Cheers as chef finishes his fourth Comrades
A chef at Caister Lodge said he will work even harder for a better time at next year's Comrades Marathon.
THERE was reason for residents at Caister Lodge in Musgrave to cheer last week, when chef Elliot Khumalo, announced he had finished his fourth Comrades in a time of 10h24. Elliot was quick to add that he aims to improve on his time at next year’s event.
Elliot Khumalo’s he said he was disappointed that he hadn’t done better. Elliot has been running seriously since 2006, and ran his first Comrades that year in a time of 9h50, his second in 2007 in a time of 8h24 and his third in 2008 achieving 8h33, however he then moved to Cape Town and didn’t have enough time to train for the following years’ Comrades.
“I got back last year and decided to take on the race this year, but I started to train later in the year. I trained three hours a day, running around 38km to 40km a day. I ran home to Verulam after work every day as the race approached. The race was very tough this year and I was seeded in the middle, in the D group, so I know I need to train harder to get to either A or B for next year’s race. I’m not too happy with my result, I was crying because I was hoping to get a silver,” he said.
Elliot will be competing in the Township to Township Comrades qualifier, a 42km run, the 42km Mandela Marathon and the City to City 42km race later this year, as he feels he needs to put more in and work harder for next year’s Comrades.
Residents at Caister Lodge were pleased that Elliot did so well in the Comrades Marathon, and contributed to enable him to take part in the race.
Deputy general manager, Andre Burger, said Elliot had told him four days before the race that he needed to get new running shoes.
“I told him he couldn’t run in new shoes, but he was adamant, so I put up a poster in the foyer to let people know he was running the Comrades, and a tin for people to contribute towards this. One of our residents, Cynthia Jones, took it upon herself to ensure people gave, and took the tin around to everyone to raise the money he needed, and she also got Elliot sponsorship from her old company for his supplements. We are proud of Elliot for his run,” said Andre.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
