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Standard Bank organized the Maputo Blue Competition on Sunday, August 25, as part of its corporate social responsibility and in connection with the celebrations of its 130th anniversary in Mozambique. Athlete Abednico Mashaba was the big winner in the men’s federation category for the third time in a row.
The athlete completed the 30 kilometres (km) in 1 hour 37 minutes 13 seconds. Later, Ester Chiweia won the popular women’s race (21 km) and finished in 1 hour 30 minutes 27 seconds. The event was initiated by Standard Bank to popularise physical activity and promote healthy habits and well-being.
Regarding this event, Esselina Macome, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Standard Bank, expressed satisfaction with the participation in the event, especially its inclusiveness: “After five editions, for the first time, a 30 km route has been added, and it is possible to further improve the standards in the next edition, because we have proven that we have capable athletes”, he stressed.
On this occasion, the bank’s managing director, Bernardo Aparício, also stressed the importance of the event as it encourages physical activity and promotes well-being, highlighting the record participation of more than three thousand people and saying that the competition will also be promoted in Beira and Nampula later this year as part of the celebrations of the bank’s 130th anniversary.
The president of the Maputo Municipal Council was delighted with the success of the event. Razak Manchik showed total openness to supporting this type of sporting event. Referring to the registration of more than three thousand participants, the Maputo mayor noted that this reflects the commitment of the organizers and participants: “We encourage such initiatives and hope that they happen more often”, and he congratulated the Bank for its inclusiveness in the test.
British Sports Secretary Gilberto Mendes, who was present at the event, praised the blue race’s appeal in boosting tourism and acknowledged that “Standard Bank is becoming more inclusive and sporting, which is a wonderful thing for people to see.” He went on to praise the central bank’s move to expand the test to other parts of the country.
Half marathon champion Abednico Mashaba praised the high level of organization of the event and highlighted the introduction of the 30 km category: “I am very happy with the new route. At first I thought it would be difficult, but the organization wisely placed water points”, he said.
Ester Chiweia, winner of the mass category (21 km), considers this edition to be much closer: “I won because I prepared very well. I trained every day, for sprints, speed and endurance. The victory was in the making, so I prepared and won”, he explains.
In addition, the champion of the men’s tricycle category (7 km), Mário Muendola, overcame his difficulties and achieved his goal of first place despite arriving relatively late: “It was a great race. Congratulations to the bank for including us in the campaign and may the bank continue to support us and never stop”, he commented. It is important to emphasize that in order to make this sporting event more attractive, in addition to the athletics competitions, the organization has also arranged several parallel activities, such as Zumba, martial arts performances and health fairs.
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