The Annual Brufut run will take place on 17 December 2011 in Brufut, Pointsport can reveal.
As part of this year’s event, there will be a 21km male race from St Charles Lwanga Church on Brikama Highway in Fajikunda through Senegambia to Brufut as well as 10km race which will start at the Palma Rima Hotel in Senegambia to Brufut.
The organizers are urging the Interested participants to start the necessary exercises for the event. The public is also informed to set the day aside as the Brufut Run Day.
Background
The run, nicknamed today as the Brufut Run, started 16 years ago in the then coastal village of Brufut. The committee to coordinate the run was also formed the same year. The committee, which metamorphosed to an association, has a board of directors, an executive committee, a general body and special sub-committees for specific purposes, such as sports committee and marketing committee.
The primary aim of the run was to mobilize resources to contribute towards ending hunger in the world through sports, hence the first run was themed Run Against Hunger and was done in collaboration with the WORLD RUNNERS AGAINST HUNGER, who were represented by three runners from the United Kingdom.
The money raised from the event was given to the village women horticulturists to assist them in the purchase of seedlings and fertilizers.
Funding
The first ever funding for the association to organize the run was from then recruited soldier now brigadier general Lamin Bojang, Mamudou Max Jallow and a Swiss student who came to The Gambia for the programme and donated her pocket money to the race.
The members of the association also contributed towards the subsequent events and for the last fourteen years, Friends of The Gambia, a UK-based philanthropist committee has been taking care of the basic needs of the run, which included the trophies, certificates, and some cash for cash prizes. Taf Holdings Company Ltd was the major financier until last year when the company stopped
Funding the event
The association also gets financial and moral support from individual sport enthusiasts and other philanthropists from both within and outside The Gambia.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports, through the National Sports Council, sponsored the first female and male winners of the Run for the first time last year.
Achievements
Brufut Marathon Run Association {BMRA} since its formation has been able to re-ignite the interest of the Gambian public in long distance run.
The talents of those long distance runners have been given a platform to be showcased, notable among them; Ansu Sowe, Jay Secka, Sanu Gomez and Mariama T. Jallow, to name a few, all of whom have become national athletes of high standing.
Since 1994, the event has been consistently organised without fail because of the selfless dedication of the members of the association and the generosity of Friends of The Gambia Association in England.
A day has been created that is always looked forward to by many people because of the ambiance, joy and happiness that characterize a typical Brufut run day.
The association has been able to attract an increasing number of participants at the annual event, interventions/charity works.
The proceeds realized from the Brufut runs have been allocated to the following sectors of the community namely;
Education
The main objective of the annual run is to help women gardeners/horticulturists in the production of food to fight hunger and alleviate poverty. However after some research it has realised that in fact much of what these women gained from these gardens are used for the payment of tuition for their wardens. The association then decided to help pay the tuition fees of needy students. Since 1995, the association has been helping to pay the school fees of more than three hundred and fifty students in the greater Banjul area.
Health
The town of Brufut is surrounded by more than six villages who all visit the health facility in Brufut. There is one ambulance for referrals that gets overworked during peak malaria seasons. Consequently, sometimes resulting to unavailability when needed.
The community, through its village development committee, in collaboration with the local health workers, sought help and they were able to get another ambulance from Lynda Heath, an English lady living in England and his Gambian friend, Dr Borry Jatta, a native of Brufut also living in England, to ease the process of referrals to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in the Capital of The Gambia. Every year, (BMRA) donates fuel coupons to the health facility in Brufut to support and complement government’s efforts in health care delivery.
Public awareness campaigns
Every year, the run chooses a theme that often bears on the welfare of the community of Brufut and the country so that public awareness can be strengthened regarding certain issues.
For example, there has been a run against prevention of HIV aids, deforestation, malaria, illegal migration, drugs and alcohol abuse, clean environment (set-setal), etc. A Run for industrial development, global peace and harmony, education, etc has all been organised too.
This year the central theme will be RUN AGAINST HUNGER to re-echo the national call for greater agricultural activity for food self-sufficiency on one hand and, on the other, seek to provide food to the less fortunate in the community.
However, since it is a charity run, the public is invited to sponsor any runner who wants to support a charity they want to go through the run. By agreement with the organisers, a percentage of the funds raised by such runners will be given to the charities they run for.
Media Coverage
Owing to the fact that this is the most consistent organised long distance run in The Gambia, the association has been able to forge a long standing relationship with both the print and the electronic media. The activities leading to the run and the run proper are adequately covered by all the electronic and the print media of this country. Efforts are also underway to invite foreign media to cover the event too as some participants come from both the sub-region, Europe and America.
In light of the foregoing, the association seeks collaboration with any institution or individuals towards the successful organisation of the most famous run in The Gambia.
Plans
The long term plan of the association is to organize a real marathon that will be graced by thousands of people from both within and outside The Gambia.
“We also plan to use the run as a catalyst for development, a means of poverty reduction, an attraction for tourists to visit The Gambia and also as a tool for greater public enlightenment on relevant issues bearing on the general wellbeing of the Gambians in particular and humanity in general,” the association said. For further details please do not hesitate to contact the chairman, the director of finance and or the executive director of BMRA or visit our web-site www.brufut-mra.org.
