Old Edwardian road race runs on 12 August

The 39th edition of the Old Eds Road Race takes place on 12 August.

This iconic race kicks off the start of the road running season after the winter break and runners’ recovery from the rigours of the Comrades Marathon.

The men’s winner of the half marathon last year was Tsotang Maine in a time of 01:08:30 and the first woman home was Mamorallo Tjoka in 01:19:41

The 21km race is a double lapper through the leafy suburbs of Houghton, Birdhaven, Melrose and Killarney, with the 10km runners finishing in the Old Edwardian grounds on completion of the first lap.

In addition to the 10 and 21km events, a 5km fun run is also held in conjunction with King Edward Preparatory School and ORT SA.

This year will be the second time the race is run as part of the Vitality Run Series and organisers are expecting the largest attendance ever. For this reason, residents are advised to take note of the route and plan to stay clear of the area from 8am to 11am on 12 August, as traffic may be affected by the thousands of athletes taking part.

The race is co-hosted by the Old Edwardian Athletics Club and the Morningside Country Club Road Runners and sponsored by Discovery Vitality and Jaguar Landrover Sandton.

“We would like to appeal to the competitors of the event to be considerate when parking around the venue and suggest they make use of a taxi service to get to the race as parking at the venue is limited,” said Greg Bortz of The Old Edwardian Society.

Read: On this day in history: The first Comrades Marathon took place