The recent Orange Phikwe Marathon (OPM) in Selebi-Phikwe was declared a success. The OPM organising committee’s spokesperson Kennedy Dudzayi said the marathon was a great improvement from the previous year. Dudzayi said they were able to rectify all the challenges that they experienced in 2016. The Orange Botswana-sponsored marathon has this year seen an improvement in the organisation as well as the number of participants. He said they aim to continue growing the marathon so that it can greatly benefit not only the people of Selebi-Phikwe but the country at large, adding that they are now refocusing their attention in the development of athletes from this marathon. This was evident this year as the 10km race was reserved only for runners under the age of 20 years. Dudzayi said this is meant for easy talent identification. “We will then be adopting two runners from this section who we will then nurture for future development,” he said. This, he said, will help in the production of future elite runners. For a long-time Botswana has been unable to produce long distance runners who challenge for international honours. This has always been blamed on lack of proper nurturing and development of the long…