Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019

PACESETTERS Meet Your 2019 Comrades Welcome aboard, Bonitas! Pacesetters huge part of the race, and while some runners complain about the huge groups being difficult to overtaking or get past, many more runners love the vibe created in the buses. The 2019 Programme I f you’ve ever seen one of the Comrades Marathon Pacesetters bring a ‘bus’ into the finish of the race, you’ll know that singing, dancing, crying, high-fiving, fist-pumping, hugging and kissing are the order of the day. It remains one of the highlights of the race to see these large groups finishing, and many a spectator has been seen to wipe away a little tear of emotion at the sight of all those happy runners. These are the only official pacesetting ‘buses’ at Comrades, run with the permission of the CMA and organised by Modern Athlete magazine in conjunction with the provincial branches of volunteer pacesetting organisations. The ‘bus drivers’ carry flags with their target time so that runners can easily spot them, hop on the bus of their choice, and rely on the Pacesetter to guide them home on time. The buses have become a 12 For many years Modern Athlete organised the standard sub-9:00 (Bill Rowan cut-off), sub-11:00 (Bronze cut-off) and sub-12:00 (Vic Clapham cut-off) buses, and in 2016 we added a sub-10:00 bus, which proved just as popular as the more established buses. Then in 2017 we brought Gauteng Pace Setters co-ordinator Buks van Heerden on board to help with recruitment of Comrades Pacesetters and went still bigger, adding sub-8:30, sub-9:30, sub-11:30 and sub-11:45 buses, but this did unfortunately lead to some confusion out on the road, as various pacers were running on different race-day strategies, with differing fade differentials built into their planned pacing, and thus some of the buses were a bit mixed up in the early stages of the race. To solve that problem, the 2018 buses, now co- ordinated by Buks and Mindlo Mdhluli of KZN Pace Setters, ran with similar pacing strategies, all sticking as close as possible to pacing charts created by Western Province Pacesetter Rassie Pretorius. Also, for the first time in Comrades pacesetting history, a sub-7:30 silver medal bus was added. For 2019, the silver bus has been shelved due to two considerations. First is the introduction of the new Isavel Roche Kelly medal for women finishing outside the top 10 (gold medals) but under the silver cut-off, but second, and more importantly, because the silver medal bus may inadvertently provide illegal assistance to one or more women who are in contention for prize money in the team competition. As per strict new ASA rules introduced at the beginning of 2019, there is a clear difference between ‘pacing,’ which benefits contenders for prizes, versus ‘pacesetting,’ which is aimed at non-contenders. Pacing is only allowed when officially sanctioned by athletics officials (national or provincial), while pacesetting is allowed as long as the race organiser has approved it. If you would like to know more about becoming a pace setter, you can contact your nearest pace setting organisation via one of these Facebook groups: • • • ISSUE 119 JUNE 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za Western Province Pace Setters https://www.facebook.com/groups/314436651950192 Gauteng Pace Setters (GPS) https://www.facebook.com/Gauteng-Pace-Setters-GPS-1205368806168863 Kwazulu Natal Pace Setters (KZNPS) https://www.facebook.com/Kwazulu-Natal-Pace-Setters-KZNPS-225009847902692/ On Sunday 9 June, the 94th Comrades Marathon will once again see thousands of runners take on the Ultimate Human Race, with all those runners hoping to make it all the way from Durban up to Piermaritzburg to claim that coveted medal. And once again, many of those Comrades hopefuls will be relying on the Modern Athlete Comrades Marathon Pacesetters, brought to you by Bonitas, to get them home on time. The 2019 Comrades Marathon sees Bonitas join forces with Modern Athlete and the various provincial pacesetting organisations to bring you the official Comrades Pacesetters. Bonitas has been a proud key sponsor of the Comrades Marathon for over a decade, and this year sees us extend our vision to ensure that all the runners are supported from start to finish through our various initiatives. The pacesetters will ensure that we fulfil this vision, as they will be encouraging and supporting runners to complete the race.

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 12