Navachab lifts 21.1km top prizes to N$30 000
The winners of the men’s and women’s open races at the 12th Navachab Half Marathon Challenge will each pocket N$30 000, up from N$20 000, when the event returns to Karibib on 19 September.
The increase places the event’s biggest financial boost on the main 21.1km race, with the top ten finishers across the men’s and women’s open fields set to share a combined N$187 400.
This represents an increase of N$59 000 from the N$128 400 awarded across the two fields last year. The men and women will continue to receive equal prize money, with each runner-up earning N$20 000 and the third-place finishers receiving N$15 000.
The men’s and women’s open races are the only categories whose cash prizes have increased this year.
Including the junior, veteran, masters, grand master and Navachab employee categories, the 21.1km race accounts for N$307 400 of the event’s detailed N$401 200 cash allocation.
The 10km categories account for N$91 800, while N$2 000 has been allocated to the male and female winners of the 5km fun run.
Bigger reward for champions
Reigning champions Matias Simon and Lavinia Haitope will stand to earn N$10 000 more than they received for winning last year’s edition.
Simon won the 2025 men’s open race in 1:04:22, finishing two seconds ahead of Simon Paulus, while Haitope retained the women’s title in 1:17:35. Haitope also won the 2024 race, while Simon succeeded 2024 men’s champion, Daniel Paulus.
Race director and Kunene senior sports officer Berthold Karumendu said the increase was intended to raise the standard of the main race as organisers work towards securing World Athletics recognition before 2030.
“We have raised the bar. The open category is for athletes aged 16 and older. Whether you are 16 or 60, if you enter that category and win the race, you will receive the N$30 000,” he said during the launch in Windhoek yesterday.
Karumendu confirmed that this year’s event has been sanctioned by Athletics Namibia, which he said would support their pursuit of international recognition.
Main sponsor QKR Navachab Gold Mine representative McLyn Kasale said the stronger prize offering was intended to attract established runners from neighbouring countries and East Africa.
“[We want to give] Namibia’s developing athletes regular exposure to higher-level competition. You cannot invite an athlete from Tanzania, Kenya or Ethiopia and offer N$10 000. It does not make sense to them,” he said.
International pathway
The mine has already begun linking success at the Navachab race with opportunities to compete outside Namibia.
Simon and Haitope were supported to compete at the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon in Gqeberha, South Africa, last month alongside former Navachab champion Daniel Paulus and Navachab employee-category winner Elton Hiskia.
Haitope successfully defended the Nelson Mandela Bay women’s title in 1:12:36, while Simon finished 12th in the men’s race and Paulus placed seventh.
Kasale said selected category winners from this year’s Navachab race will also be supported to compete at the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town next year.
They will include the first male and female Navachab employees or contractors across the finish line.
Director of sport Jo-Ann Manuel said the increased prize money should be accompanied by athlete tracking and stronger administration.
“[Tracking athletes] is the career pathway we need when we talk about professionalisation. Athletes must be identified, assisted and developed until they are ready to compete at a higher level,” she said.
The race will start and finish at Usab Sports Field in Karibib. Entry fees are N$200 for the 21.1km, N$150 for the 10km and N$100 for the 5km fun run or walk, with registration open through EasyReg (https://www.easyreg.co.za/events/navachab-half-marathon-2026).
