Harriers keen on Comrades success

It’s now or never for the road runners from Benoni Harriers Athletic Club (BHAC).

Members and supporters of Benoni Harriers Athletics Club, who will be heading down to Durban for this year’s Comrades Marathon.

The club wrapped up the final stages of the 2017 Comrades Marathon build-up with their annual pre-race breakfast.

This year’s breakfast took place at Flamingo’s Nest Guesthouse in Rynfield Agricultural Holdings.

Forty-five members from the local club will make the trek to Durban for the gruelling 86.77km up run journey to Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, June 4.

Six runners from Harriers will make their Comrades debuts as novices while Fanie Mphuthi (starting in the B-batch of runners) will be the sole runner from the club aiming to join the prestigious Green Number Club (10 Comrades Marathon finishes).

The club’s James Reid will be the most experienced head out on the road.

He has to date completed the world’s longest and oldest ultra-marathon 26 times and will be striving to add another finish to his impressive overall haul.

Club captain Dawie du Toit will be edging closer to his Double Green Number as he seeks to complete his 19th Comrades, as is Kishore Magan, who is also going for Comrades finish number 19.

Only two women from BHAC, Tina Pretorius and Melissa Barnard, will brave the race.

Another exciting story will be Team Old Mutual Shongololo’s attempt at a Comrades Back-to-Back finish.

The Shongololo is made up of six 1.8m long segments each and is approximately 15m in length.

The Shongololo’s “legs” will be made up out of the runners’ legs, six of them running at a time.

Team Old Mutual Shongololo in action at last year’s Comrades Marathon.

Last year, the 14-man team (made up of Harriers and Benoni Northerns Athletic Club runners) completed the race in sub-11 hours and will be hoping to do a repeat of that.

Team Shongololo are, back (from left): Anand Manilal, Grant Bamford, Gerald Leverton, Hennie Kotze and Solly Mahlangu. Front: Jasper Aidan (left), Dawie du Toit, Zacharia Mogotsi and Wilson Mamabolo. Absent: Stephen Msimango, Sipho Dzingwa, Sipho Dumakude, Samuel Modise, Nichodemus Molemane and John Mitchell (manager).

Managed by former BNAC chairman John Mitchell, the team consists of Anand Manilal, Grant Bamford, Gerald Leverton, Hennie Kotze, Solly Mahlangu, Jasper Aidan, Dawie du Toit, Zacharia Mogotsi, Wilson Mamabolo, Stephen Msimango, Sipho Dzingwa, Sipho Dumakude, Samuel Modise and Nichodemus Molemane.

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