Venue: SIGATOKA SAND DUNES
Roko Tui and staff of Provincial Offices of Ra;
Representatives of Vodafone Fiji, Tourism Fiji;
Event Organisers and Partners;
Nadroga / Navosa and Colo North, District Officers;
Local and international runners;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Bula vinaka and a good morning to all of you.
It is indeed a pleasure to be here this morning to officiate at the Race Finish of the Vodafone Lost Island Ultra Marathon.
Five days ago, you were standing here as teams carrying flags from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, Singapore and Fiji.
Today you stand surrounded by friends. You have defeated some of them and you may have lost against others. That is how sport works. Your weakest competitor is your best friend because he or she will make you stronger. Thanks to the competition you will grow.
So, congratulations to today’s winners! Congratulations also to those who have not succeeded. Congratulations for trying and participating.
Ladies and Gentlemen
What makes this event even more special is that the adverse weather has not deterred your spirit. You would have tracked through various areas that have been affected by Tropical Cyclone Josie and the continuing bad weather.
Therefore, you have experienced firsthand the devastation and how vulnerable small island states are to climate change. The climatic phenomena that we are facing is getting more catastrophic each time.
I do not want to dampen your spirits. But I hope you will, in your own way, support us in our call for climate action by the developed nations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Sports, particularly team sports engender purposeful and meaningful social relationships. Man is a social animal; we have a need to socially connect with others. These social interactions with your friends and workmates provide you highly desirable security, belongingness, and ultimately happiness.
Therefore, winning or losing in any sport, is not at all important, but the happiness originating from the participation in sports or athletics is highly cherished trophy. Those who could not script victory on this occasion, should not be disappointed but analyze their performance.
There are many fringe benefits of being an athlete. It gives you the confidence, strength and enhances physical productivity. Sports teaches us to work in harmony with other people, exert whenever necessary, accept defeat with equal ease and work as a consolidated unit.
Therefore, to the forty-nine runners, you’ve just made history, by participating in what we hope will be the first of many annual Fiji ultramarathons.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are best known for our beautiful beaches and ocean and I hope you get to enjoy both for the next few days, as you’ve certainly earned it.
We are also proud of the growing adventure tourism market. Companies like Talanoa Treks and Sigatoka River Safari are connecting rural communities to visitors and giving them a unique cultural experience as part of their visit.
To the all the runners, your participation is important because it helps to cement the credibility of the country as a destination that is about more than just the beach.
Not everyone can run ultra-marathons, but just knowing that the country has a multi-stage ultra can be enough to make a potential visitor think again and question their assumptions about what we have to offer.
Ladies and Gentlemen
While talking to the organisers, Get Lost Events and Talanoa Treks, I know that the weather has made this event even more adventurous than expected.
Hence, I thank you for placing your faith in Fiji, for showing faith in the organisers and for being part of the inaugural Vodafone Lost Island Ultra. We hope that this is the start of something that we can grow year on year and become an iconic race around the world.
I am happy that Tourism Fiji in a small way through the Events Development Fund, helped to get this incredible event up and running.
I know that there was blood, sweat and tears along the way and I have nothing but admiration for all of you in persevering to the end. And those last few kilometers through the sand dunes, which is where our best rugby teams train, could not have been easy at the end of such a grueling race.
Nevertheless, I hope that by having three Fijians running this year, we can persuade others to take up the challenge next year and have even more Fijians running alongside our international runners.
To all our international runners, I hope you all had a great time both on and off the tracks and it is my hope that the spirit of friendship that has been nurtured over the last five days will be continued and strengthened.
To the organizers, communities, sponsors, partners and volunteers, a big vinaka vakalevu to you all for your continued support and for making this event a great success.
With those words, I wish all our international runners a safe trip back home, a greater success in future and hope you being a sports person, will add to the glory of the race and your country.
Vinaka vakalevu and Thank you.
View PDF->Minister’s Speech – Race Finish Lost Island Vodafone Ultra Marathon