Dolphin Striders conquer the Comrades Marathon

A record field of 107 Dolphin Striders runners took on the gruelling 87km up-run in this year’s 94th edition of the Ultimate Human race, the Comrades Marathon.

The Ballito running club joined the mass field of 25 000 local and international runners of the world famous ultra-marathon from Durban City Hall to Scottsville racecourse in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, June 9 with 97 percent of the starters successfully completing the race.

Local star Bafana Shozi led from the front and was the first Dolphin runner home in a time 7:22.49 to claim the club’s first silver medal while Thulani Isaac Silayi finished in 7:35.23, missing out on silver by a mere five minutes followed closely by Ntembeko Mfihlo in 7:38:02 and Ross Olivier in 8:03:22.

Novice comrades runner Nic Acampora was the fifth Dolphin runner home in an impressive time of 8:03:22.

Legendary comrades runner, Barry Holland achieved the rare feat of successfully completing his 47th consecutive Comrades Marathon in a respectable sub 10:30 bringing his medal count to 22 silver, six Bill Rowan and 18 bronze medals. Holland shares the record for the most Comrades Marathon finishes with runner Louis Massyn.

Holland who ran his first Comrades marathon in 1973 paid his respect to the Dolphin Striders and used Aristotle’s famous quote to describe the club as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

He thanked the seconders, supporters, family and friends for making Strider’s the “best running club in the country.”

Michelle Olivier was the first Dolphin Striders woman over the line and ran in an incredible time of 8:38 for her third Bill Rowan medal.

The club had a total of 15 Bill Rowan finishers. Runners who run between 7:30 and sub 9:00 are awarded the bronze-centred circled by silver ring medal named after the winner of the first Comrades marathon in 1921.

The time limit for this medal was inspired by Rowan’s winning time in 1921 of 8:59. Dolphin Striders had 12 novice runners who managed to climb the innumerable KwaZulu-Natal hills to reach the finish line by the 12-hour cut-off and conquer their Comrades dreams.

“What runs through this club is incredible passion and if we harness this passion we will continue to grow from strength to strength,” said Dolphin Striders chairman, Paul Swainson.

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