Janie aims for silver medal at Comrades
Following an eight-year absence, Kloof resident, Jamie Grundling, will compete in her fourth Comrades Marathon this year.
JANIE Grundling of Westville Athletic Club is following in her mother, Sanet Beukes’s footsteps by competing in her fourth Comrades Marathon this year.
Sanet has run 13 Comrades Marathons, coming fourth four times and in the top 10 seven times. In 1994 she was the first South African woman home.
This year, however, Sanet is not competing because she said its ‘payback time’ for her to look after her grandchildren, like her mother did when she competed.
So she’s passed the reins onto her daughter, Janie Grundling. Janie ran her last Comrades eight years ago before she started her family.
Janie said she is hoping to follow in her mother’s footsteps and be as competitive as her mother once was. “I’m hoping to achieve a sub-seven-hour Comrades, which will earn me a silver medal,” she said.
Janie has been training hard this year. She competed in the South Coast Marathon last October and was the first woman in with a time of three hours and four minutes.
She also competed in the Hillcrest Marathon in February and was the first woman in at three hours. She then competed in the Arthur Creswell Ultra (52km) in April and came second in three hours and 52 minutes.
Her recent accomplishment was in the Chatsworth Freedom Marathon (52km) in April where she won the woman’s race in four hours and six minutes.
She also keeps fit at SSS Gym in Westville, does road running, and won all the inter-women’s time trails this year, with her fastest time at the Hillcrest time trials for 4km in thirteen minutes and 51 seconds.
Under the guidance of her coach, JP Chelin, she completes her track work at Kings Park and UKZN.
When she’s not training, the 35-year-old sub veteran keeps busy as a full-time mom to Amilie (7), Klara (5) and André (2).
“Running keeps me sane. It gives me a time-out from being a mother and housewife, which is sometimes overwhelming. It also keeps me fit and healthy and gives me a little of ‘me’ time,” said Janie.
Janie’s favourite’s:
Food: Steak
Drink: Cola tonic and lemonade
Exercise: Running, hiking
Pasttime: Sitting around a fire
Hobby: Camping, being outdoors
Snack: Marshmallows
Hang out place: Mountains or beach or at Pizza Pazza in Kloof
