1 October 2017 saw yet another fantastic sports event joining Midvaal’s growing list of community-based activities: the Midvaal Half Marathon, sponsored by Midvaal Local Municipality and arranged by Vaal Athletics Club in association with Prestige Youth Sport Events. The event consisted of 5km, 10km and 21.1km races, as well as a street mile. The street mile was the premier event for the day, and involved batches of 20 runners at a time completing a mat-to-mat timed race. A total of 349 runners participated across the races for the day, with the largest number of participants running the 21.1km.
The event was aimed at local schools, with prizes on offer for <13, <16, <19, Open, Vet and Master categories for each distance. The prizes on offer for younger runners were welcomed by the schools, as this opportunity is not usually created within road running. The male winner of the 21.1km was Mmanoko Mokwalakwala in a time of 1:08:45 and the female winner of the 21.1km was Lebo Matlakeng in a time of 1:30:14. Natalie Van Rooyen was the overall winner of the mile in 6:01 minutes. Many families participated on the day, and runners commented on how well organised the morning was. There was coffee, burgers and hot dogs on sale, and the general atmosphere was festive.
Following the success of the first event, plans are already being laid for the 2018 race to take place on 30 September. For those who missed out this year, be sure to enjoy a family day out at the next Midvaal Half Marathon.