WITH Tanzania's athletes gearing up for the seventh season of the Betika Mbeya Tulia Marathon, slated for tomorrow and Saturday in Mbeya, the marathon's main sponsor Betika Tanzania has paid participation costs for the region's athletes that have turned up for the showdown.

A total of 420 athletes based in Mbeya yesterday took part in a build-up, which served as preparations for the race that will be held at the Sokoine stadium.

 The build-up - which has never happened in many races that have taken place in the country - started at the Ruandanzovwe area to the office of Mbeya District Commissioner, Beno Malisa, who handed over the 'Twende Kibingwa' flag to the region's athletes whose participation costs for one of the biggest marathons in the country have been paid for by Betika Tanzania.

 The build-up - which featured a special race targeting to raise funds for improving health and education infrastructure in Mbeya and neighbouring regions - has been held in various parts of the region for four consecutive days.

 Other regions which hosted similar build-up include Morogoro where Minister for Culture, Arts, and Sports Damas Ndumbaro led the event.

 The build-up was, in Dodoma, graced by National Assembly Speaker Tulia Ackson, and, in Dar es Salaam, the event was led by Deputy Minister for Culture, Arts, and Sports Hamis Mwinjuma, popularly known as 'Mwana FA'.

 Other regions where the build-up took place are Rukwa, which saw Sumbawanga District Commissioner Nyakiya Chilukile lead the build-up, Newala, where Municipal Mayor Hamis Namata led the event, and Iringa had Municipal Mayor Ibrahim Gwada leading the occasion.

 Athletes who did well in the build-ups that took place in the regions have had their participation costs for the Betika Mbeya Tulia Marathon paid by the marathon's main sponsor.

 Betika Tanzania's Information Officer, Rugambwa Juvenalius said they will, from today, start welcoming participants from outside Mbeya to join the region's 460 athletes, with 420 of the athletes being based in Mbeya.

 The company will cover all of the athletes' costs for participation in this season's marathon.

 "We have, among others, decided to come up with this incentive for the participants to allow them to showcase their talents," Rugambwa noted.

 The athletes will battle it out in road races of 42km, 21km, and 10km slated for Saturday. They will be preceded by track races of hose of 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m slated for tomorrow.

 Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa will lead more than 5000 runners to challenge for medals in the marathon (42 km), half marathon (21 km), and the 10km race tomorrow.

 This season, many top athletes also featuring for the national squad have registered for the showdown.

 They are, among others, women's long races phenomenon Sarah Ramadhan who, according to her coach Amani Ngoka, will- apart from chasing a gold medal- use the race to prepare for battling for qualification for future world races.

 Ngoka said the athlete- who could not attain qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics because of injuries- has returned to the field to prepare for the world races.

 He noted that Sara will use the Betika Mbeya Tulia Marathon to seek improvement, adding she will compete in 800m, 1500m, and 10km races.

Sarah is slated to come up against other top domestic female athletes- who are also national athletics team members- including the country's nation's 800m race star Siwema Julius.

 Other prominent local athletes set to participate in the showdown are Angel John and Hamis Misai, the national athletics team stars who finished in the top five of the 2022 Commonwealth Games which took place in Birmingham.

 Tulia Trust Institute's Information Officer Joshua Edward said preparations for the showdown are in the final stages and some participants have already started arriving in the city.

 He said the first to 10th-place finishers in both men's and women's categories of the marathon will walk away with cash prizes.