Runners take part in legendary race
Victoria Lake Athletics Club runners were among athletes from around the world who competed in the Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) Race The Comrades Legends virtual race.
Covid-19 has put a halt to and led to the cancellation of several major sporting events.
One such event was the legendary Comrades Marathon, which was scheduled to take place on June 6.
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However, the best runners on the national and international ultra-running circuit still had the chance to lace up their running shoes and test their stamina in the Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) Race The Comrades Legends virtual race on Sunday.
With the event’s entry tally nearing 30 000 entries, CMA aimed to create the ultimate virtual experience for athletes by not only creating a sense of camaraderie for runners within their social space, but by adding value to running clubs and the running scene and helping raise funds for charities amid the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
The event attracted participants from around the world with 86 participating nations, which is more international participants than had entered for the actual 2020 Comrades Marathon.
Legend Bernard Gomersall, the oldest surviving winner of the 1965 Comrades Marathon, who is now 87 years old, participated in the event, completing the 5km event in Washington DC, USA.
Other legends who took part in the race included four-time Comrades winner and quadruple green number legend Alan Robb (from Germiston Callies Harriers), 1991 winner Nick Bester, former champion Sipho Ngomane, Shaun Meiklejohn and reigning 2019 Comrades titleholders Edward Mothibi and Gerda Steyn.
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The GCN met several Victoria Lake Athletics Club members who braved the cold winter morning to show their support for the event.
Simon Treston, Renier Kruger, Brian Langton, Mike Merry, Anthony Leach, Christina Bornman, Sonja Smith, Sharon Storey, Michelle Merillier and Michael Sears were all in high spirits as they set off from the Virgin Active complex in Denlee.
Victoria Lake Athletics Club members Alisia and Johan Nel joined in on the action from home.
Though it was not the ultra-marathon that many runners had planned for, the race was able to instil a sense of much-needed camaraderie.
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