Belinda wins gold at masters’
Belinda Padbury from the Kearsney Striders Athletics Club won two gold medals at the South African Masters' Champs
KEARSNEY Striders Athletics Club’s Belinda Padbury recently represented KZN Masters at the South African Masters’ Champs in Cape Town.
Padbury won gold medals for both her events: the 5km and 10km race walks. She also achieved personal best times of 00:28:58 and 00:58:02 respectively.
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“I started my race-walking journey in January 2022 after attending a race-walking clinic held by Natalie Du Toit – the woman’s African record holder for 50km race walk,” she said.
The Upper Highway resident had been a runner for 20 years until then but had been struggling with knee issues.
“What got me hooked on race-walking was the fact that I no longer had any knee pain. It took me many months to get my technique right – with a lot of help from experienced walkers Jeanine le Febour and Sharon Fuchs.”
After attending the SA Open Race-walking Champs in Cape Town, in January of this year, and coming home with a silver for 10km, Padbury started being coached by Oliver Mundell – a Springbok race-walker himself and father and coach to triple Olympian race-walker Mark Mundell.
“Oliver has helped me improve both my technique and speed. I train five days a week, between 40 to 50km a week, and add in some swimming for cross-training. We have a lovely training group of race-walkers who all support and encourage each other.”
Padbury added that her next big challenge will be the African Master Champs in November.
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