100’s of city athletes gear up for Comrades
Polokwane will be well represented at this year’s Comrades Marathon as some of the city’s top athletes are set to compete in the Ultimate Human Race.
POLOKWANE – The Comrades Marathon will take place this Sunday starting in the early morning hours at 05:35 and will continue until 17:30. This year’s race is a ‘Down Run’ starting at the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg and finishing at The Sahara Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban.
Polokwane Athletics Club has a total of 106 athletes who will take part in this year’s Comrades Marathon and the club is positive that all their athletes will cross the finish line before the cut off time.
“This is the most runners we have entered in a long while and we believe they are prepared and ready for this year’s and will make the club proud,” says Corrie Calitz, Polokwane Athletics Club Chairperson.
Corrie says their top runners are Pelly Lamola, Andries Malete and well known runner, Pieter Pretorius. Leani Venter is aiming for a top spot in the women’s category.
Pietersburg Road Runners has a total of 28 runners who will participate in the Comrades Marathon and they hope to see all their runners finish the race with a silver medal.
“We have done a lot of preparation for this year’s race. Because we are a small club, this is the largest number of participants we’ve entered thus far,” says Colinda Potgieter, Pietersburg Road Runners Chairperson.
Colinda says they look forward to seeing their top runners, Rufus Photo, Timothy Minshelele, Calvin Malathisi, Bethuel Netshifhefhe and Phuti Mohale in action. They are excited for their athletes in the women’s category; Jane Mudau and Jenina Raphahla to perform well. This will be Shane van Dam from the Pietersburg Road Runners’ 10th Comrades Marathon and he will be running for his green number.
Run/Walk For Life Polokwane will have 10 runners competing in this year’s race. “I think we trained very hard and were blessed to not have any injuries. I believe all our athletes will be able to finish this year’s Ultimate Human Race,” says Kobie Marais, Run/Walk for Life Polokwane Chairperson.
The current records for the Comrades Marathon are:
Up run:
• Men’s category – Leonid Shvetsov from Russia has held the record since 2008 with a time of 05:24:49.
• Women’s category – Elena Nurgalieva from Russia has held the record since 2006 with a time of 06:09:23.
Down run:
• Men’s category – Leonid Shvetsov from Russia has held the record since 2007 with a time of 05:20:49.
• Women’s category – Frith van der Merwe, a homegrown athlete from South Africa.
She has held the record since 1989 with her time of 05:54:43.
Live on SABC and Dstv
Don’t miss out on the Ultimate Human Race, catch every minute of the gruelling action in the comfort of your home as it will be broadcasted on both SABC and DStv.
