Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 96, July 2017 | Page 15

“The whole Comrades journey was quite intense, but I’m so proud of him for
actually doing it, as I never thought he would. When he came home and
said the boys had bet him R100,000 that he wouldn’t run the Comrades,
I laughed at him and said it was a stupid bet, but that if he could
pull through, then I’d be there with him 100% of the way. I must
be honest, I was hard on him all the way. I toughened him up by
not actually comforting him when he was sore – I said ‘Butter up,
Sunshine, you’re in this for the long run,’ even towards the end
of training, when he was like an emotional wreck. He was worse
than a chick! But he committed to it and he did it, and I am very,
very proud of him.
“when he came in to the finish, I was there,
screaming ‘Run, Fatboy, run!’ and crying
like a baby. It was very emotional”
Another Year, Another Bet
Unsurprisingly, the very day after Comrades 2017 saw Mark already
talking about returning for a second run in 2018. “Would I do it
again? No problem! I’m definitely doing the Down Run next year.
I want my Back2Back medal, and I’m a very good downhill runner
thanks to gravity… I might even do a silver!” he jokes. Even more
unsurprisingly, the boys have already started joking about raising the odds
in 2018 and making another bet with Mark that he can’t break 10 hours. “Ha,
ha, the guys are getting tempted, hey. They seem quite confident about this
one, but then again, they were confident when they made the first bet!” At this,
Elaine just rolls her eyes and says, “Oh my gosh, to go through all of that again!”
Green Number Glory
P
rior to the 2017 Comrades Marathon, the number of runners with 40 or more Comrades finishers had grown to 12, and this year saw another four runners join
the Quadruple Green Club, while living legends Barry Holland and Louis Massyn came home to claim their 45 th medals and equal Dave Rogers’ record for the
most medals. The four new inductees in the Club are Mike Cowling, Wietsche van der Westhuizen, Boysie van Staden and Shaun Wood. (Unfortunately,
Johann van Eeden was unable to complete the race and missed out on his 40 th this year.)
The updated Quadruple Club Membership List now looks as follows, with runners who medalled in 2017 marked in bold:
45 Dave Rogers
45 Barry Holland
45 Louis Massyn
42 Clive Crawley
42 Alan Robb
42 Dave Lowe
41 David Williams
41 Vic Boston
41 Tommy Neitski
41 Zwelitsha Gono
40 Kenny Craig
40 Riel Hugo
40 Mike Cowling
40 Boysie van Staden
40 Wietsche van der Westhuizen
40 Shaun Wood
Impressively, Mike, Wietsche and Shaun have all run their 40 Comrades in consecutive years, while Barry and Louis are both still going strong after 45 consecutive
finishes!
Amongst the women, only Kleintjie van Schalkwyk had reached the 30-medal mark prior to this year’s race – she hit that mark in 2014, and this year saw her
complete her 33 rd Comrades. Two more women were looking to join this exclusive club in 2017, 1993 winner Tilda Tearle and race volunteer stalwart Patricia Fisher.
Last year Tilda could not complete the race and had to return in 2017 to run with her yellow (29) number a second time, and this year she made it home to claim her
30 th medal, but Patricia unfortunately did not make and will have to try again next year.
Wietsche van der Westhuizen
Barry Holland
Louis Massyn
Mike Cowling
Tilda Tearle
Shaun Wood
Boysie
van Staden
Kleintjie van
Schalkwyk
Comrades Marathon Green Numbers were first introduced in 1972, with runners earning their permanent numbers for three Comrades wins, five Comrades gold
medals, or 10 Comrades finishes. Those runners who had qualified for a Green Number prior to 1972, or did so thanks to successful finishes leading up to 1972, were
retrospectively also awarded their Green Numbers by the Comrades Marathon Association.
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