Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 92, March 2017 | Page 53

With more than 30 % of Comrades entrants traditionally being novice runners, the Bonitas Comrades Novice Seminars aim to set the pace for all first-time runners of The Ultimate Human Race. Official Comrades Coach Lindsey Parry will brief the novices on what to expect before, during and after the race, as well as training, injury-prevention, tapering and recovery after the race. There will also be a nutritionist on hand to discuss what to eat and what not to eat before and during the race, while a Bonitas Medical Expert will share general health tips and precautions on what to look out for before you decide to take on this gruelling race.

Novice runners are urged to attend these seminars, as they have proven to really pave the way as to what the novices can expect during the course of the race. Runners can also look out for webinars as well as podcasts in addition to the seminars, which will all serve as preparation for the race. These will all be compiled by the Comrades Coach. For more information, please visit www. comrades. com / events / novice-seminars.

DATE TIME CITY HOST VENUE PHYSICAL ADDRESS Wed 22 Mar 7pm Cape Town K-Way VOB Athletics Constantia Bowls Club, Main Road, Constantia, Cape Town Tues 28 Mar 7pm Sandton Sunninghill Striders The Auditorium, Eskom Megawatt Park, No 1 Maxwell Drive, Sunninghill, Sandton Wed 29 Mar 7pm Benoni Benoni Northerns Benoni Northerns Sports Club, 1 Brodigan Street, Rynfield, Benoni Tues 4 Apr 7pm Pretoria Irene Athletics Club The Auditorium, Agricultural Research Council, Irene Campus, Olifantsfontein Road, Irene, Pretoria Wed 5 Apr 7pm Durban Savages Athletics Club Hollander Crescent, Durban

The CMA is hosting the Bonitas Comrades Women’ s Seminars at various Tsogo Sun hotels around the country in February and March, in a bid to empower women by providing them with all the resources and advice necessary to help steer them in the right direction when preparing for The Ultimate Human Race. The remaining seminars on the programme are listed below.

A panel of experts will lead the informative, interactive seminars, discussing significant topics specifically relevant to women who will be running the Comrades, or who plan to participate in future races. The CMA encourages attendees to engage in the discussions and direct their questions to the panel, so that they can get the best out of the seminars. And as a bonus, the ladies who attend will be served a delicious buffet breakfast before the seminar starts.

The CMA hopes that these seminars will encourage and inspire more women to run the Comrades Marathon, equipped with the essential skills and expertise to run the race full of confidence. Please note that booking is essential, as seating is limited to either 100 or 120 people per seminar. To register, go to www. comrades. com / events / seminars.

DATE CITY HOST VENUE PHYSICAL ADDRESS Sat 25 Feb Johannesburg Southern Sun Montecasino( Verona 2 & 3) Montecasino Boulevard, Montecasino Entertainment Complex, Fourways, Johannesburg Sat 4 Mar Durban Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel Durban( Tugela Room) 63 Snell Parade, Durban Sat 11 Mar Johannesburg Southern Sun O. R. Tambo Airport( Ilanga) Airport Grounds, Jones Road, O. R. Tambo International Airport, Kempton Park

The CMA is bringing its 2017 Bonitas 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 afford runners 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 last few Roadshow dates are listed below, so don’ t miss out.

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 just 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 club 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.