Four years ago, Tartan Burners Club (TBAC) was born to deal with the alien idea of having a world class competition held annually in Uganda.
But the dream came to life last year when the inaugural TBAC invitation meet was held.
“We have the cash prizes as well as an extra motivation of medals which athletes can use as souvenirs when they have retired,” Mildred Gamba, one of the organisers for Saturday’s bets of the best race told the media at Lugogo.
Top eight athletes with the best times and distances in the 12 activities of the day will run in a grand prix format with each event a final.
Leni not done yet
For Uganda’s fastest lady in the 400m races, Shida Leni, improving her time is the biggest motivation.
Leni has thrice this season set a new national record with her newest being a 52.15 last week.
Before this year, the 24-year-old was struggling to match Justine Bayigga’s national record of 52.48 but her 10.99 during the final national championship at Namboole catapulted her into new territory.
For Leni, the final steps to take are to run sub-52 especially with the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Nigeria next month knocking.
“I know all the best athletes will be in Namboole which will give me enough competition to lower my time,” Leni said.
Extra motivation
The race which is expected to be brief starting at 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. will have every participant win a cash prize with the winner taking home Shs. 80,000 and the last Shs. 10,000.
A stash of Shs.4.3m will be shared among all winners on top of medals.
But without a sponsor, organisers will rely on individuals who have handed a helping hand.
“Our progress at making this run bigger will depend mainly on sponsors getting interested in such world class events,” Gamba added.
