We are behind all 660 @nedbankrunningclub runners this year! From the green dream team athletes who collect all the golds up front to the athletes who are looking to finish in under 12 hours, you’re all part of the team that paints the roads green on 9 June! #MoreThanAClub ??

@bavaria_za @biogen_sa @futurelifeza @nike @nikerunning @thirstiwater

Nedbank running club fields most competitive Comrades field to date.

The Nedbank running club’s famous green Nike vests have dominated running events around the country, and even more so, the Comrades Marathon, dubbed the ultimate human race. 2024 is no different and at this years Comrades Marathon, the club has a record 48 athletes entered under elite status and will be looking for more than just a win.

“Without a doubt, this is the strongest and most competitive team we have ever had at the Comrades Marathon,” says Nick Bester, National team manager of the Nedbank running club and former race winner. “Besides having the defending champion of both the up run and down runs, we have multiple Comrades gold medallists that will take part this year as well as some very interesting novices who can perhaps spoil the party on the day.”

Leading the team will undoubtedly be the duo of Tete Dijana and Edward Mothibi. Coming into this year’s race, Mothibi is the defending up run champion with the race last going up to Pietermaritzburg in 2019, whilst Dijana has won the last two Comrades down runs back-to-back, which included last year’s record-breaking run. The two train together and are known as the happy bunch with gold medallist teammates Joseph Manyedi, Dan Matshailwe and Johannes Makgetla also returning this year.

Also returning will be Piet Wiersma. Referred to last year as the unknown dutchman, the youngster of the team finished 2nd on debut, only 3 seconds behind Dijana and this year has focussed solely on the Comrades Marathon, having prepared for the race in Kenya. “This year we have had athletes focussing on the race from all different corners of the globe,” said Bester. “Tete and the other guys had their base in Dullstroom for the high altitude and Piet chose to train in Kenya for the bulk of his Comrades prep.

Giving a serious attempt at Comrades this year will be Onalenna Khonkhobe who made a name for himself leading the 2022 Comrades Marathon all the way to Fields Hill. He has since grown in stature and this year was the runaway winner of the Two Oceans Marathon. Throw in Russian debutant Nikolay Volkov amongst many other Nedbank stars who will be in action, and the 2024 Comrades Marathon will be a treat for viewers watching at home on TV and for spectators along the route.

In the women’s race, South Africa’s Adele Broodryk leads the Nedbank running club challenge. Debuting in 2022, Broodryk finished 3rd and in last years race improved by one spot to not only finish 2nd, but run an amazing 5:56, to become the 3rd fastest female ever on the down run. Teammates Deanne Laubscher, Galaletsang Mekgoe and Slindile Chili will be looking to join Broodryk amongst the top 10 finishers on the day.

There is also an extraordinarily strong Nedbank running club international contingent coming down which will be led by Polish athlete Dominika Stelmach who is a multiple Comrades Marathon gold medallist. Ireland’s Caitriona Jennings finished on the podium at her debut Comrades up run in 2019 and will be looking for another repeat of that after a strong 7th place at this years Two Oceans Marathon. Running her first Comrades this year will be American Andrea Pomaranski who has been taking training advice from Bester. With a 2:31 marathon best and two sub 2:35 marathon finishers in 2024 already, Pomaranski looks to do something big on 9 June.

‘I worked intensively with Andrea and especially on her overall strength to make sure she can manage the uphill’s which will be complemented by her incredible speed as an Elite marathoner. What impressed me from her is that Andrea is listening and did do all the strength and cross training according to the program and reduced her total running mileage per week. I am expecting Andrea to be up there with the leaders on race day! ‘said Bester

NEDBANK RUNNING CLUB COMRADES MARATHON 2024 HOSPITALITY SITE.

We are excited to announce that the Nedbank Running Club will have a festival and rewarding hospitality area for our Comrades runners to make sure you get spoiled after a hard and tough day on your feet.

You will be entertained with food and drinks and a host of products from our loyal partners like Bavaria, Biogen, FutureLife and Thirsti to make sure you put back what you have taken out of your bodies during this grueling run.

Join us at our marquee where you will receive vouchers for your food and drinks as well as free massaging that will once again be done by qualified Students to assist in your recovery after the grueling Comrades marathon.

Your entry into the Nedbank Running Club Hospitality site will be your full Nedbank Running Club Running Kit (Vest/Crop top and Shorts/Tights) and Comrades race number.

The Nedbank Running Club Hospitality site will be Situated at the Club Tent Tier 1 on the below map highlighted in Pink

Comrades Final Race Instructions Video

In a move symbolic of the race’s renewed commitment toward being runner-centric and up-to-date with international trends, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) will from 2024 publish and continue to make use of videographic Final Race Instructions.  

