40th Old Eds Road Race bigger than ever
HOUGHTON – Four decades of Old Eds Road Races for the Houghton community.
The 40th Old Eds Road Race was bigger than ever, this year drawing a record of more than 6 000 runners to the streets of Houghton and surrounding suburbs.
The first event in the four-part Vitality Run Series included 10km and 21km road races and a 5km fun run.
Race director, Mark Mohring said in the three years since the annual run had been part of the series, its numbers have grown exponentially.
But what makes it all the more special for Mohring each year is not just that there are many faces to see but that they are happy faces.
“The run went well again and there were many happy people and posts about the run on social media,” he said.
“We only had a few hiccups such as glitches with a few registration envelopes not having all they needed to, and some people’s times not being recorded because they did not have their race numbers visible.”
There were also very few injuries that were treated to.
Mohring said next year these few hiccups will be ‘ironed out’ as much as possible.
“The Old Eds Road Race is known down the years as the first race in the beginning of the season and many people tend to shake off the winter blues by running the half marathon.”
Next up for the Old Edwardian Athletics Club is the Ort-Utano 10km Challenge on 22 September.
This is an inaugural run which Mohring hopes will become an annual one. It’s purpose is to raise funds for the club’s development group, Utano, as well as Ort SA, an organisation that promotes education.
Organisers hope someone will be able to break the 30-minute mark at this run.
The route will be different from the 10km run of the Old Eds Road Race, in which the fastest runner was Givemore Mudzinganyama who finished in 00:31:51.4.
Entries for the Ort-Utano 10km Challenge are open at www.timeme.co.za
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