Manny Alves, a well-known resident of Carletonville, achieved a lifelong dream by completing his 30th Comrades Marathon on 31 May 2015 in a time of 8:03:21.
This achievement not only makes Manny a member of the prestigious Green Number Club but also makes him the first Portuguese citizen to ever achieve this milestone. Manny is extremely proud of these achievements.
During a recent interview, the athlete spoke about what motivates him. His response was: “Training with youngsters and pushing them to achieve more.” Manny has a training programme in which he aims to run 120km per week. To achieve this, he is on the road most days of the week. With the long hours that his business demands, his training takes place early in the morning and over weekends. Fellow runners will all vouch that it is always a pleasure to run with Manny, but to keep up with him is a real challenge. Manny says, “Comrades is my lifestyle. It is a huge part of my life.”
Today there is an ever-increasing trend for people to focus on personal health and personal wellbeing. Running has become very popular and we see lots of people on the road each day, getting fit and improving their health. As time goes by, people start to set themselves new goals for longer distances and better race times. Ultimately, the dream of running the Comrades sets in. This dream can be realised and Manny’s tip to novices is: “Believe in yourself. It is an overwhelming distance but find the confidence in yourself and always think positively. For your first Comrades, start with a down run.”
Manny also sponsors the local Carletonville running club, Carleton Harriers. This year, 13 runners from the club completed the Comrades marathon of 87.7km. The runners who took part were Sonnyboy Seleko (7:36:59), Phaphama Mtshingila (7:47:46), Kagiso Basiame (7:51:22), Manuel Alves (8:03:21), Mokhetihinyane Elisha Molapo (8:42:43), William Mbatha (9:31:02), Bongukwenza Mthembu (9:31:02), Cornel Metcalfe (9:37:38), Kabelo Mohutsiwa (9:50:25), Johan Bekker (10:41:31), Elias Matsinhe (11:42:52), Conrad Freese (11:55:16) and Annalisa Freese (11:55:16).
