ARUSHA: THE Ngorongoro Marathon which was supposed to be held on Sunday has been postponed again following the natural phenomenon which occurred in Hanang District where nearly 90 people were killed by a mudslide.
Organised by Meta Sports Promotions, the race was initially set for November 26 but was pushed forward to December 10.
Now once again the Marathon has been rescheduled to December 30 following the Hanang mudslide catastrophe.
The race organiser, Meta Bare unveiled that they have decided to postpone the event due to the natural calamity which occurred in Hanang District on December 3, 2023.
The Ngorongoro marathon is staged in Karatu District, with the race being flagged off from the Loduare Gate Station, which is the main entrance to both the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park from Arusha.
The event which is expected to attract over 2,000 runners will involve Half-marathon 21 kilometres, as well as the 10 kilometres and 5 kilometres’ fun race categories.
They will run from Ngorongoro Gate to the Rhotia Hill hamlet before turning back and finishing the race at the Mazingira Bora grounds in Karatu Township.
The race theme for this year is ‘No child should be left alone,’ which focuses on assisting young children and youths.
Previously, the event carried other missions such as fighting against wildlife poaching and illegal harvesting of natural resources.
Speaking about the partnership with SOS Children Village, Programme Manager Noah Mwakyalabwe said that their organisation has decided to partner up with Meta Sports because they also have a project in Karatu.
“We are working to raise funds for outreach missions that are targeting to rescue children who live under difficult and dangerous environments as well as homeless youths,” he said.
The race targets to raise more than 160m/- to support such programmes.
SOS Villages, which entered the country over 30 years ago, run humanitarian projects in Arusha, Mwanza, Iringa and Dar-es-salaam as well as Zanzibar and Pemba in the Isles.
The Ngorongoro marathon used to be staged in April but shifted dates to August and later September, then again in November and now the Marathon is coming up in the final days of December.
