‘Arrive early’: Organisers warn Soweto Marathon runners about congestion

With the race being held at a new venue, and additional concerns being caused by a clash with a football match, organisers of the African Bank Soweto Marathon have urged runners to arrive early not only for Sunday’s start, but also when registering on Saturday.

While registration was extended by an hour over the previous two days in an effort to ease congestion, many runners were expected to collect their race numbers on Saturday.

However, with Kaizer Chiefs hosting Mamelodi Sundowns in a Carling Black Label Knockout quarterfinal at 6pm on Saturday night at FNB Stadium, traffic around Nasrec (where race numbers are being issued) is likely to affect individuals who arrive later in the day to register for the race.

Though registrations were set to close at 6pm on Saturday evening, race director Danny Blumberg urged runners to try and get to Nasrec by 3pm to avoid traffic to the football stadium down the road.

“There will be traffic and congestion, so try to avoid that by coming early in the morning,” Blumberg said ahead of the annual race.

“Obviously some people have commitments and can’t get there early, but we ask them to be patient and plan their journeys accordingly.”

New venue

In addition, with the race shifting finish venues from FNB Stadium to Nasrec, Blumberg felt they had enough space to accommodate all 23,000 runners and their supporters.

In order to ease traffic, however, he again called for runners to ensure they arrived early on Sunday morning for the start of the race.

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“The start is on Golden Highway, so the runners need to look at the communication that’s been sent to them to find their parking, but maybe even uber or car pool and try to help us with the traffic. That would be a great thing.”

Despite hosting a massive field of participants, competing over 42km, 21km and 10km distances, Blumberg was confident the organisers were ready to put on a successful race.

“Our planning has been good. We’ve got ample space at the start… and the medical and security is massive,” he said.

“For us the health and well-being of the runners is an utmost priority. We don’t look past that and we make sure it’s all covered.”