Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 94, May 2017 | Page 46

Ma Comrades THE FINAL COUNTDOWN Check out all the latest news and important info from the world’s biggest, oldest and most famous ultra, the Comrades Marathon, which will be run for the 92 nd time in just a few weeks’ time on Sunday 4 June. – BY DELAINE COOLS & NONKULULEKO MDLALOSE CHARITIES FUNDRAISING PASSES MILLION MARK s the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) gears up to host the 92 nd edition of the race, its six official charities are raising the stakes to ensure a record fundraising turnover as race day approaches. At the time of going to print, just over R1.1-million had been raised through the 2017 Comrades Marathon Charity fundraising platforms, with entering runners generously donating R334,454 when entering the race between September and November. Further to this, 500 Race4Charity seeding slots have been made available to runners to qualify to start in the ‘C’ batch on race day, and to date 72 runners had surpassed the R5000 mark in fundraising to qualify for this special seeding, with Community Chest runner, Stefan Muller, raising the highest amount thus far, R68,900. The Top five fundraisers (and their chosen race charity) to date are: 1 Stefan Muller (Community Chest) R68,900 2 Tracy Bamber (Starfish) R44,637 3 Mike Cowling (Community Chest) R23,475 4 Rob Urquhart (Pink Drive) R21,550 5 Adrian Stowell (Community Chest) R17,950 Race4Charity runners have until 2 May to reach the fundraising target of R5000 to qualify for the special seeding, but fundraising will continue until after Comrades race day, with supporters and friends still able to donate in support of their runner. And the runner who raises the most for charity will receive the coveted CMA Top Charity Fundraiser Award at the 2017 Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Awards in October. Runners are encouraged to visit the charities stand at the Comrades Expo, where Comrades branded merchandise and keepsakes will be on sale. Also keep a look out for the charity runners on race day as well as the refreshment stations along the route, branded and manned by official charities PinkDrive, Wildlands and the Community Chest. COMRADES YOUTUBE CHANNEL See all the latest Comrades videos, documentaries and promotional audio-visuals on the Youtube Comrades Channel, at http://bit.ly/ComYouTube 46 ISSUE 94 MAY 2017 / www.modernathlete.co.za Some of the country’s leading brands will be showing their true colours on Comrades race day when they host one of the 45 refreshment stations along the 86.73km route. Why not get your organisation branded and exposed to the world by hosting one of them. Please e-mail [email protected] for more information. QUALIFYING INFO DEADLINE! All Comrades 2017 entrants must have supplied a qualifying time for a marathon (or longer distance) run during the period of 27 August 2016 to 2 May 2017, along with their club name and license number by no later than 2 May, and requests for seeding upgrades must also be done by 2 May. Take note that qualifying details will not be accepted at registration, and failure to meet the qualifying and info deadline of 2 May will result in your entry being rejected. That means you will not be able to participate in the race and your details will be removed from our database, which means that you will not receive a goodie bag or runner’s T-shirt at Registration. Please visit www.comrades.com for more information on qualifying and personal info, or speak to the CMA team at the MiWay Wally Hayward Marathon in Gauteng North on 1 May. A HOST A REFRESHMENT STATION