Taking on other clubs and coming out on top

The Run Zone community running club is still very young compared to others, some of which have been around for a few decades. But, being the young blood, and sometimes the underdogs in and around the West Rand, their runners work much harder to prove their mettle.

The Run Zone West Rand (RZWR) branch has been at it for just over two years and has grown to close to 100 members, boasting with a few who have many notches in their running belts.

Evan Coetzee and Nico Nieuwoudt are two of the more senior runners and have become the go-to, trusted and experienced voices in the club for other runners, often giving out plenty of tips to some members and seriously coaching others. In fact, Evan is now coaching Nico professionally, pushing him to become one of the top runners in Krugersdorp and abound.

The pair took on an inter-club competition in Northcliff recently, where they competed against the top runners from the Run Zone head club and general members of the running community. In the end, Evan comfortably finished first with a time of one hour and 24 minutes over the 21 kilometres in the Open Senior Male division.

Warren Mackenzie, RZWR club head said, “The two of them were training for this big race, in which we finished in the top positions, and the virtual Comrades race was just after that. The guys had to rest, and couldn’t do both events. Evan runs in the open senior category which is the most competitive, and he skriks for niks. He actually held back in support of Nico, the runner he’s coaching, who battled a little during the final few kilometres. Nico is also a machine and will shine with time and with Evan coaching him. My committee and I are delighted with this, and our club can only grow from strength to strength with the depth that we now have. We were looked at as a beginners club with newbie runners, and now we are winning races.”