Athletic club hosts excellence awards
The best runner award went to Vakele Jamile for attaining silver medal in this year's Comrades Marathon.
Emaxesibeni-based XJ Athletic Club recently hosted an excellence awards ceremony where runners were awarded in various categories.
The best runner award went to Vakele Jamile, a novice, for attaining a silver medal in this year’s Comrades Marathon.
This athletic club was formed in 2018 by a few runners with a passion for healthy living, residing in a small rural town in the Eastern Cape.
Mncedisi Nxumalo, the club’s president, said their ‘rural club’ was a ‘laughing stock’, but that did not deter them from their dream.
“Our aim was to plant an orchard that is going to produce nice fruits. Indeed, we are on the right track because in Comrades, we were represented by 19 runners, and they all emerged as finishers; next year, we are looking forward to being represented by a contingent of 40 runners,” said Nxumalo.
He said they are affectionately known as Pink Drive because of their traditional pink colours.
“We have been represented in various races, and I am proud to mention that we had four runners that represented us at the Chicago Marathon in the USA,” said Nxumalo.
He is grateful for the support of friends in the running fraternity – the Cheetahs and Qokolweni, both from Umthatha, 4AM Kokstad R56 from Matatiele and South Coast Running Club from Mbizana.
This club abides by the regulations of Athletics South Africa that compels clubs to have a junior wing, and the Pink Drive (junior wing) is a force to be reckoned with, as they are podium finishers in most races they take part in.
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