People's Race gets own special shoe

The story of missing T-shirts may have hogged headlines for the African Bank Soweto Marathon last year, but after securing a technical sponsor for the first time in years, organisers have now added a branded official shoe for the People’s Race.

Apparel maker Joma, the Soweto Marathon partners, yesterday unveiled the official T-shirt for this year’s race on November 3, and the bright-green and white running shoe emblazoned with the letters “Soweto”.  

The Spanish sports clothing manufacturer is only finding its footing in SA after entering the competitive attire market here last year and hopes to catch the public’s eye by handing the Soweto Marathon an official premium shoe, named the Joma R-2000.

“It’s a high-quality performance shoe suitable for any runner – beginner or elite. It’s designed with enhanced performance and provides breathability to improve stride efficiency,” said Reiner Grobbler, the sales manager at Joma.

“We are a reputable brand based in Europe and we sponsored nine nations at the (Paris) Olympics. We hope this partnership with the Soweto Marathon will help us grow here.”

Good news for the People’s Race entrants is that they will get as much as R800 discount if they purchase a pair of the shoes upon entry. “The shoe costs R2,499 but if you buy before the closing date for entries, September 30, you pay only R1,599. If you buy at the marathon expo, you get R600 discount,” said Grobler.

Entries to the race are R380 for the marathon, R300 for the 21km and R280 for the 10km. The fee includes a T-shirt, which organisers said will not be in short supply like was the case last year. “All that is behind us now, we want to focus on this year’s event and encourage everyone to register by September 30,” said race director Danny Blumberg.

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