David Gumede who settled for silverware in the Comrades Marathon grandmaster category last year is determined to obtain a gold medal in Comrades Marathon, on June 11, in the same category.
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Gumede, who managed to clock 07:20:07 in last year’s Comrades Marathon, is striving for a better finish time of 06:50.
He has been doing well in all the running competitions he has competed in so far either finishing in the first place or second place.
According to Gumede, he didn’t have a good Comrades Marathon run last year, so wants to have different experience this year.
“I have not done extremely bad in the Comrades Marathon since I started competing in them.
“I think this year I will be testing my body beyond measure. I want to know what I can achieve if I can push myself.
“I wanted to clock a timeframe of 06:50 last year when I competed in the Comrades Marathon, unfortunately that didn’t happen although I trained hard for the prestigious racing tournament.
“I’m 61-years-old this year and I want to get a gold in my grandmaster category. I want to show people that age is just a number, it doesn’t limit the body. I believe my body is still cable of achieving wonders,” explained Gumede.
He mentioned that he’s running under the Fordyce Fusion Group led by Bruce Fordyce who has won the Comrades Marathon nine times.
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“I won’t hang up my running shoes anytime soon. There are people who are much older than me who are still partaking in various running competitions.”
He added that what has kept him competing and winning in the running competitions, is the love he has for running.
“I’m passionate about running and wouldn’t trade it for anything else. By nature I’m competitive person so that has given me the desire to exceed my limits.
“I’m always challenging young runners in my training sessions as a way of pushing myself.
“I would like to encourage my fellow teammates to go to the Comrades Marathon to enjoy themselves.
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“And I have confidence in them, because I know they are capable of doing well in the Comrades Marathon.”
He indicated that competing in the Comrades Marathon gives him a sense of pride and he loves competing in the Comrades Marathon, because the athletes who compete in them have comradeship.
