A BUNCH of ordinary Namibians upstaged a Usain Bolt-led Jamaica to make it to the final four of the 2021 Vitality Running World Cup after finishing second in the last 16 phase on Sunday.
The team of 920 runners from Namibia are in the championship round of the world’s largest mass participation running event by running a combined total of 12 969km in just six weeks – from 28 September to 3 October – averaging 14km each.
With over 100 000 runners in this year’s tournament, and over 2,8 million kilometres already run, the race is on in the final few days to see which country would be crowned Vitality Running World Cup winner.
There are three knockout rounds before one can be crowned the running world cup champion.
Each country has a captain, such as Usain Bolt for Jamaica, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill for England, and Wayde van Niekerk for South Africa.
Namibia’s 2021 captain is Gabriel Ikena.
The free-to-enter open-to-all tournament is designed for an environmentally friendly future.
Participants can run from their front doors tracking each kilometre they run, using a free companion app on a smartphone or their wearable tracker.
This means, unlike other major events, the Vitality Running World Cup ensures zero participant road and air miles.
Now in its third year, the 2021 tournament started on 21 September and will continue until 10 October.
Every participant who runs 3km in under 30 minutes will be able to earn points for their country.
“Not everyone gets the opportunity to represent their country, but in this one you do. No matter your speed or distance, the aim of the game is to run as much as possible for your country to help them reach the top of the leaderboard. The more runs you do, the more kilometre points your country scores,” says Running World Cup founder UK social entrepreneur Nick Beresford.