CMA Race & Operations Manager, Ann Ashworth says, “We are the first race in South Africa and probably one of the first road races in the world to offer the Comrades Marathon Final Race Instructions in a video format. We understand that many runners do not enjoy reading the lengthy 4-page Final Race Instructions document filled with very small writing and are therefore pleased to be leading the way on this.”

“We believe that several of the problems experienced in 2023 could have been avoided if participants were more familiar with the race rules and so the use of an easy-to-digest and user-friendly medium for communicating these rules and the final race instructions is critical to avoiding a repeat of what happened last year.”

In line with being inclusive and catering to different language groups, the video will also include translations in isiZulu with a plan to integrate additional languages over time.

Runners can look forward to seeing some familiar faces featured in the video with the likes of CMA Chairperson, Mqondisi Ngcobo and road running commentator, Cuan Walker taking participants through the pre-race guide.

As with the printed Final Race Instructions, the video will serve as an invaluable resource, aimed at informing and educating the Comrades Marathon athlete as to the do’s and don’ts of participating in The Ultimate Human Race, as well as including a wide range of need-to-know information and race details.

Final Comrades Route Cut-off Revised

With its focus on putting Runners First and in response to runner requests and ongoing efforts to ensure that participants have the best possible chance of finishing this year’s 97th running of The Ultimate Human Race, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has revised the final route cut-off.

CMA Race & Operations Manager, Ann Ashworth has confirmed that the CMA Board has approved the adjustment to the final cut-off at the 79.1km mark at Mkondeni (Top of Polly Shortts) from 11h10 to 11h20, giving the backmarker runners an added advantage to finish this year’s 49th Comrades Up Run.

Runners are advised to take note that this decision was taken after the final cut-offs had been published in the official 2024 Comrades Marathon souvenir magazine and the 2024 Final Race Instructions (including the International Athlete Guide).  For this reason, the final cut-off reflected in the official race guide and final instructions is 10 minutes faster than the time that will be imposed on 9 June.

The finalised cut-offs are as follows:

The 97th Comrades Marathon will be the 49th Up Run on Sunday, 9 June 2024, starting at the Durban City Hall at 05h30 and ending 12 hours later at the HollywoodBets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg, covering a distance of 85.91km.

Cell C Hot Spot Prizes

With just 18 days to Comrades race day, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced an exciting addition to this year’s prize purse. In conjunction with major sponsor, Cell C, the CMA plans to boost motivation and celebrate excellence in this year’s edition of The Ultimate Human Race with the reinstatement of hot spot prizes.

Hot spot prizes totalling R100,000 will be awarded to the first male and female runners through the Cato Ridge timing mat, situated approximately 56.6km into the challenging 85.91km route. This hot spot activation will take place immediately before the Cell C refreshment station.

This revived hot spot prize incentive is geared toward rewarding athletes who are fastest through Cato Ridge, while simultaneously encouraging top runners to carefully manage their pace to ensure they finish the race strong.

The criteria governing the Cell C Hot Spot prizes are as follows:

•    The hot spot cash prize will be awarded to the 1st man and woman through the Cato Ridge cut-off timing mat.  
•    Each athlete will be awarded R50,000 in commemoration of the 50 years of celebrating the official participation of women and athletes of colour in the Comrades Marathon.
•    The winner of the hot spot prize in the Men’s race must finish in sub 6h00.
•    The winner of the hot spot prize in the Women’s race must finish in sub 7h00.

#Comrades2024 Runner Notice – Seeding Batches and Proxy Collection

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is aware that some runners are engaging in “batch jumping”, a term used to describe a situation where a runner pushes forward from the start batch to which they have been allocated, to a faster seeding batch closer to the front of the race. This is considered to be a form of cheating.

Runners may not enter a seeding batch other than the one to which they are allocated. With effect from 9 June 2024, batch jumping will be specifically prohibited in terms of the Comrades Marathon Race Rules.  Any person who starts from within a seeding batch other than the one to which they have been allocated may be disqualified. This includes starting the race from within a seeding batch slower (or behind) the one to which a runner has been allocated.  

Should a runner wish to drop back to a slower seeding batch (e.g. move from B-batch to C-batch in order to start with friends), please contact the CMA office before 16h00 on Wednesday, 8 May 2024.  

The CMA has also revised the way in which it manages the registration of athletes by proxy (collecting on behalf of another individual).

From now on, runners will be required to log into their online entry profile and complete the proxy collection page with the details of the individual who is collecting on their behalf. This process must be done prior to the proxy collector attending registration and aims to help safeguard the delivery of race packs of our athletes. No race packs will be handed over without the required online form having been completed. The proxy collection form and detailed instructions will be made available closer to the opening of registration.

