Namibia’s long-distance runners Alina Armas and Rainhold Tomas won the 10 kilometres (km) run of the women and men categories at the One Economy Foundation #BreakFree Fun Day held here on Saturday.

The fun day was held at the Independence Stadium with the foundation focusing on educating the Namibian youth on mental health and gender-based violence through different sporting activities and motivational speaking.

In the 10km run in the women’s category, Armas overcame Lavinia Haitope to win the gold, while the last podium place went to Beata Jeremia.

To be crowned champion at the maiden edition of the One Economy Foundation #BeFree Fun Day, Armas clocked 35.38 seconds in the 10km run while Haitope was a minute behind with a time of 36.40 seconds. Jeremia ran a time of 38.23 seconds.

In the men’s category, Tomas clocked a time of 31.27 seconds, while Jeremia Shaliaxwe was just seconds behind with a time of 31.40 seconds, and Simon Nakale chased after with a time of 31.45 seconds.

In an interview with Nampa after the race, Armas said she enjoyed the race despite it being done for fun.

“The race was good. The route just had one hill at State House, which was a bit of a challenge to climb,” she said, adding that the early morning run was a challenge as it was too cold for the body to react the way she would have wanted.

Shaliaxwe also told this agency that the early morning run did not help athletes to clock their best times, but he had fun competing in the event.

“I hope in the future this race can be run when the sun is a bit out because it was too cold today and made it difficult for us to run as planned,” Shaliaxwe said.

One Economy Foundation Communications Officer, Ileni Hitula said the #BreakFree fun day is aimed at helping Namibians deal with their emotions.

“This event can be done again, but that will depend on how the public receives this first event. We are donor funded, and the success of this event can then motivate us to look for more funds. We hope that today will be the beginning of a much bigger intervention,” Hitula said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency