Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 115, February 2019 | Page 13

ADVERTORIAL
Vorentoe
Flyers
T
he multinational engineering and construction
group, Murray & Roberts, launched its running
club on Thursday 10 January in Johannesburg,
unveiling the club’s elite and semi-elite squads as well
as the new club colours for the 2019 athletic season.
The new club also announced the signing of 2016
Comrades Marathon women’s champion, Charne
Bosman, who says, “I am thrilled to join the Murray
& Roberts team – black and yellow are definitely my
colours!”
Group Chief Executive, Henry Laas, comments: “We
are very excited to officially launch the Murray &
Roberts Running Club. We are able to identify with the
athletes and the excellence they achieve through their
physical and mental training. Seeing these athletes
compete in Murray & Roberts colours is symbolic of
the Group’s philosophy of Engineered Excellence.”
Murray & Roberts has also taken ownership of the
Vorentoe Running Academy, which forms part of
the running club’s development squad. This Auckland
Park-based team of talented young runners has
produced multiple champions over the last few
decades, and club chairman Ed Jardim says: “There
is so much potential in this academy for the club
to nurture and develop. We have a deep desire to
fulfil our corporate citizenship ambitions to achieve
exceptional athletic outcomes, not just for the
academy but also for South Africa.”
Instant Success
The first outing for the club was at the Dis-Chem Half
Marathon in Johannesburg on 13 January, close to the
Murray & Roberts headquarters in Bedfordview, so it
was appropriate that Philani Buthelezi won the race
in Murray & Roberts colours, with teammate Benedict
Moeng finishing third. In the women’s race, Charne
led a wave of Murray & Roberts athletes home to
sweep positions two to eight! On the same day,
Nolene Conrad won the Ocean Basket Bay to Bay
15km in the Cape, and a week later Kesa Molotsane
finished first in the women’s 10km race at the SA
Cross Country Trials in Pretoria.
The Afrikaans word “Vorentoe”
means forwards, and Vorentoe
High School headmaster, Hans
Saestad, has certainly forged
forward in the 30 years he
has been at the school. His
background in athletics began
as a good athlete at school, then
turned to coaching once he had
studied teaching and entered the
academic profession at Vorentoe in
1989. Thirty years later his passion
for middle distance running sees
the school dominate the regional
cross country championships.
“I inherited a rich history of middle distance performances when I came here in 1989, and when the
school became English in 2000, we started to look at previously disadvantaged areas in the Gauteng,
Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Central North West regions to scout for talent. We want to offer a good
academic background and education, while at the same time seeking to identify, build and nurture South
Africa’s abundance in natural running talent, in particular in the middle distances. We provide food, school
uniforms and accommodation in the boarding school as part of our bursaries, which would not be possible
without financial support from the likes of Murray & Roberts.”
Realebogo
‘Nico’
Seapensengwe
Age: 17
Hometown: Munsieville
Races: 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, steeplechase, cross
country and 10km
Favourite discipline: Road running
Running Achievements:
2018 ASA Cross Country Champs – 1st in u/17
category (Port Elizabeth)
2018 ASA Track & Field Champs – 2nd in 2000m
Steeplechase (Paarl)
2018 CAA Southern Region Champs – 1st in 2000m
Steeplechase (Boksburg)
2019 ASA Cross Country Trials – 1st in junior men’s
8km (Pretoria)
Goals for 2019:
Nico’s hard training over the December holiday
paid off when he won the SA Cross Country Trials
in January. He is super excited to represent SA at
the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in
Aarhus, Denmark on 30 March, as it will be his first
trip overseas.
Take us through an average day of training...
He does 5am morning runs every day with his
teammates, on the grass fields at the school, then
in the afternoon they train under the watchful eye of
Hans Saestad.
Long-term goals?
To study Business Management in USA.
Which elite runner inspires him?
Everything about Mo Farah inspires him – the way he
trains, and races the Kenyans and Ethiopians. Nico is
inspired to give his best in every training session by
Mo’s words, “Don’t dream of winning, train for it!”
Since 2000, Vorentoe has won the interprovincial cross country Noordval Trophy race 35 times, with the
boys winning 18 times and the girls 17, and the school has nurtured talents such as the Phalula twins,
Mapaseka Makhanya, Tumisang Monnatlala and Ikageng Gaorekwe, as well as sprinter Derrick Mokaleng.
Clearly this school is doing something right in developing athletic talent, and with the help of Murray &
Roberts, the hope is that South Africa’s next great middle distance stars will come from Vorentoe.
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