Category: Columns

Check out all the latest news and important info from the world’s biggest, oldest and most famous ultra, the Comrades Marathon.– BY DELAINE COOLS & NONKULULEKO MDLALOSE

2016 OLD MUTUAL SPIRIT OF COMRADES AWARDS GALA

The annual Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Awards gala took place in Durban on Saturday 15 October, as the Comrades Marathon Association  (CMA) honoured some amazing individuals. Hosted by the CMA in conjunction with major sponsor Old Mutual, these awards celebrate three remarkable individuals every year for their selflessness, dedication, perseverance and ubuntu, combined with their love for The Ultimate Human Race.

The awardees are nominated by CMA members, Comrades Marathon runners and the general public, and are subject to the discretion of the CMA Board. The awards criteria place special emphasis on Comrades Marathon winners, legends, volunteers and otherwise ordinary heroes and heroines, who through individual acts of service, sacrifice, courage or perseverance, either in a single race or over a period of time, exhibit the noble qualities associated with the race.

CMA Chairperson, Macdonald Chitja, said, “We are delighted to honour these outstanding individuals at our flagship awards gala. Each of them has a unique story of camaraderie and goodwill that inspires us all to be the best we can be. It is incredibly motivating and we applaud them all.”

The prestigious awards gala has been a defining feature of the CMA since 1991, and the three Spirit of Comrades recipients are presented with a one-ounce, 24-carat gold medallion, courtesy of Old Mutual, while several other awards also form part of the gala evening.

FIRST RECIPIENT: AMIT SHETH

Being passionate about the Comrades Marathon, Amit has successfully completed the Ultimate Human Race five times. He was the first Indian national to run the Comrades in 2009, and in that same year was appointed the Comrades International Brand Ambassador for the Indian subcontinent, a role which he has fulfilled with enthusiasm and pride.

Over the years, Amit has inspired, mentored and encouraged hundreds of people to spread the word of the world’s greatest footrace. His book, Dare to Run, which was published in 2010, became a bestseller in India and has helped to motivate people from all walks of life to get into running, and more specifically, to come and take up the Comrades challenge. To this end, nearly 100 runners from India entered the 2016 Comrades Marathon, up from that solitary entry in 2009!

Despite his day job as the CEO of a successful engineering company in India, Amit makes the time to blog about his running experiences and shares his running hints, tips and general motivation to runners all over the Indian subcontinent and across the world. He is a motivational speaker of note and also an amazing fundraiser when it comes to charitable organisations. To date, Amit has donated over two and a half million Rand for the cancer treatment of underprivileged children at the Tata Memorial Hospital – the largest cancer hospital in Asia. With his quiet, unassuming nature and huge heart, Amit most certainly epitomises the true spirit of the Comrades Marathon.

SECOND RECIPIENT: RUPIN MEHTA

With a staggering number of Spirit of Comrades Award nominations coming in for Rupin, this amazing soul proved that a good deed seldom goes unnoticed, as television viewers and social media enthusiasts latched onto the images of an exhausted Rupin getting down on his knees in this year’s race to assist a fatigued runner.

Sacrificing his own Comrades medal to ensure that other runners achieved theirs was more important to him than securing a fifth consecutive Comrades finish. Rupin first came to the assistance of Johan Kotze, who was struggling to continue with his race at 45^th Cutting in Sherwood. With Rupin’s help and a bit of massage and motivation, Johan managed to complete his race and earn his medal within the 12-hour cut-off time.

Then at the finish, Rupin came across another athlete, Samantha Douglas, who was battling with major cramps. With spectators watching helplessly, he tried in vain to help her, but just did not have the strength to get her up and to the finish line in time, and both Rupin and Samantha ended up failing to finish the 2016 Comrades Marathon by a mere 21 seconds. Rupin’s actions on Comrades race day truly exemplified the indomitable Spirit of the Comrades Marathon and that saw him chosen as the second worthy Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades recipient.

THIRD RECIPIENT: DR SHOYAB WADEE

Comrades race day proved to be a beautiful day to save a life for our third Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades awardee, Dr Shoyab Wadee. This amazing individual has shown all of us that it is indeed more precious to save a life than to achieve a medal.

