich Uranium with Rössing teams making up the second and third places.

The Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, the Honourable Pohamba Shifeta, was the main guest speaker at the prize-giving ceremony. He stressed that Government is actively involved in supporting local athletes and that his ministry also appreciates the work the athletics clubs are doing to create platforms for athletes to perform and grow. He added that the government especially valued private sport development partnerships and said: “This helps to develop our Namibian nation as sport plays an important role in the development of a nation.”

Fun walk biggest group - Swakop bikers club	10km Team Relay winners - Blue Team - Langer Heinrich Uranium

 

Rössing's Managing Director, Chris Salisbury, also speaking at the same event, said: “The Rössing Marathon is now considered one of the MUST DO long distance events for Namibian long distance runners, with international interest in the event also on the rise. Athletes aiming to qualify for, and compete in, the premier South African long distance events later in the year, use this marathon as an important trial run to test their readiness, and in fact to achieve qualification times for these events.”

Salisbury added: “I am also proud to announce that we are committed to continue our sponsorship of this important event on the Namibian athletics calendar, and plan to do it for the 22nd time next year.”

The fun filled 5km Charity Fun Walk attracted walkers from as far as Germany and Switzerland and with the Namibians included resulted in donations totaling N$4500 for the Cancer Association of Namibia. During the Fun Walk prize-giving, prizes were given in various categories, including for the youngest walker who was six years old and the oldest walker at 73 years of age as well as the shortest walker - this accolade going to fancily dressed sausage dog, walking with her owner.

Issued by Rössing's External Affairs

Enquiries:
Botha Ellis
Communications Advisor
Tel: 064 520 2426
Cell: 081 286 0456