Comrades Retrospective Winners Jacket Recipients
 
Since 2015, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has been awarding Winners Jackets to male and female winners of the race.

2016 saw the retrospective awarding of Winners Jackets to three previous winners at the official Comrades race day prize giving ceremony; with this becoming a celebratory facet to race week festivities until all surviving former Comrades Marathon winners have been honoured with their very own Winners Jackets.

This year, two remarkable individuals will receive the grand acknowledgement at this year’s Comrades Champions Prizegiving Breakfast on Monday, 10 June 2024. They are Rae Bisschoff and Sipho Ngomane, both of whom in their own right, have made their mark on The Ultimate Human Race.
 
Rae Bisschoff
In 1998 Rae Bischoff made South Africa proud when she took the women’s title, a long break since 1993, when fellow South African Tilda Tearle was crowned the women’s champion. Rae, a veteran contender during that Up Run, had Valentina Liakhova close on her heels, with a mere 19 seconds between them, but Rae managed to cross the finish line in 6:38:57, scooping first position.

Sipho Ngomane (Harmony Athletics Club)
Sipho ran his first Comrades Marathon in 2003. In 2005, a Down Run, he surprised the world when he won in 5:27:11, with Oleg Kharitonov close behind. What made the victory even sweeter is that Sipho had to run in borrowed shoes after his had been stolen. He was only 23 at the time he claimed his victory.

With Samsung’s latest innovation in wearables, Galaxy Fit3 complemented by some small daily habits, better sleep health is now possible. And based on individual sleep patterns, Samsung Galaxy Fit3 is now able to provide users with personalised Sleep Coaching1, offering meaningful insights that can help you to more intuitively understand your sleep, leading you to make positive changes.

Recent studies by Samsung have shown that users’ interest in personal sleep health has been skyrocketing; however, the quality of sleep people get each night is declining. Another concerning aspect is the increase in awake time during sleep, leading to a decline in sleep efficiency, a key factor in sleep quality that is tracked by calculating the ratio of actual time asleep to the total time spent in bed each night. Inconsistent sleep patterns can also impact sleep quality.

Galaxy Fit3 is therefore able to help users discover details on their sleep stages and track2 their sleeping patterns so that they can gain some helpful insights. This latest innovative design in smartwatch technology is able to rest snugly on your wrist, while silently monitoring your sleep patterns throughout the night. You can now comfortably wear your Galaxy Fit3, allowing it to detect your snoring3 and monitor your blood oxygen levels4 right through the night, so that it can find your sleep score and provide you with more detailed measurements.

Justin Hume, Vice President of MX Business at Samsung South Africa said: “As Samsung, we are committed to leveraging both our technology and the Galaxy ecosystem to give everyone the insights they need to achieve their lifelong wellness goals. Our innovative fitness tracker, the Galaxy Fit3 that comes with advanced health monitoring technology, will help you manage your overall wellness and that includes both your health and physical activity by providing you with more reliable and accurate data.”

And furthermore, the sleep analysis and sleep coaching functionality5 in the latest Galaxy Fit3 is able to compare data to previous days, so that you can track how your daily routine improvements influence your sleep quality.

So, by monitoring your body movement throughout the night, Galaxy Fit3 is providing you with the ability to see how you are doing over days or years so that you can make healthier choices each day. Samsung is also in the process of expanding its tech capabilities and evolving product portfolio to include other heart health monitoring features during sleep.

In an effort to provide an even deeper understanding of your overall health, this new wearable technology is now able to deliver health metrics that include heart rate6, stress levels and even cycle tracking7.

And our winner of the Samsung Galaxy Fit3 Competition is

Iona Du Plessis - Nedbank Running Club George

A stellar lineup of top athletes will guarantee an exciting finish on Saturday at the 10th edition of the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon, which also has ASA Championship status, at Pollock Beach on June 1.

The event, organised by Eastern Province Athletics in partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, saw a thrilling finish last year when Gqeberha’s Thabang Mosiako, 29, stormed home in his personal best time of 01.00.29, a course record and an EP record time.

Thabang Mosiako, who recently won the Two Oceans Half Marathon in April, will be determined to defend his NMB Half Marathon title, but competition will be fierce for the top prize of R100 000.
"Coach always teaches and tell us that we need to stay consistent such that even if it’s hard in the office you stay close to the time that you ran previously. It’s part of the culture of our group. I’m happy with the 60 minutes that I ran in SA last year. I can’t complain too much," said Mosiako, in a recent interview with The Top Runner. Mosiako trains under 2023 ASA Coach of the Year, and event race director, Mike Mbambani.

