All Nedbank Running Club athletes invited!

Please join us at the Nedbank Running Club gazebo at the finish venue of the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, 18 September 2016.

There will be drinks and snacks available after the race.

Our loyal partner FutureLife will have its traditional smoothie corner for you.

Just look out for the Nedbank feather flags and gazebo. - see Finish layout below!

SPAR Women’s Challenge Johannesburg

Athletics fever is at an all-time high in the country following the recent Rio Olympics. South Africans are still celebrating the achievements of Team South Africa in Rio last month, with Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk elevated to superhero status after their gold medal victories.  

Many couch potatoes who spent 16 days getting up in the wee small hours of the morning to watch their heroes performing on the other side of the Atlantic suffered withdrawal symptoms when the Games were over – and many of them decided to shake off their post-Olympics blues by getting off their couches to do something sporty.

Road running is one of the most popular forms of exercise. It requires little more than a pair of shoes and the determination to hit the road – and the SPAR Women’s Challenge at the Wanderers Club in Illovo on Sunday October 9 gives thousands of women something to train for.

The Johannesburg SPAR 10 km Challenge and 5 km Fun Run have become a important fixtures on the road-running calendar, with thousands of women and girls from all walks of life taking part. The Sonja Laxton-designed route winds its way through some of Johannesburg’s most beautiful leafy suburbs and the race takes place at a time when the weather is usually at its best.

The Johannesburg Challenge is the final race in the five-race SPAR Grand Prix, so the country’s top female runners will be taking part in an effort to gain as many grand prix points as possible.

Four Olympians - Lebogang Phalula, Christine Kalmer, Rutendo Nyahora and Irvette van Zyl, the current SPAR Grand Prix points leaders have confirmed their intended participation in the Challenge. Nyahora successfully defended her SPAR Women’s Pretoria challenge victory at SuperSport Park on Saturday.

SPAR also announced that three times SPAR Grand Prix champion, Rene Kalmer as well as popular actress, Melanie du Bois of 7deLaan fame, would be patrons of the 2016 Joburg leg of the SPAR Women’s Challenge.

'Our race is not only about top athletes and social runners and walkers but also about fun and entertainment, so it’s with pleasure that we have Rene and Melanie as our faces of the Joburg Challenge this year' said Martin Webber, SPAR South Rands Marketing Director.

'Rene and Melanie have been great supporters of our race over the years, they will interact through social media with all entrants leading up to the race and be at the race in October, which will certainly add to the excitement on the day.'

Webber added that the 2016 Challenge promises to be more exciting than ever because of the rising number of entries and the celebrations of the SPAR Grand Prix’s 10th anniversary.

'This year, we challenge women to not only come and enjoy race day, but as part of the SPAR Women’s Challenge family, to embrace what we are all about. The 2016 race is all about showing you care. So embrace the chance to be part of the race and support a larger cause.'

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is only fitting that the designated charity associated with the race is Reach for Recovery, a voluntary support group for women with breast cancer. The partnership goes back a number of years, and the women from Reach for Recovery have become an important part of the race, wearing their distinctive pink T-shirts and spreading the word that cancer is not necessarily a death sentence.

As in previous years SPAR is encouraging schools to participate in the race and has partnered with Mercer to award the top three schools with the largest entries and race finishers with IT prizes.

For the first time this year, the organisers are also calling on the people of Johannesburg to help those who cannot afford the shoes needed to start running. During the 2015 SPAR Challenge, staff from Caxton noticed that many children from disadvantaged schools ran the race barefoot. As a result Caxton is running the Drop off a Pair and Show You Care drive to put shoes on bare feet.  

Participants in the Challenge can drop off an old pair of shoes when they collect their race numbers. The style and size don’t matter, but what is important is that the shoes should be in good condition.  

Those who donate shoes stand a chance of winning one of five R1 000 SPAR vouchers, one of five sets of running shoes, or one of five hair vouchers from Tanaz in Sandton.

