Old Mutual and Move The Nation rewarded two of the Soweto Marathon runners with an all-expenses paid trip to the 2020 Barcelona Marathon. The winners, Ms. Yolanda Ngumbela and Mr. Antonio Gambino were announced after completing 21 kms and 42 kms respectively, at the 26th Soweto Marathon yesterday.
The winners were selected from over one thousand social runners that took part in the various Move The Nation sessions held over the past seven weeks.
“Winning this means everything to me. It will be my first international trip outside of Africa. All it took was staying up a little later than I probably should after my runs, and I started playing with my new 22Seven app and signing up to the Old Mutual Rewards programme which Old Mutual and Move the Nation encouraged me to do. They are very helpful, as I am actually budgeting now and can see how my life is financially, so it made me even more determined to get to Barcelona. I’m already handling my money better and budgeting. I am really excited” stated. Ms. Ngumbela.
Mr. Gambino was equally enthusiastic about his win saying “Winning this means so much to me. I’ve been following the Barcelona Football team since 2006, it was always a dream to go to Barcelona and now I have the chance to go. This all happened because I decided to join Move the Nation and when I did I just loved it. I just love the whole movement because of the intensity of the training. They really take it seriously. I’ve never trained so hard. Only then did I see that I had a chance to go to Barcelona. I followed the steps and downloaded the 22Seven app and I’ve already started using it and I downloaded Old Mutual Rewards as an investment platform as well. And that’s all it took to become a participant to possibly win this great award. And I won so I am super stoked even though I’m still recovering from the Soweto Marathon.”
These prizes are a result of the recently formed partnership between Old Mutual and Move the Nation, a social movement aimed at inspiring the country to get active and healthier through fun, educative and all-inclusive running events. They encourage performance improvement in a safe and supportive environment, premised on the principle of ‘running together to win together.’
The movement is led by expert coaches, mentors and athletes such as Kabelo Mabalane and Peteni Kuzwayo and Old Mutual believes that Move The Nation’s ethos is in line with their purpose of championing positive futures.
‘Over the last few months we have been supporting runners in Soweto and Sandton, helping them prepare for the Soweto Marathon and encouraging them take small steps towards great rewards. This step by step process was mirrored by the ultimate incentive and ultimate reward in this journey from Sandton to Soweto to finally lead up to the possibility of going to the Barcelona Marathon 2020 in March. Small steps lead to Great Rewards.
‘With Old Mutual’ s support, our community has gained access to valuable financial management tools, great rewards such as the prize to Barcelona, and more importantly, they’re a few steps closer to realising their financial goals,’ says Kabelo Mabalane, coach at Move The Nation.
Having sponsored the Soweto Marathon since 2015, Old Mutual made a step-change at this year’s People’s Race by partnering with Move The Nation. The leading Financial Services Provider seeks to leverage the unifying power of sport to demonstrate the similarities between physical and financial fitness.
‘Both require a clear goal, motivation, coaching, support and commitment. We are personalising the conversation around financial fitness and re-positioning ourselves as an easily-accessible life coach that can share valuable financial advice and enable people to do great things everyday’, says Thobile Tshabalala, Head of Brand at Old Mutual.
To ensure the Soweto Marathon is an inclusive race, Old Mutual also partnered with the Soweto Marathon Trust and the Orlando West High School to establish the Soweto Marathon Runners Village. The temporary Runners Village provided free accommodation, transport and meals for over 400 runners with limited financial means, a day before the race.
The learners from Orlando High School, where this year’s Runners Village was set up, received a new school board and sanitary towels for the girls, demonstrating the shared mutually beneficial value of partnerships that are aligned with a common goal.