Run for Wildlife 2008...

May 31st 2008 saw over 600 runners and thousands of spectators come together to support the Wildlife Centre’s second annual sponsored ‘Run for Wildlife’ event. The day was an enormous success in every regard. The purpose of the event was not only to raise money for the Centre it was also an opportunity for the Centre to generate greater interest in the new facility throughout the Lilongwe community.   Malawi also benefited from the additional exposure that was generated through DSTV’s support who arranged the event to be filmed and which was shown many times in June 2008.

It was Bunda School, a rural community school, that came out as clear winners in the first race, an inter-school race between Lilongwe schools.   As winners of the event, beating last years champions, Likuni Boys, their school received the inter-school trophy and DSTV package.

The second race saw over 400 sponsored runners take to the cross country course to run as many laps as they possibly could around the Bishop Mackenzie International School grounds.  Cheered on by a fantastic crowd of spectators, the runners (including children as young as 3 years of age) battled the mid day sun to complete the one hour time allocated to runners.  Every lap completed was an extra dollar raised for the Centre, which ultimately equates to an extra bunch of bananas for the primates or an extra kilo of meat for our hungry carnivores.

The last event of the day saw local companies and running groups go head to head in the Inter-company race which became a fiercely battled out affair between a number of really top quality athletes.  It was the Mbabzi Estate team (also 2007's champions) that came out on top to walk away with the Inter-Company Race, US$250 cash prize and a DSTV package that was later donated to a community school of their choice. In close second was the Wildlife Centre's own team of construction, education and security staff.

In addition to the races, everyone enjoyed some top quality live music, a tug of war contest, family sporting activities, a potjie competition, stalls, a fantastic clowning display from local students, welly wanging, sponge throwing, face-painting and much more.

This years a event was perhaps most successful in terms of how much money was raised. Run for Wildlife 2007 raised around, US$7,000, but the 2008 event more than doubled this, raising a staggering total of about US$16,000! The success of the event can be contributed to a large number of companies and individuals whose support was most appreciated. The biggest thank you must however go out to the Event’s main sponsors Ned Bank, Celtel and DSTV whose initial financial commitment to the project assisted the Event’s committee with all T-Shirts, marketing and additional expenses needed to put on, as everyone who took part will agree, one of the best events of the year.