Dr Wadee was well on his way to enjoying his third Comrades Marathon finish when he came across a collapsed Willem Stolp at Botha’s Hill. Willem was lying on his side, vomiting profusely, and was clearly unwell. It was also obvious that his condition was fast deteriorating when the good doctor rushed to his aid. Willem’s state of health was deemed to be very serious, with his blood pressure and heart rate dropping rapidly. All this time, the kind-hearted doctor was fully aware that his own finishing time was being compromised, but thankfully this did not deter him from lending a hand and potentially saving the life of the Tzaneen Athletics Club member.

Dr Wadee rendered emergency medical intervention and remained at the side of the semi-conscious Willem for well over an hour. By the time the paramedics arrived on the scene, Willem was stabilised, thanks to the doctor’s efforts… but Dr Wadee then realised that with the amount of time that had elapsed whilst he was assisting Willem, he would be unable to complete his third Comrades Marathon in the remaining time, so he decided to call it a day.

Tzaneen Athletic Club Chairperson, Paul Zaayman said, “Dr Wadee displayed a sense of selflessness that is admirable. To think that he sacrificed his own medal to help a total stranger – that is truly what the Comrades is all about!”

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: KHANYISO TSHWAKU

Awarded to the journalist who has written the most articles and garnered the highest amount of AVE (advertising value equivalency) for the Comrades Brand, this year’s Comrades Journalist of the Year is a reporter from The Times Media Group. This popular sports reporter tells us that the Comrades Marathon means a lot to him: “I always wondered why people took the time to run the 89km route over 12 hours, when they could drive it in only an hour. Then I realised, by covering the event, that there’s more to the Comrades Marathon than just getting to the finish. It is an examination of the mind, body and soul that builds character and lifelong friendships.”

TOP CHARITY FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR: CAREL NOLTE

The CMA is exceedingly proud and passionate about the Comrades Charity Drive which benefits six officially recognised charities. To this end, the CMA presents its Comrades Marathon Top Fundraiser Award to the person who has raised the most funds for the Comrades Charities, and the winner of this prized accolade is once again Carel Nolte, who raised R170,000 this year.

Carel tells us that he loves everything about the race: “I have a deep respect for every person who takes part in the Comrades. This race demonstrates for me the very best of humanity and fills me with immense pride at being a South African. From the obvious ‘wow’ moments, like singing our National Anthem at the start and crossing the finishing line, to the more unexpected special moments, the Comrades creates special memories, and raising money for charity for thousands of people whilst having immense fun is a great gift.”

2016 WINNERS BLAZERS: DAVID GATEBE & CHARNE BOSMAN

The glitzy evening also saw the awarding of the Comrades Marathon Winners’ Blazers to the proudly South African 2016 winners David Gatebe and Charne Bosman. David was especially honoured for breaking the previously recorded best down-run time by a whopping two minutes and 22 seconds. Charne ran the race of her life and few will ever forget the final kilometres of the 2016 women’s race.

CMA CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION: SGB & INTERFLORA

The CMA is always mindful of the effort of individuals and organisations who have contributed in a significant way to the Comrades Marathon Association over the years. Due recognition and appreciation are accorded to two organisations for their outstanding service, or for going beyond the call of duty in adding value to the Comrades Marathon, via the CMA’s Certificate of Appreciation. These were presented to SGB and Interflora for 30 and 20 years of service respectively to the CMA.

CMA LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARD: BRIAN SWART

This award is conferred upon members who have rendered outstanding meritorious service to the race. Brian Swart has served the CMA in various capacities for 38 years, including his contributions to the Route-marking, Publications, Finish Procedure and Green Number Club portfolios, and most recently, convening the International Bus Tours.

GRAND MERIT FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE AWARD: MICK WINN

Special acknowledgement was bestowed on a special man in the Comrades Marathon world as Mick was honoured with a distinctive tribute for his 50 years of service to the Association. Furthermore, the CMA announced that it will rename the Comrades Hall at Comrades House as the ‘Mick Winn Hall of Honour’ in respect of him being the founding Chairperson of the Comrades Marathon Association and for his immense contribution to the CMA over half a century.

Rest in Peace:

Simon Mkhize

The Comrades Marathon Association was saddened by the news of the passing of Simon Mkhize on 14 October. The 74-year-old was the first Black runner to obtain his Comrades Green Number for running the Comrades Marathon 10 times, and went on to achieve Double Green Number status. Simon was born on 4 March 1942 near Howick, one of nine children, and was always a keen sportsman who inspired many athletes to get into various sports, especially running and taking on the Comrades Marathon challenge.

