Erich Goeieman of the Walvis Bay Road Runners Club won the Rossing Marathon Championships for the third consecutive year on Saturday in a new personal best time of 2:21:19 for the 42km event.
It was a big improvement on his previous best of 2:25:57 which he established in 2008, while his winning time in 2009 was 2:26:14.
Goeieman finished well ahead of Martin Ntinda of the Golden Cheetahs Athletics Club who came second in 2:29:12, while Oscar Komeya of the Namibian Defence Force came third in 2:38:23.
Despite dominating the event for the past three years. Goeieman said he still needed to improve.
“I want to improve my time and challenge myself by competing against strong runners,” he said.
His winning time was way behind the record time of 2:11:23 that Luketz Swartbooi established way back in 1992.
Beata Naigambo won the women’s open category in 2:56:13, which was well behind her Namibian record of 2:31:01. Naigambo beat Rachel Akukothela by one second in a sprint to the line, while Anna Amuoko came third in 3:05:30.
“I feel great and happy about being the 2010 women’s Rosing marathon winner,” she said, adding that the event formed an important part of her preparation for upcoming events this year.
The marathon, which took place for the 19th consecutive year, drew a record number of 70 entrants. It started in cool, overcast conditions in Swakopmund, while the route took the athletes out on the Henties Bay road. The conditions, however, did not stay favourable for long, and by the time the athletes returned back to Swakopmund the weather conditions had changed to sunny and hot.
The men and women’s open winners each receive N$10 000 in prize money, while the total prize money amounted to N$60 000.
Mynhardt Kuanivi of Welwitschia 77 Athletics Club won the Men’s 10km category in a time of 30:52, while Reinhold Iita of the NDF came second in 31:01 and Robert Kaxuxuena of the NDF third in 31:27.
Hendrina Namwindo won the women’s 10km event in 38:12, followed by Julia Shimondi (44:49) and Era Hhjamarsdottir (45:57).
Rossing’s Manager Corporate Communications and External Relations, Jerome Mutumba congratulated the winners and pledged Rossing’s continued support for the event.
“I am very pleased to see the growing interest in this event. What we have achieved here today is to promote a healthy lifestyle amongst all of us. Rossing is committed to continue to sponsor this prestigious event and to make it the foremost marathon championship event in Namibia,” Mutumba said.
The theme for this year’s event was ‘Get active, because you can!’ This is in line with Rossing’s health and wellness programmes towards healthy lifestyles.
The 5km Charity Walk attracted a record 135 walkers, bringing about a donation of N$1 860 to the Cancer Association of Namibia. Some of the prize winners included the youngest walker who was three years old and the oldest walker who was 80 years old.