Entry forms are available from all SPAR stores or at spar.co.za.

2017 Comrades entries in full swing

Spring has sprung and Gauteng athletes are beating the rush to get their entries in for the 2017 Comrades Marathon up-run.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has confirmed that 5 000 entries have been received so far since the entry process opened a week ago. Gauteng currently holds the highest tally of entries with more than 2 500 entrants.

Province – number
Gauteng – 2 536
KwaZulu-Natal – 665
Western Cape – 647
Mpumalanga – 163
Free State – 117
North West – 112
Eastern Cape – 108
Limpopo – 104
Northern Cape – 36

An additional 512 athletes have entered from more than 30 countries on the African continent and around the world.

CMA Race Director, Rowyn James, says, 'We have many exciting plans in place to ensure a memorable race day for both our runners and supporters next June. We have also increased the prize money should anyone break the previously recorded best time for the up-run.'

The best times for the up-run are as follows:
Men – 5:24:49 by Leonid Shvetsov in 2008
Women – 6:09:24 by Elena Nurgalieva in 2006

The three-month long entry process will close on 30 November 2016 or as soon as the entry cap of 20 000 has been reached. Prospective entrants are encouraged to get their entries in early to avoid disappointment.

Entry fees for the 2017 Comrades Marathon are as follows:
•    Early bird: R420 (September for South African athletes only)
•    Local entries: R460 (October & November for South African athletes only)
•    Rest of Africa: R770
•    International: R2 650

For entry details please visit comrades.com.

Nedbank Running Club athletes keep on dominating

The fact that the athletes of the Nedbank Running Club managed to win two of the most important races in southern Africa over the weekend, can almost be likened to a minor coup d’état.

A definite highlight was the victory of David Manja in the CAA Southern Region half-marathon championships in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The victory of Zimbabwe’s Olympian, Rutendo Nyahora, in the Spar Women’s 10 km race in Pretoria should also be mentioned. Added bonuses were the victories of Ettiene Plaatjies in the George Herald 10 km in George and of Melissa van Rensburg in the women’s race.

Nick Bester (NB Sport) may be forgiven if the popular TV show of the 1980s, TheA-Team, and their famous saying: 'I like it when a plan comes together' crossed his mind on hearing the results.

Right from the start, after becoming involved as manager of the club, his aim was to ensure that his athletes perform to the best of their abilities when it matters.

What made Manja’s victory special is the fact that he has been determined to win a major race ever since the South African 21 km Championships in Port Elizabeth. At the national championships he finished fourth and the previous weekend he was second at the Mandela Day 21 km in Pietermaritzburg. It just shows that perseverance eventually pays off.

Manja and his Nedbank Running Club teammates, Philemon Mathiba and Joel Mmone, dominated the race by putting the gauntlet down right from the start, challenging the rest of the athletes to try and keep up. Their aggressive tactics paid dividends. Manja won in 1:04:22, Mathiba was second in 1:04:30 and Mmone third in 1:05:34. Abednico Mashaba finished sixth in 1:08:52, with Thabang Mosiako 10th in 1:13:09.

Ntombesintu Mfunzi finished fourth in the women’s race in 1:26:04.

Nyahora certainly did her teammate Irvette van Zyl a favour by winning the Spar race because by doing so she took away valuable points from the Phalula twins, Lebo and Lebogang. The spinoff is that Van Zyl, who has won the first three races in the series (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban) might still be able to win the Spar Grand Prix. Van Zyl is at the moment side-lined by a stress fracture in her foot which prevented her from competing in the Olympic Marathon in Rio. She is in a race against time to recover in orde to compete in the last SPAR race in October in Johannesburg.

Nyahora won the 10 km race in 35:25 with Lebo Phalula second in 35:40 and Glenrose Xaba (Eskom) third in 36:16. Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) finished fourth in 36:32.

