Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 11

ADVERTORIAL
Grand Road Trip
Clubs that run together, stay together, and nothing could be
truer at the Murray & Roberts Running Club, which recently
took 35 runners down to the SA Run 4 Cancer Ultra Marathon
for a weekend of bonding and running!
Great Results
T
he fun started early on this trip, as the club
members all drove down together for a grand
‘road trip!’ Staying at the Pietersburg Lodge, the
team all got together on Friday night for a pasta night
celebration, making sure all the carbs needed for the
following day were catered for, and game strategy was
discussed as runners nervously made plans. Anyone
who has attended a running pasta night knows what
a festive affair they are, but the runners had a goal,
so lights out came early and runners hit the proverbial
sack, ready for the run that awaited them!
With the race offering four main distances, 10km,
21km, 32km and 48km, there was something to fit all
the different athlete’s training and racing programmes.
The elite field was packed full of ‘Team Black and
Yellow’ members, and the team posed for pics before
the start, excited to be running together!
In the half marathon, former Comrades
Marathon champ Charne Bosman
was triumphant in the women’s race, and
this win saw her go past the 20-victory
mark for races in 2019! She finished strongly,
charging past Ethiopian Agneta Nyabuto in the
last few kays to clock 1:26:22 in muggy and cloudy
conditions over a testing course. Reflecting after
the race, she said, “I kept Agneta in my sights all
the way, and at about the 17km mark I realised that
she was fading, so I threw in a sub-3:30 kay on an
uphill and passed her.” What makes her win even
more impressive was that she also won the over-40
category by a substantial margin of 20 minutes. In
the men’s half marathon race, Mthobisi Baloyi also
managed a podium as he came home third in 1:04:01.
Olympian sisters, Christine and René Kalmer, were
first and second respectively in the 32km women’s
race, with Christine stopping the clock on 2:10:20,
and Rene finishing 84 seconds behind her. Salome
Cooper finished fourth with a 2:22, which gave her
the veteran women’s category win as well. In the
men’s race, Renier Grobler secured sixth place with
a time of 1:53.
However, the story of the day, and a shining
moment for the club, came in the 48km ultra, with
Sikhumbuzo Seme not only making his ultra debut,
but winning the race overall! He took control early
on in the race, and thanks to consistent pacing he
passed the marathon mark in 2:24 and won the race
by more than a two-minute margin. After the race,
Sikhumbuzo said: “I felt good throughout the 48 kays
and it’s a great way to announce my presence in the
ultra-marathon sphere.”
In the women’s ultra, Yolande Maclean claimed third
spot in a time of 3:36:15. She has been racing hard
over the last few weeks, and says that affected her
performance: “I could still feel the effects of the World
50km Championships in my legs from a few weeks
ago, and it was a rather tough old day out there.” The
team also claimed two more spots in the women’s top
10, with Lesego Hlako finishing sixth in 3:50:56 and
Lesley Train Austin 10 th in 4:02:14.
Time to Celebrate
All in all it was a true team affair, and there was
added motivation to finish early, as the Springboks
were playing later that morning at the World Cup!
Balancing a phone on a pair of slops, the team had
the game streaming while celebrating after the race,
making sure that none of the action was missed! And
of course, having claimed so many podium spots, the
team celebrated everyone’s achievements later that
night.
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