He started running when he was 28 years old and soon began winning races, starting an epic athletic career that saw him run his first Comrades in 1970. In his 20 successful Comrades finishes, Simon amassed eight Silver and 12 Bronze medals, with his best time of 6:40 achieved in 1971. However, due to the Comrades Marathon only being officially opened to runners of all races and genders in 1975, Simon’s first five Comrades finishes from 1970 to 1974 were all retrospectively awarded to him. Simon also got into canoeing and he was the first Black person to take part in the Dusi Canoe Marathon. He also tried mountain-climbing as well as rafting.

CMA Chairperson Macdonald Chitja says, “Simon was a gifted sportsman and inspired many young people to take up sport. He pioneered the way for Black participants in the Comrades Marathon and the Dusi Canoe Marathon. Even in his later years he always had time to give advice to ordinary runners on how they could improve their running. He will be missed.”

CMA Board Member, Terence Hoskins says, “I had the opportunity of getting to know Simon very well. He always exhibited the noble qualities of a gentleman, in sport as in life. He was a talented and disciplined individual who inspired many athletes to greatness. He will be greatly missed.” MA Green Number Convener, Eileen Hall adds, “I had huge respect for Simon as I knew him from when he ran with my Dad, Ray Karg. He was a very humble, respectful and pleasant runner.” And former CMA Chairperson, Barry Varty says, “It is sad to learn that Simon has crossed the finish line for the last time. We don’t say goodbye, we say, ‘Carry on Simon, we’ll catch you later’.”

This month we put the spotlight on Modern Athlete DARE TO TRI Programme triathlete Claire Malik, who came back from the disappointment of having to withdraw during the run leg of the 2014 Ironman in PE, to successfully complete the event in 2016. As the saying goes, “Ironman does not build character, it reveals it.”

It all started in 2013 when Claire was reading a copy of Modern Athlete and saw the monthly DARE TO TRI article. That was enough to get her hooked. “I contacted Coach Derick and joined DTT right away, even though when I started I could not run for more than 5km, never mind complete a triathlon! Joining DTT was great for me, because I met like-minded people, made a few close friendships, and training was fun and exciting,” says Claire.

“Derick put me on a programme that allowed me to grow from strength to strength, from completing sprints to standard distances and then a few 70.3 distances. In 2014 I attempted the full Ironman, but pulled out after 25km of the run. Hanging my head in shame, I dragged myself back to the hotel, extremely disappointed and having learnt that a full Ironman can really humble you!”

That saw Claire decide to take a break from the Full Ironman and instead concentrate on improving her running and getting her time for the 70.3 to less than six hours. But the call of the Full Ironman just got stronger, and this year she returned to Ironman Port Elizabeth and went on to not only cross the finish line in a fast 13:12:49, but she was also the first DTT woman home, with one of the fastest bike times of all DTT finishers! “One of the most important lessons I have learnt through DTT is that consistency is key, and I was absolutely thrilled when I completed Ironman this year,” she says.

Claire’s day job sees her performing the demanding role of owner of A to Z Cranes, which she brought on board with DTT as one of the sponsors of the programme in 2014, an she says she is both proud and grateful to be part of the DARE TO TRI Programme, both as a sponsor and a member. “The camaraderie at every event is incredible, seeing our green machines out on the course and rooting for each other. It’s a fantastic group and has become a great family. I look forward to the many wonderful years ahead as both a sponsor and a participant with DARE TO TRI, and to many more Ironman finishes! See you at the start of Ironman PE 2017!

The Modern Athlete DARE TO TRI athletes showed their fitness levels at recent events, the Global 11 triathlon, Amashova cycle race and Sun City Swim. As a coach, it is really fantastic to see the improvement our athletes have made since joining the programme, and the DTT weekly training mail is eagerly awaited by everybody who is part of the current DTT group of 52 athletes. As one of them told me recently, “It’s the highlight of my Mondays and motivates me to train consistently during the coming week.” Then weekend training is the time we get together to train hard, share a few laughs and socialise while getting fitter and stronger in the process!

