The Mt Wilhelm Race today was officially opened by the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Tobias Kulang.
The Mt Wilhelm race will be a gruelling 42km marathon from Kundiawa to the foot of Mt Wilhelm in the Gembogl district.
Minister Tobias Kulang, speaking at the official opening, said the Mt Wilhelm race will promote sport tourism and allow the people of Kundiawa-Gembogl to benefit economically with the race this year bringing in a total of K500,000.
The marathon will begin tomorrow morning at 5am in Kundiawa town.
400 runners are expected to take part in teams of 6 running 7km each.
In total, the marathon teams are set to run 42km.
The initiative was set up by Tourism Promotional Authority and Member for Kundiawa-Gembogl District, Tobias Kulang, to promote Sport Tourism.
The race received 60% sponsorship from private sponsors, and Minister Kulang says this shows the potential of public private partnership for Tourism.
But the Minister for Tourism and Member for Kundiawa Gembogl, Kulang, says the important thing is that the people benefit from the race economically.
Peter Kola a runner taking part in the marathon said they have trained for a week for the marathon and are ready for the race.
The Mt Wilhelm Race will be an annual race and Minister Kulang hopes that the race will attract international runners.
The total prize this year will be K50,000.
