Local runners complete 42km in their own backyards during lockdown
Madeleine Whitehair from Run Walk for Life, and other Mbombela runners, did the impossible by completing a marathon in their own yards.
Lowvelder spoke to local runner, Madeleine Whitehair, on Saturday, minutes after she completed 42km (marathon) on her farm’s roads, within a 3km radius from her house on Saturday.
“The gravel was a challenge on my body but hopefully it make me stronger,” said an enthusiastic Whitehair.
“To persevere and push through, no matter how hard it gets, and to know I will motivate someone else to do the same is what kept me going. We are a whole bunch that are doing these challenges and it motivates you to not fall behind.”
Charlotte and Hermann Gericke also completed this marathon challenge, running 197 loops of 220 metres.
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Eldoret Boezaart approached the challenge by running 106 loops of 400 metres to make up the 42km.
Whitehair continued to explain why these challenges are so important to her and other runners. “I need to maintain my fitness and it’s great fun to participate in all the virtual runs our club have organised.
We did a Two Oceans Challenge in teams, a 50km Loskop Challenge in a team. It keeps me positive in this challenging time we are facing. I would still like to qualify for the SA Marathon Championships should it still go on and therefore I need to be ready when it should happen.”
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Harry Wiltshire, Elsa de Beer, Paul Norman, Toy Dupper and Linda van Staden are other local runners who shared their triumph 42km on social media.
Share with us on Facebook what you have been doing to stay fit during lockdown and let us know what the first thing you want to do in terms of exercise when we enter lockdown level 4.
