An employee at the Namibia Grape Company Immanuel Kambwale won the 11th edition of the Namibia Grape Company marathon on Sunday morning.

Introduced in 2013, the marathon is part of the 21st annual sports tournament, organised by the Namibia Grape Company, in collaboration with the Capespan Grape Company for the employees of all nine grape companies at Aussenkehr.

The tournament also features football, netball, tug of war and volleyball, and this year saw over 50 employees partaking in the 22-kilometre (km) and 11km categories.

Kambwale finished the race in one hour and eleven minutes (01:11) to walk away with N$2 000.

Speaking to Nampa after the race on Sunday, Kambwale said he worked hard in preparation for the race.

“I really prepared myself towards this race. The race was fine besides the fact that it was hot; it was tough, and I am happy I won,” he added.

In the 11km women category, 29-year-old Rauna Lukas from Frontier Grape Company came first and walked away with N$1 000. 

In the 11km veteran women category, 42-year-old Desderia Dula from Silverland Vineyard came first, while 46-year-old Vinantius Gawanab from Agrimark also came first in the 11km veteran men category. 

They both walked away with N$1 000 each.

Chairperson of the organising team Moses Nakashimba expressed satisfaction with how the participants ran the race, adding that the number of participants in the race has been increasing over the years.

“Participants are increasing each year – and this year, we had between 50 to 60 participants. It seems that participants are preparing very well too, and we got people from outside,” he said. - Nampa