WINDHOEK: Berthold Karumendu, the organiser of the Erongo Powersave Omaruru Street Mile, aims to introduce a fully automatic timing (FAT) system for the race.
However, the Sport Officer for the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, who is based in Erongo Region and working in Omaruru, has stated that additional funds will be required to make this dream a reality.
FAT is a type of race timing where the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded or timed by analysis of a photo finish.
In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, Karumendu said his goal is to have electronic systems for the event, but the machines are expensive.
“We would like to see international athletes competing in the event in the future, but this can only be achieved when more logistics are improved, and electronic timing replaces the current manual system,” Karumendu said.
He also plans to divide the junior category into two age groups. He intends to separate athletes between the 18 and 19-year-old category from athletes 17 years of age and under.
The 10th Edition of the Erongo Powersave Street Mile Run which took place over the weekend was a huge success, with 1 402 participants from all over Namibia competing for top honours over 1.6 kilometres.
“I am happy with the number of young talents who participated in the event. The quality of the race has improved over the past 10 years and the event featured elite Namibian athletes who recently competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, such as Alina Armas in the women’s race and Reinhardt Thomas in the men’s race,” Karumendu said.
He noted that much of the event’s the success is owed to the sponsors. He expressed his gratitude to the companies, namely Shield Namibia/Erongo Powersave Wholesale, FNB Omaruru, Coca Cola Namibia Bottling Company, the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service for transporting athletes to Omaruru, the Omaruru Municipality, Omaruru Spar, the Namibian Police in Omaruru/Traffic Department and the Omaruru District Hospital, who have been supporting the race since 2013.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency