Mountain running: Uganda challenged to host Africa event
Sep 14, 2014
Uganda’s hosting a successful Africa Cross Country Championships has caught the eyes of the president of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA).
By Norman Katende in Italy
World Mountain Running Championships
Sunday
Junior women 10am
Junior men 10.30am
Senior women 11.15am
Senior men 12pm
MASSA - Uganda’s hosting a successful Africa Cross Country Championships has caught the eyes of the president of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA).
Bruno Gozzelino has requested Uganda to look into the prospects of hosting the Africa Mountain Running championships.
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Bruno Gozzelino (holding mic), the president of the World Mountain Running Association
Bruno Gozzelino (holding mic), the president of the World Mountain Running Association
He suggested this at the 31st WMRA Congress that took place at the City Hall of Massa-Carara in Italy on Saturday.
“With Nigeria ending their hosting of the Africa event this year, we need to push for other area members to host this event,” he said.
“Uganda can host that [the event] since they have a good record in hosting continental events.”
Uganda’s senior men athletics team is ready to put up a great fight against strong mountain running brands Eritrea, Turkey , Kenya, USA and hosts Italy, as they fight to retain the World Mountain Running Championships title, which they won last year.
Gozzelino has also challenged Kenya and Eritrea to try out staging the event.
But federation [Uganda] general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru says hosting a continental event is not as simple and they cannot just accept considering that for now, the local federation’s focus is on bidding to host the 2017 World Cross Country Championships.
“Both these two events are tough to organise and you cannot just wake up and do it. It is a good idea to promote tourism but we cannot do it alone. You need to fly the runners in the country and also accommodate them,” said Ayikoru of the prospect of hosting the [Africa] event.
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Uganda successfully hosted the Africa Cross Country Championships in March this year and a number of countries are fast-approving east African nation’s organisation of sports events.
Uganda has also hosted the World University Cross Country Championships.
After the meeting in Massa, athletes were treated to an opening ceremony of the World Mountain Running championships featuring a parade on the culture of the town located in Tuscany, central Italy.
(PHOTOs by Norman Katende)
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