DTT Success Story

Registration for the Modern Athlete DARE TO TRI Academy will be open till the end of December. Join the Modern Athlete Dare to Tri Academy from just R1265 once off payment. You will receive expert coaching and group training from when you sign up till Ironman PE in April 2017. Go to https://daretotri.canbook.me/e/view/10091 and follow the prompts to register, or contact derick.marcisz@stemcor.com for further information.

I have found that heroes come and go, but legends live forever!– BY RENÉ KALMER

When I grew up, the only interaction I had with my sporting heroes was collecting signatures at major events. I still have my little pink book with the signatures of Elana Meyer, Zola Budd (later Pieterse) and Gwen van Rensburg (later Griffiths) in it. If I was lucky enough, a signature was also accompanied with a poster, and I had Elana, Zola and Hezekiel Sepeng’s posters on my wall.

As you can imagine, I was over the moon to be on the same national team as Zola when I was 16, representing South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships in Stellenbosch. A year later I got the opportunity to travel to Europe with SA’s track and field stars like Hezekiel, Hestrie Cloete, Johan Botha and Burger Lambrecht, and that was just the start of me living a dream! Then in 2010 I made the switch to road running and this gave me the opportunity to meet and connect with SA’s best road runners.

So I went from being a fan to being part of the elite athletics scene, and these days I’m truly grateful for my fans. However, I used to think that one only had fans and supporters because you ran fast times and regularly won races, but this year my supporters really proved me wrong. I was overwhelmed by all the messages of support from fans, and even the media, after the London Marathon, where I failed to qualify for this year’s Olympic Games due to injury.

Meeting the Fans

I love that social media platforms allow me to interact with my followers, and I often get requests from fellow runners via Facebook to help them with training programmes. I am not a professional coach, but am always willing to give advice and share my experience, or suggest a coach in their area that might be able to help them. It is one of my long-term goals to qualify as a middle distance coach, especially for school kids… but at this stage I’m still trying to overcome the huge challenge of getting my hubby, Andre, to train properly, as he only trains 60km a week in peak training for Comrades and Two Oceans!

Over the years I’ve also had a lot of requests from kids for school projects, and I always assist with a big smile, as I just imagine if had had the opportunity to ‘stalk’ Elana or Zola on Facebook back in the days when I grew up. I’ve also had some weird requests via Facebook, though, like a guy from Eritrea who wanted to come stay with me and train with me. Oh, and one of the gifts from a fan that also stands out is a black coffee mug. When you pour hot water in it, a picture of me appears on the side, along with a red heart and the name of the guy. Christine used to get a kick out of offering coffee to Andre in this mug whenever he came to visit me at my parent’s house!

I realise that being a role model for fellow runners comes with a great responsibility, so I try to keep my social media posts real, reflecting “the good, the bad and the ugly” of running. Races often don’t go according to plan and sometimes I feel that if I don’t post about a bad race, training session or injury, then they don’t exist, but it is posts like these that fellow runners can often relate to most. The bottom line is that I aspire to be the type of role model that my children will also look up to one day, just as I looked up to my heroes.

Muscle memory is an overused term in running circles, especially when you haven’t raced hard for a while and suddenly try to blitz a few kays without giving your legs proper warning! – BY MODERN ATHLETE EDITOR SEAN FALCONER

“Right, legs, best you start getting ready for a bit of speedwork, because this coming Tuesday we’re hitting the club time trial again for the first time in about five weeks. I know you haven’t really done anything like this for a while, because we’ve all been so busy with end of year deadlines, so I thought it best to give you the proverbial heads-up now, a week before blast-off, so you two can start preparing yourselves mentally for what’s coming. Don’t worry, though, I won’t put too much pressure on you to perform miracles, but a decent time for five kays is non-negotiable. Please. Thank you.”

That’s the memo I composed in my head and fully intended to send to my legs last week, but somehow it got lost in translation and sideswiped into cyberspace, and my poor legs duly arrived at a recent time trial none the wiser about what was about to happen to them. And let me tell you, it got messy. I mean, the stinking e-mail my brain received later that week, after the old legs had stewed on things for a while, pretty much made it clear that there will be a revolt in this palace, and a military coup d’etat after that, if management springs anything like that on them again without warning!

