1st place prize is K2 million; 2nd place K1.5 million; 3rd place K1.2 million with positions 4-10 to get consolation prizes for both genders * Top 3 in both female and male veterans categories of 60 years plus to receive K100,000 each as other activities include 10km and 5km races By Duncan Mlanjira The athletes who will attain remarkable finishing times in the Blantyre 42.195km Race 2026 on October 4 will be supported by Malawi National Council of Sports to compete in Balwin Pretoria Marathon 2026 in South Africa. This was announced by Sports Council’s Regional Sports & Recreation Development Manager-South, Ruth Mzengo at a press briefing yesterday, saying this is an incentive on top of the lucrative prize money as the race is also a preparation for other important competitions that Sports Council is targeting — such as the Commonwealth Games and others. The 1st place prize is at K2 million; 2nd place at K1.5 million; 3rd place K1.2 million with positions 4-10 to get consolation prizes for both genders — while Top 3 in both female and male veterans categories of 60 years plus to receive K100,000 each. To be celebrated under the theme; ‘Embrace the Challenge’, other activities include 10km and 5km races for those who can’t do the full marathon as well as aerobics. Sport Pretoria’s website indicates that the Balwin Marathon is a three decade-old event, “which has carved out its place as a storied athletic tradition in South Africa as a double-lapper race winding through leafy streets of jacarandas and climbing up to historic Fort Klapperkop — whose 2025 edition’s finishing time is 2:26:44 achieved by South African, Reuben Mosiane. Meanwhile, the Blantyre 42.195km Race evolved from being called Blantyre Marathon, whose inaugural route was a 14km stretch of three times as a lap loop as opposed to the original of one long stretch up to the finish. The route was changed according to new international standards to have loop laps marathons, as the previous route had very high gradients of above 1m per kilometre. The route for this year’s edition has also been changed as it will start from Chichiri Roundabout along Makata Road before turning left at the junction into Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road and all the way to the road junction popularly named Mango Stage opposite Entyre. Then it turns left towards Masauko Chipembere Highway and to also turn left past NBS Bank all the way back to Chichiri Roundabout and straight past Independence Arch to Maselema Roundabout before making a U-turn back to Independence Arch. After Independence Arch it turns left to Jomo Kenyatta Drive along the new bypass to turn right towards Kwacha Roundabout and straight past it all the way to Kamba junction and to Mahatma Gandhi Road. The racers will then turn right past Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) all the way to road junction at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to turn left at the Red Cross building into Mandala Road; past the Mudi State House and to turn right at CFAO to Masauko Chipembere Highway’s Kristwick junction. At the junction they will turn left to the Blantyre Clock Tower Round about, make a U-turn back to Chichiri Roundabout — as a 12.6km loop, which the athletes will complete three times. On the third loop, they will exit at Chichiri Roundabout towards the Makata Road and turn left into Kamuzu Stadium through the main gate, turning right on the athletic track up to the finish line in front of the VIP stand. The time set in the inaugural Blantyre 42.195km loop format in 2023 was 2:19:01 in men’s category by Grevasio Mpani from Civo Athletics Club in Lilongwe while the women’s category was 3:00:07 by Nalicy Chirwa from Mzuzu. However, according to Maravi Express’ impeccable sources privy to last year’s edition, the finishing times were predictions as the route used was discovered to have been less than 42.195km because the organisers used the new bypass into Kenyatta Drive then all the way to Kamba. And along the Mahatma Gandhi Road, the runners were made to turn inside Mandala at KUHeS to head for the Mandala Road junction opposite the Mudi State House — instead of reaching the junction at Red Cross building. The inaugural route was from Kamuzu Stadium main gate turning right along Makata Road to Chichiri Roundabout — proceeding along Masauko Chipembere Highway up to the Independence Arch where the athletes turned right for the Kasungu Crescent up to the entrance to Chichiri Shopping Mall to take the Kwacha Road all the way to MBC TV. After MBC TV — before reaching St. Columbus CCAP Church — the athletes turned right along Njamba residences up to Njamba CDSS to connect to Kenyatta Drive all the way to Kamba junction where they connected to Mahatma Gandhi Road heading for the junction at Red Cross building. The predictions were not publicly announced but Mphatso Nadolo, who was third place in 2023 in a time of 2:26:58, finished first but his time was incredibly lower than the world record for 42.195km set by late Kenyan athlete, Kelvin Kiptum of 2:00:35 attained on October 8, 2023 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Nadolo’s time was then calculated as a prediction at 2:22:05, which was meant to be his personal best but he failed to break Mpani’s record of 2:19:01 while Nalicy Chirwa’s was calculated at 2:57:02 — the world record being 2:16:16 set by Peres Jepchirchir on April 21, 2024 at the London Marathon. The record for the old format Blantyre Marathon was 2:18:40, which was set by veteran Henry Moyo in 2003 but it stood unbroken for 20 years until it was retired after the race evolved into the loop format Blantyre 42.195km Race. For the Blantyre 42.195km Race 2025 to earn some meaningful recognition of attending the Balwin Pretoria Marathon 2026, they certainly need to match Reuben Mosiane’s time of 2:26:44. According to Sport Pretoria, the Balwin Marathon is a qualifying competition for the Two Oceans and Comrades marathons and that it challenges even the toughest endurance athletes with its high-altitude test. The failure to beat Moyo’s record was enough case of concern if at all Malawian athletes are up to the task to qualify for prestigious international competitions. The modern 42.195km (26.219 miles) standard distance for the marathon was set by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in May 1921 directly from the length used at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Meanwhile, registration for the full marathon is at K10,000 for members, 15,000 for non-members and US$20 dollars for non-Malawians while for both 10km and 5km is K5,000 for members; K10,000 for non-members and US$10 dollars for non-Malawians. Places to register are at all Regional Sports offices of Blantyre Sports Arena (formerly known as Blantyre Youth Centre), Kamuzu Institute for Sport and Sports Council Mzuzu office — as well as online registration for those who can. Only athletes above 20 years old are eligible to take part in the full marathon while the 10km and the 5km races are open to everyone.