Seventh Eco-Friendly Marathon – Fitness And Fun

Marathon Runners in the 2013 edition of the Eco Friendly Marathon at Beau Vallon (Louis Toussaint, Seychelles Nation) 

(Seychelles News Agency) - Local and international marathon fans have twenty - one days left to register to run along the northern districts of the main island of Mahe, in the 7th edition of the Seychelles Eco-Friendly marathon set for February 23.

The marathon (42km) and half-marathon (21km) will kick off at 0700 local time while 10 and 5 km events will kick start at 0800 local time with registration fees set between $2 and $16 for locals and $13 and $61 for foreigners depending on the distance.

“Runners for the marathon should be 18 years or older on race day while for the half marathon competitors should be at least 16 years on race day while competitors in the 10km race must not be younger than 12 years old on race day," said the National Sports Council in a statement.

Seychelles long distance runner Simon Labiche won last year’s marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes 2 seconds making a comeback after taking a break last year. Labiche had 4 consecutive wins in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. For the women’s category, South African national, Monica Vorster came out as the winner clocking 3 hours 33 minutes and 44 seconds. Seychellois Simone Jaffa has won the most races in the women’s category after winning in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The Seychelles Eco-friendly marathon started in 2008 in the initiative of Seychelles honorary consul general in South Korea, Dong Chang Jeong who also heads the Seychelles tourist office there, in an effort to contribute to the health of Seychellois.