Wait, let me tell you the story…
So, I drove down the road that evening after work, dressed in my favourite running kits, ready to take on the TT route that consists of a 3km loop followed by a 2km loop. After greeting my clubmates and getting the usual guffaws of disbelief that I was there – work sometimes gets in the way of Tuesday nights, so there are usually a few comments about the possibility of snow in the Sahara due to my rocking up for a run – I did a quick warm-up to clear the sparkplugs and warn the legs to wake up, because here it comes. I think the legs must have been Facebooking, or watching series, because no return message was received, just stony silence. I should have read the signs.

Three, two, one, go! And we were off. It was a smallish group of runners, mostly doing five kays, except for this one oke who lined up for eight kays and went flying past us as I trundled over the line. I think one woman even said “Gmpfff,” as if he was rude to go that fast. Anyway, I looked around me and thought, no way I can run at that oke’s pace, but the rest of this group are not exactly motoring, so I reckon I’ll push on a bit too. Idiot!

The old legs had barely woken up yet properly when I hit the first kay marker in four minutes 10 seconds. One look at my watch told my brain everything it needed to know. I was in deep sh… Well, you know what I mean. So I dialled things back before the legs got wind of what was going on. Or so I thought. Apparently the legs have spies everywhere, because somehow they knew anyway, and the warning messages started coming thick and fast. One e-mail even contained a classic YouTube clip from the original Star Trek series, where chief engineer Scotty says to Captain Kirk, “I canna do it, Captain, I havena got the poower!”

Even after I dialled the speed back, I knew trouble was brewing below. As in, way down below, around the quads and calves area. And the rumbling and mumbling of discontent just got louder with every step. Meanwhile, the brain was receiving more warning messages from the heart and lungs about a lack of oxygen, the diaphragm was trying to deal with a sudden stitching problem as the seams started coming apart, and the skin sensors were sending in reports of swirling wind conditions approaching hurricane strength, so all hands were needed to batten down the hatches and board up the windows. This was not going to be smooth sailing weather!

The second kay marker passed in 9:08, so I had slowed down considerably from 4:10 to 4:58, and things were going a wee bit smoother. I say a wee bit, with the emphasis on wee, because the next mailed attachment had an extremely battered looking Scotty hanging onto a weirdly angled engine room intercom stand, red warning lights flashing all around him and a warning klaxon blasting away in the background, while he was shouting at Captain Kirk about a possible overload of the engines causing a chain reaction nuclear meltdown of cataclysmically disastrous proportions! “Captain, I dinna think she’ll hold together if ye dinna slow her doon noo!”

Slow her down, Scotty
So the brain finally conceded that perhaps the legs were right and five kays of flat-out speedwork was not such a good idea after all – especially not if done without a proper overhaul of the engines! So when I hit the start-finish line at the end of the first 3km loop, knowing I was going to implode if I took on the second loop of 2km, I formally announced (i.e. gasped desperately with a croaking sound that vaguely resembled my voice) to Roy the timekeeper that I was stopping, so please record my time for 3km. “15:26,” he called out. That meant I had slowed right down to a last kay of 6:16.

The legs just stood there for a few minutes, in a wobbly jelly-like state, trying to make sense of it all, while the brain started composing a formal letter of apology which is yet to be finished and mailed. Once they could, the lungs and diaphragm breathed a collective sigh of relief at the near-miss, while the heart started pumping out emergency aid parcels for all the areas hit by the time trial tsunami.

Soon, things were back to normal, but the brain knew there could still be some fall-out when the legs realised the full extent of the damage inflicted on them. Then I knew the snotty e-mails were really going to get interesting… Probably with more Scottish expletives in Star Trek clips attached!

Comrades Marathon runners who were unable to enter the 2017 Comrades Marathon during the official entry period (1 September – 30 November 2016) now have an opportunity to still be part of the world’s biggest and oldest ultra-marathon through the official 2017 Comrades Marathon Substitution Process.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that the Substitution Process will run for one month between mid-March and mid-April next year. The Substitution rule allows for a runner who has not entered to substitute an entrant who has withdrawn, or intends to withdraw from the 2017 edition of The Ultimate Human Race.

Substitutions can only take effect on a like for like basis, meaning SA runners can only substitute for SA entrants, Rest of Africa (ROA) for other ROA runners and International runners for International entrants. The Substitution process officially opens on 14 March and closes on 14 April 2017.

Athletes are urged to take note that the Substitution application forms will only be available on the official Comrades Marathon website at www.comrades.com as of 14 March 2017. Athletes will be able to download the forms and the comprehensive list of rules and regulations which govern the Substitution process. Prospective substitutes are encouraged to do their application online.