'I am so happy that I was able to defend my title,' said a beaming Nyahora. 'At one stage Mapaseka (Makhanya) and Lebo were fighting for position, so I just stayed behind them and waited for my chance. I know this route very well, and I knew that they would get tired, so I just waited for my chance, and when it came, I took it.'

Plaatjies won the 10 km race in George in 31:44.

As has become the norm in the southern Cape, the Nedbank Running Club athletes dictated matters, taking the first four positions.  

Godwin Heyns was second in 33:14, followed by Auchten October in 33:20 and Francois Maquassa in 34:21. John April finished sixth in 35:08.

It was also a clean sweep for the Nedbank Running Club in the women’s race, with Melissa van Rensburg winning in 39:44, Cecile Nel second in 42:23 and Annatje Botes third in 44:13.

Nedbank Running Club athletes win three of the six races at the Mandela Day Marathon

Athletes from the Nedbank Running Club gave an awesome performance at the Mandela Day Marathon in Pietermaritzburg in August. They won in three of the six elite categories.

Selam Abere Alebachew (Ethiopia) won the women's marathon in 2:51:47. Rutendo Nyahora (Zimbabwe) won the women's half-marathon in 1:19:28 and Philemon Mathiba from the Nedbank Development Club in Klerksdorp won the men's 10 km-race in 30:30.

But they were not the only Nedbank Running Club athletes who held their own at the Mandela Day Marathon. It is impressive to note that, of the 18 elite podium positions in the men's and women's races (42 km, 21 km and 10 km), eight were taken by 'the runners in the green vests'.

Other Nedbank Running Club athletes who got onto the podium were:

Tekletsion Kassahun Tefera (Ethiopia), who finished second in the men's marathon in 2:29:07, and Melles Kennedy, who finished third in 2:30:38.

Chelita Bogale Asefa crossed the line in second place in the women's marathon in 2:59:14.

Maria Ganthale Shai, who finished second in the women's half-marathon in 1:20:44, is another athlete from the Nedbank Development Club in Klerksdorp. She is coached by Pio Mpolokeng, who is doing a brilliant job for the Green Dream Team. David Manja finished second in the men's half-marathon in 1:04:52.

Alebachew, who spoke through her interpreter, said she would definitely be coming back next year. 'I am coming back next year because I have much love for Madiba. He is our hero. He made African people free from slavery, and he was a good leader.'

In the men's marathon Tsepang Ramonene (Lesotho) was in the lead for most of the race and won in 2:29:07. The athletes from the Nedbank Running Club ran tactically and became stronger as the race progressed.

The men's half-marathon turned out to be a humdinger between the Olympian, Elroy Gelant, and David Manja. After 11 km the two of them, along with three other athletes, were still running shoulder to shoulder. The real racing only started at the last 2 km, with Gelant pushing the pace. Only Manja managed to keep up with him, but in the end Gelant won by 16 seconds. His winning time was 1:04:36.

The Nedbank athletes ascribed their success to the support they get from NB Sport, incorporating the Nedbank Running Clubs.

“OLD RACING HORSE BACK TO THE 80s

Dawie de Villiers, who ran for Die Hoërskool Menlopark in Pretoria, as well as for TUKS in the 1980s,  has joined Nedbank Running Club in January this year.  

He was the chairman of Nedbank Running Club Gauteng North in 2008, but then decided to do some triathlon and duathlon for a few years, where he was selected as a veteran on various occasions to represent South Africa at the World Championships and even won a South African Championship title in duathlon.

With time constraints due to being a practising attorney, Dawie last year decided to leave cycling for a while, and to concentrate more on his old habits, meaning running, and with best times such as 14:48 for 5 km, 30:30 for 10 km and 66:32 for a half-marathon, one could expect an interesting year from this old racing horse. He has already won three South African Titles this year, as a Masters athlete, with a total of seven South African titles in his sport career.”

Have a friend who wants to join or change clubs? Here is the opportunity with this awesome Nedbank Running Club Central Gauteng spring Special!!