BONITAS COMRADES ROADSHOW
The CMA will be bringing its 2017 Comrades Marathon Roadshows to a city near you in the first three months of the year. Hosted by the various running clubs, these Roadshows will run from the 24 th of January to the 1 st of March, and runners will be afforded the opportunity to mingle with the official Comrades Coach and other experts from the running fraternity, to help shed light on how they can best take on the Comrades Marathon, physically as well as mentally.
The Comrades Coach’ s discussions will be based around his training programmes, which are available on the Comrades website, and he will elaborate on how you can prepare for the race mentally. There will also be educational talks about nutrition and how runners can prevent injury during training as well as on race day. The runners will then have an opportunity to engage with all of our experts after the discussion.
This is another initiative by the CMA to cater for runners’ needs in line with the Runner’ s First Initiative, which is striving to improve runners’ overall experience of the Comrades Marathon. The CMA is grateful to all of the running clubs hosting these sessions and going out of their way to make these roadshows a success, all in the name of supporting the Comrades Marathon. Entrance is free, no booking necessary – for more info go to www. comrades. com / events / road-shows or mail Nonkululeko Mdlalose at nonkululeko @ comrades. com.
DATE TIME PROVINCE HOST CLUB PHYSICAL ADDRESS Tues 24 Jan 7pm Central Gauteng RAC Old Parktonian Club, 1 Garden Road, Bordeaux, Randburg
Wed 25 Jan 7pm Central Gauteng Golden Reef Road Runners 8 Andrew Street, Horison, Roodepoort Thurs 26 Jan 7pm Vaal Triangle Arcelor Mittal Athletics Club Behind Quest Conference Centre in Currie Boulevard, Vanderbijlpark Sat 28 Jan 9am Central Gauteng Soweto Athletics Club Old Soweto College of Education, Cnr Chris Hani and Morola Road, Pimville, Soweto Tues 31 Jan 7pm Gauteng North Phobians Running Club 378 Queen ' s Crescent, Lynnwood, Pretoria Wed 1 Feb 9pm Gauteng North Attridgeville Athletics Club To be confirmed Wed 15 Feb 7pm Eastern Province Charlo Athletics Club The Italian Club, 17 Harold Road, Charlo, Port Elizabeth Thurs 16 Feb 7pm Western Province Atlantic Athletics Club Hamiltons Rugby Club, 1 Stephen Way, Green Point, Cape Town Fri 17 Feb 7pm Western Province Gugulethu RCS Club Ikwezi Sport & Recreation Centre, NY2, Gugulethu, Cape Town Wed 22 Feb 7pm KwaZulu-Natal Collegians Harriers 381 Boshoff Street, Pietermaritzburg Thurs 23 Feb 7pm KwaZulu-Natal Stella Athletics Club Stella Sports Club, 175 Helen Joseph Road, Glenwood, Durban Wed 1 Mar 7pm Northern Cape Vodacom Kimberley Road Runners 2 Powell Lane, Kimberley
COMRADES ONLINE SHOP – BUY NOW!
Comrades Marathon runners and supporters will now have the opportunity to stock up on a range of must-have memorabilia at the click of a button. The CMA has announced that its official Comrades Online Shop has been launched. CMA Marketing Manager, Thami Vilakazi, says,“ The Comrades Online Shop is a result of numerous requests from Comrades runners to have a one-stop shop that stocks Comrades memorabilia and branded products. The Online Shop is an extension of the Comrades Marathon brand, and one of the many initiatives that we are busy with to create increased local and global brand awareness. Through the online shop we hope to discover, engage and attract new fans.”
After the launch of the Comrades memorabilia shop at the Comrades Expo a few years ago, the online shop was a natural progression. Through the online shop, the CMA is able to offer Comrades-branded items all year round, with convenience and accessibility to customers, as they can shop online at any time from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, the items will be delivered directly to them at their convenience. As Thami concludes,“ Through the online shop we will be able to offer a wider variety of items, as we will not be limited by space, which has been the case with the memorabilia stand at the expo. We hope that shoppers will enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience.”
The shop will stock an amazing collection of items, including a variety of headgear, accessories, leather wallets, gadgets and a host of utility items, and CMA General Manager, Chris Fisher, says,“ These are exciting times. This initiative is the start of a whole new venture into branded merchandise, so watch this space.”
Check out the Comrades Online Shop by visiting www. comrades. com and clicking on the Online Shop tab.
REVAMPED COMRADES MUSEUM FEATURES NEW SHOP
The Comrades Museum has undergone a major revamp and now features some novel attractions and unique Comrades keepsakes. The rich Comrades history, dating back to 1921, is beautifully depicted with never-before-seen images and artefacts. The race room boasts a scale route model that tracks all the major hills, landmarks and points of interest along the iconic Comrades route, while an interactive treadmill allows visitors to experience the level of running needed to earn the spectrum of medals that the CMA awards its finishers.
Meanwhile, Green Number Club members will get to enjoy the new social space dedicated to them, and the general public will now be able to enter the boardroom space, giving them insight into the scope of volunteerism at the Comrades Marathon Association.
The Comrades Museum now also houses a Comrades Shop, where Comrades products and memorabilia, Green Number clothing, books and Amabeadibeadi products can be purchased. Look out for specials on books going for R150 each, including Bob de la Motte’ s Runaway Comrade and John Cameron Dow’ s Comrades Marathon. CMA members will also be happy to know that we now have stock of the CMA membership badge, which is available at R90 each. For more details, contact CMA Museum Curator, Roxanne Thomas at roxanne @ comrades. com.
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