CMA Race Director Rowyn James says, ‘The Substitution Rule has been very well received by our runners for the past five years, thereby ensuring that as many athletes as possible have the opportunity to participate in the Comrades Marathon.’

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that the closure of its 2017 entry process is imminent. The three-month long entry process has netted nearly 19,500 entries to date.

CMA Race Director, Rowyn James has urged prospective athletes to get their entries in before the process closes. James says, “We have capped our entries for the 2017 Comrades Marathon at 20,000. Runners from more than 97 countries have already entered and we look forward to a diverse spread of runners on Sunday, 4 June 2017.”

James has cautioned that the entry process will either close today or at the latest tomorrow. He says, “Prospective Comrades runners are urged to enter before the 20,000 entry cap is reached. It should take a few hours to reach the cap.”

For the latest entry barometer and more information, please visit www.comrades.com

Entry fees for the 2017 Comrades Marathon are as follows:

·        Local Entries            : R 460.00

·        Rest of Africa           : R 770.00

·        International           : R2650.00

James adds, “The CMA Marketing team has been out and about at qualifying events since September, taking athlete’s qualifying details and assisting runners with entry and race information.”

He concludes, “Runners can also look forward to the Bonitas Novice and Women’s seminars as well as the sought-after Comrades roadshow which kicks off early in the new year.”

A little more than 1500 entries are still available for the 2017 Comrades Marathon as the entry process nears its end. The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that the three-month long entry process will close in less than a week as last minute entries come in thick and fast.

CMA Race Director, Rowyn James has urged aspiring participants to get their entries in before the process closes. James says, “For the first time in 16 years, the Comrades up-run will once again be finishing at the impressive Scottsville Racecourse. We look forward to hosting our runners on Sunday, 4 June 2017 for the 47^th up-run in Comrades history.”

 

The current entry breakdown is as follows:

 

South African Entrants	16725
Rest of Africa Entrants	363
International Entrants	1236

 

The United Kingdom, USA and Brazil lead the tally of international entrants with 263, 173 and 141 entrants respectively.

Female entrants make up just over 23% of the entry field so far at 4235.

Prospective Comrades runners are urged to enter before the entry process closes on 30 November 2016 or as soon as the 20,000 entry cap is reached. For the latest entry barometer and more information, please visit www.comrades.com

 

Entry fees for the 2017 Comrades Marathon are as follows:

·        Local Entries            : R 460.00

·        Rest of Africa           : R 770.00

·        International           : R2650.00

 

For details on how to enter, please visit the Comrades Marathon website: www.comrades.com

With less than 4 000 entries available for the 2017 Comrades Marathon, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that the entry process will soon come to a close. The United Kingdom, USA and Australia currently top the list of international countries with the highest tally of entries. The CMA has further confirmed that nearly 30% of the entrants are novices while a total of 2 150 Green Number runners have entered.

 

The most recent entry breakdown is as follows:

Country	Current Count
South African Entrants	14 615
Rest of Africa Entrants	293
International Entrants	1 097

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most recent provincial entry breakdown is as follows:

Province	Current Count
Eatern Cape	461
Free State	401
Gauteng	7 647
Kwazulu Natal	2 802
Limpopo	463
Mpumalanga	646
North West Province	367
Northern Cape	118
Western Cape	1 631

 

Prospective 2017 Comrades Marathon runners are urged to enter before the entry process closes on Wednesday, 30 November 2016 or as soon as the 20,000 entry cap is reached. For the latest entry barometer and more information, please visit www.comrades.com.

Entry fees for the 2017 Comrades Marathon are as follows:

·        Local Entries            : R 460.00

·        Rest of Africa           : R 770.00

·        International           : R2650.00

For details on how to enter, please visit the Comrades Marathon website: www.comrades.com

PUMA today launched the School of Speed to develop athletics talent in South Africa by unearthing the fastest young speedsters. The School of Speed is headed by the World’s Fastest Man Usain Bolt, who has appointed reigning SA 100m champion Henricho Bruintjies as his Vice Principal in South Africa.

Bruintjies will be on track to oversee the first School of Speed at the LC de Villiers Stadium in Pretoria on Friday, 2 December 2016, when up-and-coming faster stars in th U/16, U/18 and U/20 categories compete across 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m as well as relays.