Mosiako’s training partner, Melikaya Frans and Lesotha’s Namakoe Nkhasi will also be competing on Saturday. In 2022, Namakoe Nkhasi narrowly beat home time favourite, Melikhaya Frans, to the finish in his personal best time of 1.01.01. Frans smashed his lifetime best by more than a minute and won his first national title in 1.01.03. In April this year, Frans, 34, finished third in a time of 1.04.20 in the San Blas Half Marathon in Puerto Rico.

Other hot competitors will be Precious Mashele, former champion in 2021, SA 10km record holder of Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA), who finished third overall last year, and secured a silver medal in the national championship in 1:00:43, as well as fellow former multiple champion (2017, 2018, 2019) Stephen Mokoka, who finished in fourth place overall last year and third for Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) in 01:00:54.
Running legend, Elroy Gallant, (ACNW) who won the inaugural NMB Half Marathon in 2014, and had an incredible race at the Absa Run Your City 10km in May in Cape Town, will also be on the start line.

Race director, Mike Mbambani confirmed that his local organising team is ready to deliver the 10th edition of this successful race, with over 1500 runners expected to line up this weekend.
"This is the richest half marathon in the country in terms of prize money, the total prize pot is R559,000, with the added bonus of ASA Championship prize money.”
“We are expecting the crème de la crème of elite athletes not only from SA, but the rest of Africa as well.
“Our local athletes, Thabang Mosiako and Melikhaya Frans, are also in top shape to contest for the win,” added Mbambani.

On the women’s front, last year’s national half-marathon winner, in-form athlete, Glenrose Xaba, (AGN) will be the woman to watch.
Xaba ran a phenomenal race last year, pushing the pace throughout the race to win her fourth straight national half-marathon crown in a personal best of 1:08:37, second overall to Kenyan athlete Betty Chepkemoi, who won the open race in 1:08:34.
"This is likely to be my main 21km race of the season. My goal this season is to qualify for the Olympic Games in the 5000m and/or the 10000m, so this season I’ll just be visiting the half marathons and running more 10km and track races, " confirmed Xaba who was the first woman home in the Two Oceans Half Marathon in April.

Tadu Nare, former women’s champion in 2019, will be joining Xaba at the start line, as well as treble-Olympian Irvette van Zyl, who recently finished second in the Two Oceans Marathon.
Athletics South Africa (ASA) President, James Moloi, is also looking forward to this two-in-one race which will be televised live on Supersport.

 “A number of athletes and coaches will be seeking glory of the ASA Half-Marathon Championships and the 10th Nelson Mandela Bay Half-Marathon, which has earned its stripes over its journey.
“We can therefore expect another breath-taking encounter, especially for spectators,” said Moloi.

SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane 2024 Launch - Entries are open.

The Tshwane leg of the prestigious SPAR Grand Prix, part of the 2024 SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane was officially launched yesterday at a prestigious event held in the heart of Pretoria. This highly anticipated race is scheduled to take place on 3 August 2024, at 2 PM, at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Participants can enter online or at selected SPAR stores across the region.
This will be the third leg of the five race SPAR Grand Prix series, the largest and richest (R 2 million) women’s only road running series in the world.

The launch event was graced by prominent figures, including top athletes who will represent South Africa at the Olympic Games in Paris this August. Among the distinguished guests were Olympic hopefuls Cian Oldknow and Irvette van Zyl and celebrated Olympians LJ Van Zyl, René Kalmer, and Caster Semenya. These athletes add prestige and inspiration to the event, highlighting its importance in the South African sporting calendar.

Ralph Rajagopaul, SPAR North Rand Marketing Executive, warmly welcomed the guests. His arrival in a SPAR2U mellow van was particularly notable; this electric vehicle demonstrates SPAR's dedication to sustainability and a greener future, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change.

Rajagopaul commented, "The SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane is more than just a race; it's a movement that celebrates and empowers women. This year, we continue our mission to support girls in developing communities, ensuring they have the resources to live healthy and fulfilled lives. We are proud to be part of this journey towards empowerment and well-being."

The event also honoured the top runners who will participate in the SPAR Grand Prix Series, the most prestigious series of its kind on the continent. This year, the series boasts a prize purse exceeding R2 million, underlining its status as a significant event in African athletics.

The SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane is committed to charitable causes. This year, the focus is improving sanitary health among young girls in developing communities. In a significant gesture of support, Caster Semenya will receive the first donation of over 1000 packets of SPAR Petal Sanitary Pads. These pads will aid the numerous development programs that Semenya champions, furthering her work in empowering young women.

The campaign hashtag for this year is #ChooseYou. This theme is a mighty rallying cry for women participating in the SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane. It encourages women to prioritise themselves, their dreams, and their well-being amidst the demands of daily life.

Another good reason to take part in the SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane in August is that all women entrants over the age of 18 will be in line to win a Proton X50, a compact SUV that blends innovation and power valued at R450 000.