More than 1000 runners, the registered numbers by yesterday, are expected to take part in Saturday’s 2016 Island Chill Suva Marathon in the Capital City.
More than a 1000 runners
The event starts at 5.30am and entries are still spilling in, said the organisers.
Among the confirmed participants is the Ernst and Young (EY) team which boasts more than 20 runners.
The partners of the accounting firm — Steve Pickering and Sikeli Tuinamuana have set up a “Partners Challenge — Beat the Boss” theme for their staff.
The company said the aim of the challenge was to get staff members to sign up and if they outran the bosses, they would receive a cash prize.
This has seen the firm sign up more than 20 runners.
Race organisers said the event had grown in the last three years, starting from about 250 participants in 2014 and then a massive jump of more than 700 last year.
This year, the target is to reach 1000 participants to do either the community¬based 8km fun run, the team or corporate marathon (four in a team doing 10.55 km each), the 21.1km half marathon or the 42.2 km full marathon.
The event is confirmed for Saturday with the starting point at the upgraded Albert Park at Cakobau Rd with entry fees to the marathons starting at $2.
The race is to help promote healthier lifestyles among the people of Fiji.
The 2016 Island Chill Suva Marathon promotes health and wellness in Fiji.
July 2016 is NCD awareness month. So far 1030 runners had been registered — 80 for the full marathon, 30 of which are flying in to Suva from different locations around the world. The half marathon has attracted 110 people while the team marathon has 440 runners.
More than 400 have listed for the fun run and this is expected to increase in the last few days as although registrations for all other categories are closed, anyone can register for the “FREE Fun Run” until 7:30 am on race day.
On Saturday, the full marathon (42.2 km) begins at 5:30 am, the half marathon (21.1 km) at 6:30 am, the team marathon (10.55 km) at 7:30 am, and the fun run (about 10km) at 8am.
