Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 60, July 2014

Ma comrades Another Down Dusted! On 1 June, 14 620 runners lined up at the start in Pietermaritzburg to endure the gruelling 89km to the ﬁnish in Durban. This year, 11 984 of the ﬁeld ﬁnished within the 12-hour cut-off of a grand 89th edition of the world’s greatest ultra. From the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), we send congratulations and a thank you to all! – BY DELAINE COOLS Bongmusa Mthembu route this year (Lion Park, Drummond, Winston Park, Cowies Hill, Mayville and Durban), you can now relive your 2014 Comrades run online. Just visit mysports.tv and look for the Comrades Marathon 2014, then enter your name and race number, watch your personal race video, and start dreaming about 2015! REVELLING IN THE RUN The post-race euphoria was clear as runners sent in posts and tweets about their 2014 run. Eleanor Greenwood Images: MMPhotoSA & Lauren Van Der Vyver OUR CHAMPS! In the men’s race, KwaZulu-Natal athlete Bongmusa Mthembu grabbed his maiden Comrades win in 5:29:34, with Britain’s Eleanor Greenwood taking the women’s race in 6:18:15 with a spectacular finishing surge. We saw a fantastic 1-2-3 South African podium in the men’s race, with 2012 winner Ludwick Mamabolo second and Gift Kelehe third. Also, Greenwood’s win broke the Russian stronghold usually held by eight-time champ Elena Nurgalieva and her twin sister Olesya. The first South African woman to come in was Caroline Wostmann in sixth position (6:51:43). REMEMBERING LOUIS The CMA is saddened by the death of 39-yearold Louis du Preez of the Magnolia Road Runners Club in Pretoria, who passed away a week after the race. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, clubmates and fellow Comrades runners. WATCH YOUR JOURNEY With 19 cameras located on the Comrades Heather Walden: “Absolutely loved it! 8:32 and will definitely be back next year. What an incredible journey.” @myownjourney_sa: “Every runner lining up is amazing. We had an awesome day and great race.” Thabo Nkhune: “I didn’t do my homework,

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 60, July 2014 | Page 34