The Legacy Project is a successful partnership between Eastern Province Athletics and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
The NMB Municipality started a partnership in 2011 with Ikhamva Athletics Club through the Motherwell Freedom Run.
In 2014 Mike Mbambani and his business partner, Alan Taylor, launched their dream road race, the Nelson Mandela Bay 21km, which was initiated after brainstorming about what they could do in the Bay to attract the National and International athletes. After the first year of the race, ASA former President, Mr Aleck Skhosana, engaged with these entrepreneurs to host the 21km ASA National Championships. After ASA added this National status to the NMB Half Marathon, the complexion of the race changed, and discussions started with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture, which culminated in the birth of the Nelson Mandela Bay Legacy Project.
The Legacy Project currently hosts 7 road running events annually reaching a number of areas in the metropole, and taking the sport of athletics to the people, namely, Motherwell, Gelvandale, Colchester, Uitenhage/Despatch and Summerstrand.
- NMB Kariega Human Race (5km, 10km, 21km)
- NMB Motherwell Freedom Run (11th year – 10km)
- NMB Half Marathon incorporating ASA Half Marathon Championships – the only World Athletics Elite Label Half Marathon in Africa
- NMB Choose to Challenge – Women’s month Celebration (10km, 5km)
- NMB Colchester Development Run (5km & 10km)
- NMB 1 City Marathon (42.2km, 21.1km)
- NMB Gelvandale Race (10km, 5km)
As Track & Field, together with Cross Country, is the base for any successful road runner and is the source of our regional development channel for young talented athletes, it was agreed in 2021 to expand the Legacy Project to include a Track & Field and Cross Country Series in order to reach an even broader audience of athletes from across the metro.
Both the Cross Country and Track & Field Series have enjoyed growing support each year from both schools and clubs. The ASA Cross Country Championships will be held at NMU in Gqeberha on Saturday, 16 September, and EPA are confident of achieving a number of medals from their talented and competitive local athletes.
The aim of the Legacy developmental project is to uplift our city’s sport administrators, clubs and athletes. Eastern Province Athletics is regarded around the country as having highly qualified coaches and technical officials who are able to mentor developing talent in the city. In particular, Mike Mbambani, esteemed local coach, Training Base and Club owner of Ikhamva Athletics Club, who recently received well deserved recognition when he was officially appointed by Athletics SA as the ASA Marathon Team Coach for the SA team competing in Hungary.
The Legacy Project events has in the past assisted in increasing the number of qualified coaches and officials from previously disadvantaged areas, as well as empowered and motivated teachers to encourage youth to participate in the sport of athletics, particularly as the requirements of this sport are minimal.
Looking at the recent results of the NMB EPA Cross Country Championships we note the growth in young talented athletes participating and winning their age groups. This was also evident in the NMB EPA Track & Field Championships. The upcoming Track & Field ASA Junior competition to be held in November will continue to strengthen the base of our young runners and our vision is to introduce a NMB EPA Track & Field Championship to provide them with an incentive to train towards national and platforms.
The professional standard of our local events enables our talented young athletes to compete at the highest level on home soil. A significant recent accomplishment was that EPA athletes finished on top of the National Medal Table at the 2023 NMB Half Marathon.
Our senior athletes, who developed through the Legacy Project events, are now competing on a national and international level. Melikhaya Frans will be competing in Budapest, Hungary, on 27 August 2023 at the World Athletics Senior Track and Field Championships (Marathon) and Thabang Mosiako at the World Half Marathon Champs in Latvia, on 1 October 2023.
EPA Track & Field athletes are also performing well. Mondray Barnard and his coach, Jessi Kahn, have just returned from participating in their first European Track & Field tour, where he earned three medals from five competitions. Local Track & Field coach, Gerrie Posthumus, coaches Luxolo Adams and Shirley Nekhubui, who are both also performing well on their European tour. TJ van der Walt and Nikithemba Hani were selected to represent SA at the World Student Games in China. Another local athlete, Jaco Smit, is in the SA Paralympic team and will participate in the World championships in Paris.
The NMB 1 City Marathon in December this year will be attracting top athletes who want to run this super-fast 42.2km route and achieve a faster qualifying time and their personal best times. Our goal is to grow the NMB 1 City Marathon event into one of the biggest in the country by 2027.
Next year our local flagship event, the NMB Half Marathon World Athletics Elite Label Road Race, will be celebrating it’s tenth edition, a huge milestone for this world-class event. The prize money will be a huge incentive for local, national and international runners with a R100 000 first prize and an increase of 10-15% in the total prize purse.