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Blue IQ and its partners, the City of Tshwane, the Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA),
its media partner Jacaranda 94.2 and the organising body, Central Gauteng Athletics,
today held its second Blue IQ City2City Ultra Marathon. This race kicked off to an
exciting start at Hennops Park with Amanda Nair, CEO of Blue IQ and Gwen Ramokgopa,
Mayor of Tshwane firing the gun at exactly 06:00 am. The runners took off like a tornado, leaving behind only a cloud of dust from the
thousands of feet taking to the tar of the road, all heading towards that point that
would ultimately end in victory, particularly for the top contenders such as Josiah
Thugwane and Charles Giyane who earlier reported that they were on a winning
formula in strengthening their personal best times. The 6000 strong crowd, including the spectators come from all over the country a
nd Africa and the jubilation seen in their faces is a fitting tribute to Heritage Month,
which is one of the objectives of the race, ie to bring people from all walks of life
together.
The City to City Race was established over 70 years ago and has been in the running calendar
since inception, save for 2 years in the absence of sponsorship. Blue IQ came on board
in 2008 as the main sponsor. Blue IQ’s key objectives in sponsoring the race, is to build on
the existing platforms and interventions in establishing Gauteng Provincial Government’s
Gauteng City Region (GCR) and its tourism mandate of the ‘Gauteng Home of Champions’
as well as in adding to the activities of the BRAND GAUTENG initiative, which was launched
last year by the Office of the Premier. This is a proud moment for us and only the beginning of our provincial efforts in ensuring
that Gauteng becomes the world leader in Sports Tourism, said Busi Mhaga, Acting HOD
of the Department of Economic Development of which Blue IQ is one of its agencies. In echoing the Acting HOD’s thoughts, Noedine Isaacs-Mpulo, is passionate about the
development status of the race and its social economic benefits to the province,
stating that “Blue IQ acts as a catalyst in ensuring investment return for the Province”
and sport is one of the key drivers to economic benefits. Media Queries Mandy Rutgers Deputy Head: Group Marketing & Communications Blue IQ Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd 011 689 1600 or 082 496 2457 Email:
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