As Marathons take the country by storm, Tanzania Employers believe this should be a good thing

By Miguel Suleyman

The organizers of the Waajiri Health Bonanza have commended the marathon fad that currently sweeps across Tanzania saying it has huge health benefits to many people despite its failure to groom quality athletes for big events like Olympics.

With Kilimanjaro Marathon being the only international-level event at the moment, Tanzania boasts countless racing events all parading themselves as marathon with majority of them being 21km  half marathon, 10km and 5km races that, however, don’t meet the IAAF standards.

But to the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) whose multiple sports bonanzas coloured the UDSM grounds in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, this marathon craze should be encouraged.

That is because the activities enable thousands to have perfect body exercise if they participate in all three; 42km marathon, 21km half marathon and 5km fun race, the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) Chief Executive Officer, Khadijas Mwenda said during the event’s closing ceremony.

She said in most of these races whether it is CRDB Charity Marathon, NMB Marathon, Dodoma Marathon, Tulia or Ngorongoro Marathon, over a thousand runners, majority of them workers and their friends and family members participate in the run to keep their bodies fit and not for medals or cash prizes.

 “Call them any name, but they are of vital importance in our society as they provide people the badly needed body exercises and trimming that makes them avoid obesity or being overweight,” she noted.

While urging people to engage in running, Dr Garvin Kweka from Muhimbili Hospital cautioned the employers and employees seeking to run in the long-distance races to undergo medical check-ups first.

Health diagnosis before engaging in any type of long-distance running activities are vital to see if they are real fit for the particular race.

“You have to be sure that your heart can withstand the pressure of running over a 10km race since many have died or collapsed before and after finishing the long race,” he noted.

Additionally, the Chief Executive of Association of Tanzania Employers, Suzanne Ndomba said the Waajiri Health Bonanza is an annual health event hosted by the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) to promote healthy lifestyles through sports.

The sports activities include soccer, netball, volleyball, basketball and athletics.  Fun activities like tug of war, sack race, dodgeball (rede), Lime and spoon race and balancing a glass of water race have been added to spice up the day.

Susan says the gala aims to combat non- communicable diseases including strokes, heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease most of them being caused by unhealthy behaviours.

She points out that in many countries, Non-Communicable Diseases affect the most productive segment of the workforce and make it difficult for people to participate fully in decent employment. 

The result is that people are away from work more, are less productive and often stop working altogether, with devastating costs to individuals, families, businesses and economies.