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At the Murray & Roberts Running Club, we look back on some fine performances
in the early part of the year. Here we profile three of our stand-out athletes who
provided these highlights.
Tayla Kavanagh
Caroline Josten
Tayla Kavanagh
Tayla is the current national junior women’s cross
country champion, a mean feat considering the
abundance of talent in this category in South Africa
right now. This gave her a walk-on spot in the national
team to represent the country at the African Cross
Country Championship in Togo in April.
The KwaZulu-Natal lass only ran her first 10km race
just less than two years ago, but now boasts an
impressive PB of 34:18, which she set in Durban in
February. She has competed in 18 road races to date,
and remarkably, has been on the podium at every
single one of them. She also holds several course
records, as well as the best time at the Ashburton
parkrun, and has more often than not shown up the
senior women on the roads.
The 19-year-old runner is currently studying a higher
certificate in Fitness, but to us at Murray & Roberts,
it seems as if she’s already achieved higher fitness…
and she’s just starting out!
Caroline Josten
It’s not often that someone records a sub-threehour
finish in just their second marathon, but that’s
precisely what Caroline Josten did in the 2019 Sanlam
Cape Town Marathon. Less than a year later she
claimed the women’s title at the 2020 Om Die Dam
50km ultra-marathon, to continue the astounding
improvement she has shown in the last 24 months.
The Om Die Dam victory in 3:33 (4:17 per kilometre)
proved that the 39-year-old commercial manager
at a chemical company has what it takes to hit fast
times, and the big time in long distance running. Her
standard marathon best has tumbled to 2:48:15,
run at Kaapsehoop in November 2019, and there is
clearly more where that came from. When asked what
motivates her, Caroline quotes US Olympian Shalane
Flanagan, who said: “If you’re lonely at the top, you
did it wrong. High performers focus on pulling others
up along with them. They are generous as they rise
and create a tribe.”
Meanwhile, lockdown has given Caroline the opportunity
to work on her speed, as a recent 5km time trial of 17:38
confirms! That’s just part of why the Murray & Roberts
team believes that this mother of two busy boys will be
a force to be reckoned with when racing in South Africa
resumes again. Hopefully that’s sooner than later!
Philani Buthelezi
Go down to the blue oval Tuks track in Pretoria, and
you are bound to see Philani Buthelezi circling the
tartan at close to 60-second 400m pace, with his
coach Lindsey Parry calling splits. The 30-year-old’s
Philani Buthelezi
name is forever written into the ‘history books’ as
the first race winner for the newly launched Murray &
Roberts Running club last year, with a rapid victory in
the Dis-Chem Half Marathon in Johannesburg.
That’s a unique distinction this dedicated athlete will
be able to claim forever, but it was just the start of a
superb year. He went on to win the national 10,000m
title at the SA Champs, adding a silver medal in the
5000m, and ended the year on another high as he
won the Tough One 32km.
Says Philani: “Within four months of starting to work
with Coach Parry, I could feel that my running was
improving. I appreciate everything Coach Parry has
done for me, and my win in the 10,000m at the 2019
South African Athletics Championships is just the start
of great things to come.”
The flyer from North Gauteng has a personal best of
1:02:44 for the half marathon distance and 2:18 in
the marathon, and was busy sharpening up for a fast
marathon in the United States, in the 2:12 to 2:14 region,
when the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to that, for the
time being. Philani’s versatility is jaw dropping, from
5000m on the track to the marathon distance on the
road… and if you happen to go down to Tuks and you
see him putting in the hard yards, you’d understand why.
Images: Jetline Action Photo, SMacPix & Courtesy Murray & Roberts
Tayla Kavanagh
Caroline Josten
Philani Buthelezi
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