The Nedbank Green Dream Team gather for on a Comrades training camp in Graskop.

With the success of the Nedbank Green Dream Team in last month’s Old Mutual Two Oceans ultra-marathon in Cape Town the next big event that the Nedbank Running Club`s athletes target is the Comrades marathon on the 4th of June in Durban.

We want our athletes to be in top shape and they are currently busy with high altitude training in a beautiful part of Mpumalanga.Graskop has been the basis of many top endurance athletes in the past as well as the place where defending Comrades marathon champion Charne Bosman prepared herself last year and succeeded with her brilliant run to claim the trophy in 2016.
Nick Bester also used the Graskop area in numerous of his Gold medal performances in the past. Tour De France winner Jan Ulrich and his Telekom team also trained here on several occasions

This year she has been accompanied by Sarah Bard who placed 4th in last year`s Comrades  as well as Comrades champion Ludwick Mamabolo and several other aspirant gold medal contenders in the likes of Eric Ngubane and Tsifhiwa Molobola.

We are expecting a great performance from the Nedbank Green Dream Team once again.

Charne Bosman and Sarah Bard enjoying the long road

Eric, Best, Ludwick, Vusi and Siyabonga Doing a hard speed session

Eric, Best, Ludwick, Vusi and Siyabonga cooling down after a good training session

Early Morning Run with the Sun Rise

Reagan gets the chills just thinking about racing the Comrades for the first time

'The act of running makes the world our playground and creates the foundation for our mental and physical wellbeing.'

With such a philosophy it is no surprise that Patrick Reagan (USA) has decided to commit to the Comrades challenge. He will be part of the Nedbank Running Club's Dream Team.

'I believe this year's Comrades motto, 'It Takes All of You,' is an accurate assessment of my attraction to the race.

'Comrades has been described to me by friends as an unforgettable experience. Just thinking about lining up to race with 20 000 ultrarunners from all across the world gives me the chills.'

Reagan is under no illusion as to what awaits him.

'It is an up-run (Durban to Pietermaritzburg). So I understand it is going to be a real challenge, but I will embrace it with pride and excitement. I plan to savour the race atmosphere while racing to the best of my ability. I have confidence in my preparations for this event and look forward to racing the best ultramarathoners in the world, representing Hoka One One and Nedbank Running Club at the event.'

Reagan's racing CV certainly makes for impressive reading. At last year's International Association of Ultrarunners 100 km World Championships in Los Alcazares, Spain, he finished third in a time of 06:35:42. He also finished third in the UltraVasan 90 km race in Sweden and was second in the USA Track & Field 100 km National Championship.

This year he won the American River 25 mile race in 02:50:31 to set a course record.

His best time for a marathon is 02:20:06. For the half-marathon it is 1:04:29.

Reagan admits to not always being a runner. At first he played basketball and was passionate about skateboarding and cycling.

'Running began for me when I was 15 years old. My father invigorated my passion for our sport with stories about his running days with prolific US distance runners such as Don Norman and Joe Thomas, who were both native to western Pennsylvania. I was educated at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania where I competed in cross-country and track-and-field events.

'During college, I became passionate about training on hilly concrete and dirt roads in western Pennsylvania at a workload of 130 km to 160 km per week. The sport became the essence of who I was at the time.

'After college I took three years to pursue playing percussion and string instruments in ragtime and jugband jazz groups. I started running again in 2013.'

As to what made him decide to take up ultraracing Reagan said: 'The whole ultrarunning culture is beautiful to me. I enjoy the atmosphere at both road and trail races. Ultarunners are in the struggle of event completion and achieving personal goals together, even when racing – much like the Comrades, where 20 000 of us will battle one another, yet form personal bonds at the same time.

'Running is a very personal activity for me. I enjoy stepping out the door every day to experience the challenges of training while exploring beautiful places on foot. I enjoy listening to my breathing, the sound of my feet on the pavement or on a trail, and the sounds of nature around me. Running has helped me to develop my persona, confidence and character. The act of running brings me peace.'

Herron hopes to at long last fulfil her Comrades dream

Hopefully it will be third time lucky for Camille Herron (Nedbank RC Dream Team) on 4 June when she lines up to race Comrades.

The American who is a former world champion over 50km and 100km certainly has had bad luck when it comes to racing the Comrades. Last year she had to withdraw to a torn hamstring. In 2014 Herron fell ill the day before Comrades.  Despite her illness she still tried to compete, but after 83 kilometres her body decided that enough was enough and she had to drop out.

This time round she is all set to prove that you cannot keep a good woman down. She certainly is in good form. In February she won the Tarawera 102km-race in New Zealand setting a new course record of 8:56:00.

