The Night Run mass sports is becoming a new thing that sports enthusiasts Rubavu town have obviously been waiting for given the turn at Friday’s inaugural edition which attracted an estimated 2000 participants.

Organized by Rubavu District in partnership with the Ministry of Sports, the Night Run comes to Rubavu town as an occasion encourage to people to run, jog and walk to maintain their fitness and health while also enjoying the beauty of the town as one of the secondary cities and a gateway for tourism and business.

Rubavu town becomes the first secondary city to adopt such a 5.8 kilometers night run after Kigali.

Sports Minister Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju was among attendees during the official launch. She commended the district for drawing a lesson from the City of Kigali and introducing their own night run mass sports initiative and called upon all Rwandans to make sport a culture.

"Rwandans are advised to embrace the culture of sports, particularly Rubavu District as a tourism destination should benefit from it via organizing sports events which attract a lot of people,” Munyangaju said.

"We all know a lot of families came here for time-out [yet]. It is one of the ways people know much about Rubavu via sports,” she added.

For Mayor Ildephonse Kambogo, the night run is a fact that the town is safe for people to travel as long as security is concerned.

"When there is a night run, there is security, enjoyment, life, entertainment and everything for local residents and the guests. We want to inform the general public that Rubavu is safe to travel, that there is life,” Kambogo said.

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Kambogo noted that the district noticed that it was important to bring the night run after Kigali City in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports as one of the aspects for marketing the district for business people to invest in the town.

He said that is not only for merely enjoying the safety of the town in terms of music, jogging and stretching but also businesses will be making money.

"It’s a marketing tool for people to understand that Rubavu is a destination of their first choice, a place to go with a lot of things to do. We are trying to develop various products as a marketing tool for business owners, especially in the hospitality industry, as well as keeping our population healthy,” he said.

Mimi Manirakiza, a business woman in Rubavu, was one of the participants who enjoyed the night run exercise.

"It was better than in the morning! I enjoyed joining and running with such a mass of people that we are witnessing here,” smiling Manirakiza said.