IT was raining ‘green and orange’ last Sunday as the powerhouse of the South Coast Striders made its presence felt at the Dick King half marathon in Toti.
Being part of the field I obviously missed most of what was happening around the large field of 800 plus participants but was fortunate enough to be updated by spectators along the way. With 10km or so to go on my half marathon I got word that Michael Mzobe was well in front and poised to take his fifth title for the event.
It gave me big butterflies and I was beaming with pride. I would not be lying if I told you that it pumped so much adrenalin through my veins that for my next 20 metres I was in a sprint of my own, then I nearly collapsed. I eventually did complete my stint on the road to find that Michael had indeed won the race and that many of our other runners had done exceptionally well.
Michelle Wridgway has to be mentioned for her outstanding performance at the finish as she motivated our runners and walkers to cross the line with an unbelievable vocal performance that could be clearly heard over the nearby PA system. The price she paid however was a missing voice on Monday morning and while I hope she does not read this, between you and me, it made quite a nice change!
Here are the bragging results. In first place for the 21km was Michael Mzobe in a time of 68 minutes. Sinovuyo Nkasa a few minutes behind finished as the first junior male followed by Sarah Morrison-Young, the first junior female. Zandile Dunywa rounded off the prizes by finishing first in the women’s 40 plus division.
I want to congratulate the entire club for putting on such a fantastic show. It was a day to be remembered with fond memories for many years to come.
The following Striders took part in the track meet held at Chatsworth on Sunday and Monday last week, Moira King age category 60 plus 5000m walk won bronze in a time of 35:40.88 and another bronze for the 10000m walk in a time of 1:12.32.
Andrew Spence astounded us all with his amazing achievements at the running event for the 70 plus age category as he ran off with the 800m gold medal in 2:39.86 and then went on to set a new KZN record in the 1500m of 5:35:64, earning him a second gold.
Caitlyn Schlehmeyer ran the 3000m steeplechase and was selected for the KZN youth and junior team to compete in Gauteng at the end of the month.
