“Comrades Marathon 2015 – you can do it”

POLOKWANE Athletic Club (PAC) aims to enter 100 athletes in the 2015 Comrades Marathon and would like to invite running enthusiasts and prospective Comrades runners to join them in training.

PAC will have an open night for all prospective Comrades runners on June 18 at 18:15 at their clubhouse.

“There are a lot of people out there who dream about participating,” says PAC public liaison member, Ria du Plessis.

“There is a saying that goes around in the running fraternity that every South African should try to run the Comrades marathon at least once, just to experience the atmosphere and goodwill for which this unique race is known worldwide,” she adds.

The Comrades Marathon, which is in its 90th year next year, is known as the ultimate human race, and is annually run by approximately 17 000 runners. The 2015 race will be run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, also known as the up run.

PAC will start from July 7 with a training group that will train together from the PAC clubhouse at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium for the 2015 race.

The first three months of the training will be aimed at getting everybody to a basic level of fitness and to run a comfortable 10 km road race by the end of September. The training groups will be led by current and former Comrades runners, all of whom have a lot of experience.

“We have a club member that can assist with training programmes for the more serious runners,” Du Plessis says.

The club has secured the expertise of a qualified International Association of Athletics Federations long distance coach, Wessel Marais, as guest speaker at the open night.

The aim of the event, which is free of charge and open to everybody, is to:

• Introduce everybody to the Comrades marathon;

• Inform everybody of the short- and long-term plans and goals;

• Inform new runners of technical issues, clothing and shoes;

• Share knowledge and experiences; and

• Introduce novice Comrades runners to those who have just completed the 2014 race.

For more information, Du Plessis can be contacted at 083 259 2790 or contact Johan van Vuuren at 083 277 2505 for additional information. Potential sponsors who want to get involved in sponsoring Team Polokwane during the 2015 Comrades can also contact either of the abovementioned persons.