Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 117, April 2019

ADVERTORIAL Team Chasing Gold at Two Oceans The Murray & Roberts Running Club has enjoyed a stellar start to the running season, with victories or podiums at just about every race its runners have entered. Now the club’s attention has shifted to the upcoming Two Oceans Marathon presented by Old Mutual, taking place in Cape Town on 20 April, and the excitement in the camp is growing. Charne Bosman Rene Kalmer Charne has had a superb build-up to the Two Oceans Marathon and has shown even better form than when she won the Comrades Marathon in 2016. Most telling is her win at the 2019 Johnson Crane Marathon in a record 2:44. She has also been dominant in the veteran’s age category as a result of her newfound happiness at the Murray & Roberts Running Club, which she says holds the key to her rejuvenated career. Charne is looking for a fifth gold medal at Two Oceans. The two-time Olympian’s career has followed the traditional path of a full-time athlete in every sense of the word. She wore the green and gold at the 2008 Beijing Games in the metric mile, then four years later in London she stepped to the line in the Olympic Marathon. The next step would always be in ultra-marathons, and having tasted victory in the half at Two Oceans, she is primed for the 56 kilometres. Yolande Maclean Jenna Challenor Leilani Scheffer This five-time gold medal winner has a superb record at Two Oceans, and her eighth place last year in 3:57 has earmarked her for yet another gold. However, her new dedication to triathlon training has meant that this very consistent performer has newfound strength, and as a result, newfound speed. Her PB of 3:47 could come under serious fire, and if that is the case, she could produce a top-three finish. The KwaZulu-Natal favourite finished second in 2017 at Two Oceans and her liking of the Cape is obvious – she has, after all, won the Gun Run Half Marathon there three times. An impressive 2:46:05 at a very windy Peninsula Marathon in February confirmed that the mother of three is in superb shape and ready to take one more step up on the podium in 2019. Jenna’s experience in the 2017 World Athletic Championship Marathon will also have helped to harden her even more for battle at Two Oceans. The physiotherapist from Rustenburg has shown tremendous progress in recent months, with her 2:53 in the Kaapsehoop Marathon late last year proving that the upwards curve in her running is still very much on the up. She followed that up with an 83-minute half marathon in Pretoria’s Sunny Park race after a 2:55 training outing in the Akasia Marathon in January. She has top five potential at Two Oceans after a solid debut 4:13 finish last year. 14 ISSUE 117 APRIL 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za Murray & Roberts Women’s Contenders

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 117, April 2019 | Page 14