Tanzania: Ramadhani to Race in Bamako Marathon

 
THE Bank of Africa Tanzania (BOA) is for the fifth time sponsoring two athletes to participate in the Bamako International Marathon scheduled to take place in Mali on Sunday.
The bank offers a full sponsorship worth 12m/- for Samson Ramadhan and Oswald Revelian and their coach to the annual event.
The package covers air tickets, accommodation and outfits. BOA Managing Director Ammishadai Owusu-Amoah said during farewell ceremony in Dar es Salaam that the marathon is about promoting Tanzania as a country.
"Our athletes are leaving with the national flag and for this reason they promote Tanzania among other African countries," he said.
"If you win it is a plus for Tanzania as well... and when they win the bank will offer a token of appreciation, plus sponsoring further the two athletes to any international event."
BOA challenged Athletics Tanzania (AT) to take the opportunity seriously because it is a platform to develop local talents and end the drought of medals the country has faced for a long time.
The two athletes could not hide their joy and promised to reciprocate by bringing home the all-important medals as a sign of appreciation to the sponsorship.
Coach Shaban Hiki said the Bamako Marathon is one of the toughest events to compete in because of Mali's hot and humid climate all year round.
The average monthly temperature is over 30 degrees centigrade. "But we have trained hard for the event... Samson is one of the best marathon runners and a Commonwealth Games gold medalist," he said.
Handing over the national flag on behalf of the Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, the Director of Sports, Leonard Thadeo, said the runners should show the value of sponsorship by winning medals.
"If you finish winner and runner-up you will entice BOA to extend the sponsorship package... and at least sponsor five instead of two runners," he said.
BOA, whose headquarters are in Mali, has spent almost 60m/- in the last five years sponsoring runners to the Bamako Marathon where Tanzania athletes had won twice in the women's category and in recent years reached fourth and fifth positions.
The women's race was canceled due to the heat that makes it difficult for them to participate in full.
The men over the age of 18 years will run a distance of 42.2 km equivalent to the Kilimanjaro Marathon staged annually in Moshi town.
Countries participating in this year's event include Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Senegal, Madagascar, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.