ADVERTORIAL
Tayla Kavanagh won the SA 10km Champs title in Durban
SA Championship Titles for Black & Yellow
The SA Marathon and SA 10km National Championship races both took place in recent weeks , and the black & yellow ran away with a number of national titles !
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for even faster times and top steps of podiums the world over .” |
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More Age Group Success
In the junior men ’ s race at the SA 10km Champs , a runaway win was recorded by the Murray & Roberts Vorentoe Running Academy ’ s 16-year-old Johannes Moripi in a sparkling 31:51 , while his teammate Naledi Makgatha finished second in the junior women ’ s category , just 59 seconds off the top step in 36:40 .
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Images : Reg Caldecott & courtesy Murray & Roberts Running Club
Kesa Molotsane
The Murray & Roberts Running Club produced fast , powerful and victorious runs at the national 10km championships in Durban at the end of October , clinching two of the three top steps in the women ’ s race . KwaZulu- Natal ’ s Tayla Kavanagh stormed to yet another personal best and her first senior national title in 32 minutes and 10 seconds , winning by eight seconds , while perennial placer Kesa Molotsane also kept the black and yellow flag flying high in third place , 41 seconds further back .
“ I planned to just go with the first bunch , and then I ended up in front , so I thought : let me just keep pushing ,” said the 20-year-old Kavanagh . “ I just ran my own race , and I ’ m very happy with the result . I love running , and I think the most important thing is to be consistent in training .”
The hometown girl clocked the third-fastest time ever by a South African in a women-only race , and this barnstorming run catapulted her up into fourth on the SA all-time list , with just the lofty company of Olympians , Elana Meyer , Colleen de Reuck and Irvette van Zyl ahead of her . “ It was a truly stunning performance and we at Murray & Roberts are immensely proud of the fact that this is only Tayla ’ s fourth senior race in her fledgling career ,” said club chairman , Ed Jardim . “ She is without doubt already a star in the SA athletics firmament , and it augurs well
Yet another dominant performance came from Judy Bird in the grand masters category , when she once again almost sneaked under the 40-minute barrier as she clocked 40:11 . “ I ’ m going to break that mark soon ,” said the determined Johannesburg-based runner , who smashed the national record for the 60-69 age category twice this year during the SPAR Women ’ s Grand Prix Series , and was just three ticks of the clock away from doing it again in Durban . The world mark of 38:56 is no doubt also in this determined 60-year-old ’ s sights . Evergreen Grace de Oliveira took the bronze in 45:57 .
In the masters ( 50-59 ) section , Pretoria track runner , Marilu Munnik produced a sparkling 41:03 to take home the silver medal . For the over-40 ’ s , Simone Verster ( 39:05 ) and Janene Carey ( 39:36 ) filled the
Johannes Moripi
Naledi Makgatha
Simone Verster
Karen Brough
silver and bronze medal positions , further cementing the club as a dominant force in the age group categories at the nationals .
Mighty Marathon Effort
A few weeks earlier at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon , the club also produced a slew of superb performances , headed by the veteran women , who took seven places out of the top 10 , and all under the three-hour mark to boot . Simone Verster won the national title in this category with her 2:52 , with Jeannie Henderson second and Kate Rees third . Our grand master , Karen Brough , took the gold her age category in 3:23 , cementing her place as the
Judy Bird fastest woman over-60 in SA over the standard marathon distance .
In the Mother City , our men ran to an all-time best of no less than four sub-2:20 clockings for the club . The black & yellow team also logged an astounding 37 subthree times , with club chairman , Ed Jardim , clocking a 37-minute PB in 2:54 !
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