The big prize for the top 5 athletes per meet as determined by the Athletics South Africa points system is a PUMA product contract each to the value of R10000.

Additional incentives include bragging rights for being a part of the Fastest event in South Africa and PUMA Tees for the finalists in each category, while the fastest boy and girl in each age group will receive a pair of PUMA running shoes and qualify for a 45% discount on PUMA product to assist with their performance goals.

Athletics development will be further enhanced by coaches clinics and schools clinics taking place around the meets, and the top young speedsters will become part of PUMA’s elite running ambassador programme alongside greats such as Henricho Bruintjies, Jerry Motsau, Rantso Mokopane and the Phalula sisters.

They will draw advice and encouragement from these athletes over the course of the sponsorship and will get free entry to PUMA running events including the FNB Joburg 10k, FNB Cape Town 12k and the FNB Durban event.

“We were motivated to launch the School of Speed having witnessed the unbelievable energy unleashed by South African sprinters at the Rio Olympics. We don’t want to lose that momentum,” said PUMA Marketing Director Brett Bellinger.

“The School of Speed is a call to young South Africans to follow in the speedy footsteps of Usain Bolt and Henricho Bruintjies … and they could even win a contract with PUMA!” PUMA has a proud history in high school athletics, sponsoring the annual ISSA Boys & Girls Athletic Championships in Jamaica.

It is one of the largest high school events in the world and each year a new set of promising young talents hit the track to show the world what they can do. Many Olympic medalists, including Bolt competed in this event. Bruintjies said it was a privilege to be named Vice Principal of the School of Speed and to work alongside Usain Bolt.

“The School of Speed is great news for South Africa, not just for athletics but for all youth who want to be a superstar in anything in life. It will motivate more youngsters to stay in track and field and away from negative things,” he said.

“I come from a difficult background, so I want my role as Vice Principal to show kids that no matter where you come from you can succeed. I was not always the fastest kid around the block. I was beaten several times, but that never put me down.”

The School of Speed will start at around 2pm, with the finals starting at 6.30pm and finishing by 9.30pm. The meets are endorsed by athletics federations, so times count as official qualification for provincial and national championships.

PUMA , the Forever Faster global sports brand is the brand behind the School of Speed initiative and with the help of the dynamic team at Stillwater Sports, looks to design, organise and market high quality sports events. 

The series will focus on track events only and will include events in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,6km as well as the 4x100m relay event. The 800m and the 1,6km event are by invitation only. The series is open to the following age groups; U/16 (Ages 14&15 only), U/18 (ages 16&17 only and U/20 (ages 19&20only).

 

The series will consist of 5 events, taking place at the following venues;

1. LC de Villiers Athletics Stadium in Pretoria. Friday, 2 December 2016.

2. Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town. Wednesday, 18 January 2017.

3. Ruimsig Athletics Stadium in Roodepoort. Wednesday, 1 February 2017.

4. Kings Park Athletics Stadium in Durban. Saturday, 18 February 2017.

5. Dal Josafat Stadium in Paarl. Tuesday, 28 February 2017.

 

Entries to take part in the series can be done through your school or if you want to be a part of this and your school does not take part, you can enter as an individual. Entries done through your school are FREE and individual entries will cost R50.00 each.

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From losing clothes and being attacked by a branch to surviving frostbite and beer before sunrise, I’ve had some interesting times as a running journo! – BY MODERN ATHLETE EDITOR SEAN FALCONER

Yesterday I was driving behind a truck that was spewing out exhaust fumes and smoke, making my eyes water, and it brought back memories of watching the Cape Town Spar Women’s 10km race a few years ago from the ‘comfort’ of the boot of a 4×4 SUV, sitting right above the exhaust pipe and trying to stop my eyes from watering from the fumes burning my eyes. That got me thinking about some of my ‘misadventures’ over the years while covering road running events.

My first experience of exhaust fumes was sitting on a VW combi’s tailgate at the Om Die Dam 50km ultra in the North West in 2000. I had a great view of the race and took some great pictures, but man oh man, were my eyes and throat toasted by the time we reached the finish, not to mention the fact that I was squirming around much better as the engine got hotter and my seat warmed up! The same thing happened at the Wally Hayward Marathon in Pretoria later that same year – in fact, it may even have been the same combi – but again, I got some great pics, so I didn’t mind too much.

