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