Club members gather for encouragement
Among the great runners the Bedfordview Athletics Club has is Richard Laskey, who started The Cows, where he runs the Comrades Marathon dressed in a cow suit for charity.
Bedfordview Athletics club members gathered on May 25 at the Italian Club in Bedfordview to encourage one another for the Comrades Marathon on June 1.
The speaker for the day was 2012 Gold Medal Comrades winner Ludwick Mamabolo, who is a former member of the club.
Ludwick started running at the age of 23 and is now running professionally for Nedbank. The 2014 Comrades Marathon is his fifth entry.
Ludwick made a name for himself after winning a large number of races in the past.
He shared information which could help prepare others for the coming race.
Among the great runners the Bedfordview Athletics Club has is Richard Laskey, who started The Cows, where he runs the Comrades Marathon dressed in a cow suit for charity.
Also taking part in the race is Michelle Josepho, who was in a bicycle accident last year and fractured her skull. She said that to take part in the Comrades has given her hope in celebrating life again.
Another runner is 68-year-old Goth Diers, who will also compete in this year’s Comrades. He said being challenged by the youngsters makes it exciting.
“It is also a good way to keep healthy,” he said.
Donald Jardine (56), who started running to lose weight, said he started running in 1992 and has never looked back. He said that being part of a running club encourages runners and keeps everyone motivated to keep working at it.
“It takes a lot of commitment and that’s why it is better to be in a group,” he said.
Jardine is running his 10th Comrades Marathon this year and said nothing can ever prepare one enough for the Comrades Marathon.
“We will all go through bad patches, but keep the faith, move forward, shorten your horizon, get to the next kilometre, the next water point and finally it will be no distant horizon but the stadium itself, welcoming you.
“Take strength from the runners, spectators and believe, truly believe, we have put in enough training and there is no place we would rather be than here, with our Bedfordview Athletics Club mates, facing the challenges of the Comrades together,” he advised.
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