A 60-year-old athlete from Boksburg Athletic Club, David Jabulani Gamede, is keen to improve his time in the 2024 Comrades Marathon.
He said people might be surprised by his resolution of improving his finishing time in the Comrades Marathon at his age, but from his own knowledge and understanding an athlete gets better with time in the Comrades.
“Our bodies as athletes can only adapt to a long distance of the Comrades if we run it over a period of four years or more. My current finishing time is 07:20:07 it’s reasonable but I know it could’ve been better if the ultimate running initiative hadn’t stopped for two years.
“I started participating in the Comrades in 2018 where I received Bill Rowen Medal at the age of 56. The medal is given to runners who have a clock time between 07:30 to nine hours. During the 2019 Comrades, I got a back-to-back medal for running successfully for two years. I also received a silver medal for completing the marathon at 07:06:08.
“I was ranked in the 10th position in the overall master’s category during that year. The Comrades didn’t take place for two years, so all our bodies as runners were not agile enough to take on the distance in 2022,” stated Gamede. I’m going to carry on participating in these prestigious races.”
He said he won a silver medal in the latest race in his grandmaster’s category.
“My clock-time was 07:20:07 in the 2022 race. I’m happy with my results because prior to the race when you interviewed me I said I’m aiming to be in the top three or win the race in my category, I still hope to win the Comrades in my category.
“My aim is to improve my time to 06:40 in two years’ time. I will be working towards my goal. I love running and I started to realise it while I was still a soccer player. When we used to train I enjoyed hitting the road. After my soccer career ended I decided to pursue my running passion.”
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