Herron’s CV certainly makes for impressive reading. She was has won 20 marathons, set a Guinness World Record for racing in a superhero costume completing a marathon in 2:48:51. For those who wanted to know, she was dressed as Spiderwoman. Her best time in the marathon is 2:37:14, for 50km it is 3:20:58 and in the 100km it is 7:08:35.

Tim Noakes indirectly was the one who inspired Herron to dream about running the Comrades.

“I have been reading his book – Lore of Running – in Junior High School. It made me realize that Comrades is the pinnacle of ultras. I've already got two World titles so to win Comrades would be huge to my career.

“I loved the energy, people, history of the race, and have wanted to come back and see my talent through to the finish. You can really sense and appreciate what this race means to South Africans. I'm grateful for the support from the Nedbank Running Club and will give it my all.”

According to Herron she grew up very athletic, primarily playing basketball and dance.

“Our basketball team had to do track during the off-season, and from the first day I could run and run and not get tired. Through these training sessions is how I actually fell in love with running.

“I started running back-to-back marathons in 2010-2011 with short recovery time. People started telling me I should give ultras a try. When I ran my first 100km in 2015 I joke that it was like Billy Elliot doing ballet for the first time. It felt like I was born to do it.

Way proves that it is never too late to start running

Start running it can change your life.

Steve Way did. It led to him dropping nearly 40 kilograms and helped him to quit his 20 cigarettes a day habit. Now he is set to race the Comrades in the colours of the Nedbank Running Club. If he has his way he is hoping for a top 10 finish.  

The Brit actually has got an extraordinary tale to tell about how he got started as a runner. He was 33 years old when he made the decision that he had to do something drastic to change his lifestyle. At the time he weighed approximately 110kg and was doing everything that was unhealthy.

“I'd have sleepless nights because of the coughing. It wasn't pleasant. I didn't like the person I saw in the mirror in the morning and I do remember the emotion I felt, the feeling that 'right, I've really got to do something, make some changes.”

He started to run.

"I needed to find something I could focus all my attention on that was going to help me lose weight and keep me off the cigarettes. In order to bury your vices you need to find an equal and opposite addiction. You need to find a passion.”

In 2014 after just turning forty he represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He surprised everybody by finishing 10th in a time of 2:15:16 setting a new British marathon record. Another highlight was winning the World 50km Championships in Italy in 2012. He also won the Stockholm 100km race in 2013.

His best time over 50km is 2:53:41 and in a 100km race it is 6:19:20.

“Running allows me to be a competitive sportsman. An obvious statement but something that I never thought I would be in the case when I was an unfit 33 year old overweight smoker. I love the adrenaline and excitement of race day and all my running is done to allow me to be as good as I can be on those special race days.”

Nedbank Running Club took  it to the track in 2017

Nedbank Running Club athletes have certainly made an impact this season in track and field athletics.

Over 40 Athletes from the various Nedbank Running Clubs competed at the South African Senior, South African Junior and Youth and South African Schools Championships.

Nedbank Running Club Soweto Development had not less than eight athletes representing them at the SA Schools Championships in Durban.

“We have seen a rise of a new star through our development program in Kutlwisiso Sidinile who was crowned South African Champion in 1500m running a blistering 3:52 to claim the gold.  From Nedbank Running Club Vaal representing the schools, Phelani Maduwa claimed yet another gold in 800m after running 1:51. Liza Kellerman also held her head up when she won a Bronze medal in Durban,” said a proud Siyaya Khoza.

At the national junior and youth championships in Cape Town the Nedbank Running Club Vaal was represented by 12 athletes, Nedbank Running Club SWD had seven athletes competing and Nedbank Soweto Running Club Soweto had eight athletes. Six of the Nedbank Running Club Klerksdorp athletes represented their province.

“Thabo Masina from Nedbank Soweto felt the need to remind the cross-country selectors that they had made a mistake for leaving him behind for the World Champs as he out sprinted a very talented field to win 10 000m running an African Junior Championships qualifying time of 30:46.   He finished 3rd in the 5 000m that made him take two medals home,” said Khoza.

“ Liza Kellerman fought hard to maintain a podium finish in the 800m event. From Vaal, Nedbank Running Club proved there is lots of talent within the Club in the middle distance and field events, Dillan van Rooyen finished 2nd place to claim his silver medal. Jonathan de Lacey 1st Shot Put, 2nd Discuss, Shanie Opperman 2nd Shot Put.

“In Potchefstroom at the senior national championships, our athletes were out to emulate the performance of the juniors, we saw the Rise of Tshepo Tshite in the 800m 3rd and a Brave finish from Thabang Mosiako winning 5  000m outsprinting two Olympians and the national record holder in that event the claim the Gold. Phillimon Mathiba held on for a bronze medal. In pursuit to improve her speed, Irvette van Zyl also finished 2nd in 5000m and 3rd in 1500m.

