MARATHON RUNNERS ARRIVE IN AMAZING PORT MORESBY
PORT MORESBY: The international runners for the Amazing Port Moresby International Marathon started arriving in the city yesterday (Wednesday) for the event, which will be staged on Sunday 30th, July 2023, from Ela Beach to the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium roundabout.
Among the runners who arrived was the famous Brent Weigner. Weigner holds the world record for being the first runner to have participated in similar marathons hosted across 201 countries.
He said he was excited to break another record in making PNG the 202nd country where he will participate in the event.
“I’m humbled to be here,” says the 74-year-old runner from the United States of America.
“We are so happy to be here,’ says Polish runner, Wojciech Machnik.
‘We are all here in Papua New Guinea because of the marathon. As far as we know, there’s never been an international marathon in this country, and this will be a new country for all of us.”
Dieter Max Elster of Germany said he first heard and read about PNG on Facebook. Elster said PNG is far away from the European continent. Still, he decided to make the trip to meet new friends and experience the culture and places apart from participating in the marathon.
The President of the Marathon Globetrotters, Kevin Brosi, stated the runners are members of the Globe Trotters which organizes marathons and trips for them worldwide.
He added that this year, through their PNG contacts and network, they decided to travel to Port Moresby to participate in the marathon and attend their annual meeting.
About 40 international runners will be taking part in this event apart from local runners.
Today, the visitors were treated to a bus trip to the National Museum and Art Gallery.
They said what they discovered in the facility was charming, an eye-opener, unique and well-organized.