Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 29

ADVERTORIAL
Super-Women!
William Golding said, “Woman are foolish to pretend they are equal to men… they are far superior, and always have
been.” At the Murray & Roberts Running Club, the men think it and they say it too, and these female members of the
club prove this saying through and through.
Val Watson
V
al first hit the road
in 1992 at the age
of 37, when she
joined her husband Aubrey
in jogging to the gym,
but says, “Soon I found it
wasn’t enough. Aubrey did
eventually admit afterwards
that he was sorry that he
ever took me to the running
club.” From never having run
a step, she progressed rapidly in
just one year of running to finishing
her first Comrades in 1993, in a time of
9:36. “I never even ran with a watch then,”
she admits, but today Val is a multiple national champion and race winner over a
range of distances.
It was when she became a Masters competitor that the unassuming Val started
hitting the podiums consistently. “I started mixing with different athletes and I
remember thinking, maybe I can just go a bit quicker.” With her typical retiring
modesty she says, “I still don’t think that I’m that good, or that fast, and I am
not competitive at all.” In fact, she had to rack her mind when asked what she
considers her greatest running achievements, finally answering, “Sorry, I can’t think
of anything.” (Well, we reckon one of them would be this: Out of 27 Comrades
finishes, her fastest was an 8:16 at the age of 50!)
This year, she has had a great year, medalling in every race that she has laced up
for – and yet she still says she doesn’t actually like racing. “I don’t like the pressure.
I get nervous, but I know that I just have to get through and I just have to handle it.”
The plan for the rest of the year includes a few marathons, culminating in Kaapse
Hoop in November.
However, skin
cancer is a
formidable foe and
Val is locked in
battle with it all the
time. “I never know
when I’m going to
be at the start line
or not. Things can
change quickly with
this disease, so I
take it day by day
and just enjoy my
running.”
Karen
Brough
K
aren has
climbed
Kilimanjaro,
hiked the gruelling
Annapurna Trail and
cycled all over the
world, but it is her
running exploits that
really deserve attention. She
started running at the age of 56,
finally following in the footsteps of
her legendary father, Casper Greeff.
He completed 38 Comrades Marathons, and is the only Comrade to win a
silver medal in his 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. With a running pedigree such as
this, it was inevitable that the running bug would eventually bite.
“I wanted to do the Iron Man and I had to find out if I could run, so in
2017 I went out there and found out I could.” she says. Since then, this
grandmother of three has podiumed in the masters category at most of the
big races in the country, medalled at national championships over several
distances, and boasts PBs that would make most runners green with envy.
“I’m very competitive, but I don’t want to beat other people, I challenge
myself. I’m my own hardest competitor,” says Karen.
As a grandmaster, she has her sights firmly set on several standard
marathons later this year. “I’m entered in the Cape Town, Chicago and New
York marathons, aiming to run 3:30. However, that depends greatly on the
conditions. It can be all the way from two degrees to 40 at these races, so
you have to handle what you get on the
day.” Looking ahead, Karen is aiming
to do another two Major Marathons
in 2020, Tokyo and Boston, and has
also pencilled in the Big Sur Marathon
depending on whether she gets in.
Speaking of challenges, Karen is game
for some rather off-beat challenges,
too, such as when she ate more than 10
cupcakes at the launch of the M&R club
in January, for a dare. “I don’t remember
it being so many, but I really run for the
ice cream. That’s my great love!”
Through their running performances and their spirit, these superstar Murray and Roberts Running Club members prove over and over precisely what
William Golding said.
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