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The second challenge of the Nedbank Runified series produces quick times
The cancellation and postponement of many major sporting events due to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen virtual events become the norm for sports enthusiasts from around the world. The Nedbank Running Club has tapped into this trend to become one of the leaders in the virtual running space in Africa.
In a continental first, the Nedbank Running Club partnered with the world-renowned run and cycling tracking app, Strava to bring the Nedbank Runified series to life. This series consists of monthly virtual running challenges that not only reward people for completion, but also encourages them to meet their fitness goals by being part of a community. Apart from the challenges that are open to anyone, the Nedbank Running Club has also been hosting separate internal challenges for its elite athletes with an increased difficulty level. While the second public challenge of the Nedbank Runified series asked people to run 8km, the Nedbank Running Club elites had to complete a distance of 21.1km.
Defending champion of the first internal challenge, Joel Mmone was unable to take part the second time around – which means that we saw a new winner from the Nedbank Running Club WP, Lindikhaya Mthangayi. This veteran proved that age is just a number by completing the half marathon distance in a speedy 1:06:35. Phillimon Mathiba and Olympic athlete, Sibusiso Nzima took the second and third spots respectively.
In the women’s event, there still is no stopping Gerda Steyn. She claimed her second Nedbank Runified victory from the French mountains where she is currently training - shaving a good 4 minutes off her personal best to complete the half marathon in a time of 1:14:14. Kelly Van Vliet managed to finish ahead of Deanne Horn for a second time to clinch the second spot.
While some of the elite athletes experienced technical issues when uploading their times, Nick Bester, National Team Manager of the Nedbank Running Club made it clear that this won’t disqualify their times. “We are aware of certain technical issues encountered by our athletes when uploading their activity to Strava during and after the race. We are investigating these issues and trying to find a solution before the next race. No entries will be eliminated if the problem persists,” he explained.
As we wrap the second internal challenge of the Nedbank Runified series up and shift our attention to the next one, here’s a look at the top 10:
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