You can leave your hat on…
I’ve had some bad luck with clothing when covering races, particularly caps. One year on the press truck at the Soweto Marathon, I was sitting on the bottom level of the stepped seats on the truck when one of the guys sitting on the top row shouted “Duck!” to warn the others about a branch that was about to decapitate the top rung of journo’s. Stupidly, I turned to see what was going on… just in time for the branch to break off as it hit the seating frame and fall on top of me, swiping me across the face a mere two millimetres below my eye!

All jokes aside, I was incredibly lucky that the branch didn’t take my eye out, but instead it knocked my sunglasses off as well as my favourite cap. I caught the sunglasses just as they were about to fall into the road, but my cap went sailing overboard. In dismay, I saw one of the leading men, Frans Chauke, pick it up and put it on, and when he finished the race I asked him about it – because I wanted my favourite cap back, damnit! – but he just looked at me like I was mad… Scratch one cap.

A few years later I was on the press truck at the Loskop 50km ultra in Mpumalanga when I turned to speak to a fellow journo and the wind caught my latest favourite cap. Whoosh and it was gone… and that truck driver was not going to stop for my cap, since we were barrelling along to catch back up to the leading men after we had stopped for a pit-stop. And would you believe it, two years later at Loskop I was wearing expensive gloves to ward off the cold as we covered the race from open-top game-watching land-drovers, and somewhere in all the clambering around one of my gloves went over the side. Hmmmm, there seems to be a pattern forming here…

Cheers, boys!
One of the best races to cover was always the Comrades Marathon, not just because of the history and drama of the event, but also because the press truck was traditionally great fun, especially when you were on the truck with all the ‘old-timers’ who had been covering the race for many years. Things have changed a bit since those years, but back then, when we covered the ‘Up Run’ that started in balmy Durban, the first beer was cracked open before the sun came up! Nobody got drunk, I swear, but man did we laugh… after all, there is not that much to see for the first half of the race as the TV runners go sprinting clear of the pack, and the real race usually only comes to the fore in the second half, so the journo’s had to keep ourselves entertained.

Of course, on the ‘Down Run’ at Comrades the journo’s demand piping hot coffee instead of beers as the race starts, because it’s normally bloody freezing on that truck coming down Polly Shortts in the dark. I did that press truck trip twice, in 2003 and 2007, and I can tell you that it is the only time I have ever wished to be beamed up by a higher power rather than endure that cold anymore. I never want to be that cold again!

In 2007, after surviving the cold on Pollies, I also had to survive another misadventure: After leaving the leading man with about five kays to go, the truck was making a sprint for the finish venue so we journo’s could be there to see the winner come in, when suddenly there was a loud whirring sound reverberating back off the concrete wall alongside the highway. A short while later there was a loud bang and the truck slewed to the side – the left rear tyre had burst. Luckily it didn’t skid or tip and the driver did well to bring the truck to a halt without crashing, but we were still about two kays from the stadium. No problem, cue 20 journo’s in three layers of clothing, lugging laptops, cameras and discarded clothing, all jogging along the highway down to the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium. We made it, though, very sweaty, with a few minutes to spare before the winner came home, and we got our finishline pics and interviews.

Don’t drop the clutch!
Speaking of ‘car trouble,’ I reckon the funniest thing I’ve seen so far was in the inaugural running of the Totalsports Women’s 10km in Cape Town a few years back (although it was then known as the Avon Women’s Race). The journo’s all piled into a VW combi parked in front of the start line, and we warned the driver to get ready to pull away fast once the gun was fired. The countdown to the start commenced, the gun was fired, a few thousand women came sprinting down the road, including Rene Kalmer, Charne Bosman and many other elites – and the driver stalled the combi. Right in the middle of the road!

Well, what could we do but sit there and let the whole field pass by, then take a different route to get back ahead of the leading pack, and then it was back to business as usual, but man did we get a few dirty looks while sitting there in the middle of the road causing a traffic jam as all those women had to go around us. Let’s just say there were quite a few comments about male drivers not being so much better than women after all!

You know, looking back on the past 17 years, I realise how privileged I have been to both run and cover some stunning races throughout South Africa, and these stories are just some of the many good memories I have already collected as a running journo. Hopefully there will be many more.