Roodepoort Athletics Club recently held a special prize-giving ceremony to recognise and reward their outstanding athletes who excelled throughout the year.

From dominating performances at the prestigious Comrades and Two Oceans marathons to consistent finishes at parkruns, every junior or senior athlete was acknowledged for their remarkable achievements.

According to Conrad de Buys, chairperson of the club, this year has been one for the books, as they had 40 athletes taking part in the Comrades Marathon. This amount included 10 first-time runners, two members tackling their 10th, and one veteran runner who ran his 30th. Additionally, the club had about 13 athletes running the Two Oceans, which is known as the world’s scenic route.

He said, unlike other years, this year they had a different approach, allowing women to compete against each other, departing from the previous format of men versus women.

“The prizes are determined by the parkrun age category calculator, based on age and gender categories,” he said.

Some of the notable achievements were the following:

Long years of service:

• Charlie Herselman for 40 years
• Lucky Tlatsi for 20 years
• Mel de Beer, Dale Rynhoud and Koos Hutchons took 10 years

Comrades Green number:

• Johan Breydenbach 30
• Judith Kganedi 10
• Sarel Cilliers 10

Junior Woman: Michelle Cilliers

Junior Men: Caden Johnson

Most improved Comrades runner: Clinton Kruis

Most parkruns: Roaad Snyman

Top Road Runners:

• Clinton Kruis
• Arno Cilliers
• Keabetswe Moletsane
• Margaret Stewart