Lindani Myeni and Petros Ndlangamandla, members of Conquerors Athletic Club, pioneered a virtual race by recently finishing a virtual run.

Runners from all over South Africa participated in one of five different distances: 90km, 42,2km, 21,1km, 10km and 5km. Myeni completed the 21,1km run on the N17 between Ermelo and Chrissiesmeer.

His finishing time was two hours, five minutes and 52 seconds which showed great potential to break the two-hour mark for this distance.

“There is potential to easily run under four hours and 10 minutes over the standard marathon, which is a safe qualifying time for the Comrades,” Ndlangamandla, said.

He completed the 10km virtual run in 43 minutes and 37 seconds which was three minutes faster that the virtual run he participated in last year.

According to Ndlangamandla, energy is contagious and he drew all of his from Myeni when he completed his virtual run on a treadmill.

“Running at a pace like this means I’m still a force to be reckoned with in the masters’ category.

“I can still challenge three hours and 20 minutes over the standard marathon (42,2km) which is a batch B qualifier for the Comrades Marathon,” he said.

Ndlangamandla added that once 42,2km races are allowed again, the whole team will be on the prowl like a hungry pride of lions to earn their Comrades Marathon qualifiers.

“For now, we stay safe and keep on training while sanitising, wearing masks and adhering to social distancing by running solitary as often as possible,” he concluded.