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Comrades organisers in frantic stadium dash for IPL Cricket tournament in South Africa
After fruitful discussions at the weekend between the Comrades Marathon Association and the KZN Cricket Union, the managements of both parties are now hard at work to find how best to accommodate both the Comrades Marathon and the Indian Premier League cricket matches next month. Comrades Marathon race director Renee Jordaan said: "It has been quite a challenge searching for a win-win solution to the dilemma, which arose over the clash of dates at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead around the running of the Comrades on May 24."
However, Kingsmead will not host a semi-final or the final of the IPL tournament and the final IPL match at the stadium will be played on May 20, clearing the way for the Comrades association to move into Kingsmead at the end of that match to proceed with preparations for the annual race. The final IPL matches before the semi finals in Pretoria on May 17 and Robert Wilson, CEO of travelinsouthafrica.net advises fans to secure their travel and accommodation in South Africa now. Jordaan said meetings between the association and its service providers, sponsors, contractors and volunteers were continuing and it was hoped that a plan would evolve to have the stadium ready for the big day. Among the installations to be completed within the three days to convert the stadium from a cricket venue to the finish for the world's greatest ultra-marathon race are fencing, barriers, pedestrian bridges, scaffolding and platforms to hold TV and radio commentary boxes and loudspeakers, portable containers housing offices for the timing equipment and computer processing units, 30 tents equipped with Telkom lines, electricity and lighting for the finishing procedure area and for medical use, intensive care and life support units, showers, tog bag storage and portable toilets.
Jordaan said: "It is going to be, and always has been, a mammoth task but because of time constraints limiting us to three days, the service providers are going to work three eight-hour shifts each day and under the stadium's floodlights during the night shift." She said that relations between the association and cricket union were cordial. "We are in this together," she said, "and we have a long-standing relationship going back over 35 years, during which there have been 16 Comrades Marathon finishes at Kingsmead in Durban." "Entries for the 2009 Comrades, which closed on Tuesday, are around 8 000 but are expected to close at around 14 000, while there could be as many as 20 000 for the 2010 race, which is receiving special marketing as it will be the 85th anniversary of the race," she said. o This article was originally published on page 14 of The Mercury on April 02, 2009
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