Nedbank Running Club athletes dominate in Gaberone

The athletes from Nedbank Running Club showed Botswana’s top athletes a clean pair of heels in Gaborone winning no less than six medals.

Thabang Mosiako, the South African 5 000m champion, was in awesome form winning the 10km in 29:10. Phillimon Mathiba crossed the line in second place running 30.29.

David Manja proved that he is back to his best by winning the men’s 21km in 1:13:39. Joel Mmone his training partner was second in 1:13:54.

Oneilwe Dintwe won the women’s 21km in 1:20:05 while Obed Kopong was third in the men’s marathon. He ran a time of 2:26:15.

**The women’s 10km SPAR Grand Prix-series is set to become a humdinger. To try and predict who is going to win after the first two races is just foolhardy. Louisa Labello  (Nedbank RC) won in Cape Town and the past weekend in Port Elizabeth Kesa Molotsane (KPMG) was the first to sprint across the line.

Last year’s Grand Prix champion, Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank RC), is still battling to fire on all cylinders. She was second in both races.

Over the weekend in Port Elizabeth she was hampered by an ankle injury but being Van Zyl she was always going to go down fighting.

She started the race fast and stayed in the lead until the 8km mark. Then Moletsane, who had been running in a group of six or seven runners, pulled away.  She surged past Van Zyl and kept her lead until the end, although Van Zyl started closing in on her in the last 500 metres. In the end the two athletes were only separated by 8 seconds.

“At 9kms, I got my second wind. I thought to myself ‘dammit, I can still run’, and I started closing the gap” said Van Zyl who sprained her ankle last week.

She was outsprinted in both the SPAR Races.  

“I will have to try to work out how to deal with it in the next race.”

Moletsane’s winning time in Port Elizabeth was 33.13 minutes with Van Zyl finishing in 33:21 was eight seconds behind her. Mapaseka Makhanya finished in 33.40, six seconds ahead of Nolene Conrad.

Currently Molotsane is the Grand Prix log leader with 59 points, with Van Zyl in second place with 57 points and Labello in third place with 42 points.

** Lungile Gongqa (Nedbank RC), the Two Oceans Ultra-winner, finished third in the SSISA/UCT Memorial 10 km in Rondebosch. He ran a time of 30:46. The race was won by Siboniso Soldaka (CPUT) in a time of 30:27.
The women’s race was won by Bulelwa Simae (Ned RC) in 39:10.

** Siviwe Nkombi (Nedbank RC) clocked 2:30:07 to finish third in the Langebaan Country Estate Weskus Marathon. Ursula Frans (Nedbank RC) was second in the women’s race. She ran 3:15:12.

** Moses Kurgat (Nedbank RC) finished second in the Waterberg Executive Mayor’s 28 km in Nylstroom. His time was 1: 9:12.
Paul Nyairo (Nedbank RC) was second in the men’s 10km running 32:10.

Nedbank RC athletes make a clean sweep in George

Another weekend, another race and still the Nedbank Running Club athletes are dictating the pace in the Southern Cape races.

The club’s men and female athletes made clean sweep over the weekend at the Avis Van Rental Run2Raise 10km race in George.

The men’s 10km race was won by Godwin Heyns in a time of 35:01. Aviwe Kinana was second in 37:31 and Melikhaya Msizi third in 38:17.

Stephany Petro was victorious in the women’s race clocking a time of 39:53. Melissa van Rensburg raced to a second place finish in 40:31 with Cecilia Nel third in 44:14.

**Another good result for Nedbank Running Club was Rudo Mhonderwa winning the MiWay Wally Hayward half-marathon in a time of 1:21:41.

The Wally Hayward Marathon was a tightly contested affair with only 83 seconds separating the first three athletes. William Mokwalakwala (MiWay) won in 2:23:41 followed by Charles Soza (Ned RC) in 2:24:41 and Charles Tjiane (Maxed Elite) third in 2:25:04.

The women’s marathon boiled down to a duel between Cobie Smith (Vitality) and Samulekiso Moyo (Ned RC). In the end it was Smith who prevailed winning in a time of 3:04:22 with Moyo finishing second in 3:05:04.

Simon Bopape (Ned RC) was third in the men’s junior 21km-race. He was timed at 1:23:32.

** Precious Duma (Ned RC) raced to victory at the Hibiscus 50km running 4.18.40. Nonkululeko Mbambo was second in 4.27.53 and Mahlohonolo Lepheane third in 4.43.45

**Nedbank Running Club won the team prize at the Jacob Zuma 42km. The victorious athletes are: Sthembele Faneko 2.33.51, Mzwenkosi Mjaja 2.40.10, Bongani Mdletshe 2.48.59 and Syvion Madikane 2.52.51.