Mcherenje, Chirwa vow to defend Be More Race

Be More Race inaugural champions have vowed to defend their titles come June 9 2018.

Men’s 21.2-kilometre race champions Ndacha Mchelenje, who clocked 1:08:20 hours and Nalicy Chirwa, who won the women’s category in  1: 26: 36 hours,  said they are excited at the prospect of retaining the title.

Mchelenje said: “My life was transformed because I didn’t expect to win a whopping K1.3 million and the money helped me to finish building my house. I would like to urge Standard Bank to continue supporting athletes in Malawi. No other sponsor has done this in developing athletics.”

On the other hand, Chirwa said she paid school fees and bought land using the prize money.

“Now with K1.5 million at stake, I’m training hard to defend my title and get the first prize,”  said 20-year-old Chirwa.

Standard Bank head of marketing and communications Thoko Unyolo said the bank is excited that apart from promoting athletics,  Be More Race is also changing the lives of people through the prizes

The 2018 Be More Race will start from the bank’s head office in City Centre to Area 18, Mtandire, Area 49, Area 9, Area 6, Area 47, Area 10 and back towards the City Centre and finish at the Bingu International Convention Centre (Bicc) covering a distance of 21.2 kilometres.

Standard Bank has staked K1.5 million for the first prize, K900 000 for second prize and K550 000 for the third prize. n