Steyn ready to shine in London

Nedbank running club green dream team athlete Gerda Steyn is once again ready to step onto the World stage where she competes in her 3rd World marathon majors on Sunday in London.

With Coronavirus taking over the World and events being cancelled; Steyn had this year eyed a repeat Two Oceans victory as well as making her Olympic debut where she was set to run in the women’s marathon. That all came to a halt with the virus cancelling all postponing events. London was originally going to be run in April and then was postponed to October. The 40th running of the marathon had big plans and as time went on and situations didn’t improve, the 40th edition of the race has changed to an elite only event on a totally different course.

The 2020 race will be run on a non-traditional course consisting of 19.6 laps around St James’s Park taking in The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Birdcage Walk and Buckingham Palace. Besides that change, the entire event will be staged in what event organizers call, a ‘secure biosphere.’ All elite athletes, coaches and staff are tested before leaving for the event and once again on arrival. There will be one more test on Friday ahead of the race. Already one athlete and coach have tested positive for Covid19 prior to leaving and were not allowed to attend.

From the moment the athletes arrive at the athlete hotel, they are not allowed to leave but are able to train in the hotels grounds which provide ample space. On race day, the entire event is secured off and nobody from the public will have access. With majority of elite athletes arriving on Monday, Steyn has decided to do her own thing and only arrive on Thursday.

“Clocking my final race kilometers in my own virtual bubble before I join the real race one on Thursday,” tweeted Steyn. Going into London, Steyn has showed some impressive shape, with a victory in the Cheshire 5km on 28 August where she clocked a personal best time of 15:44.

Nedbank running club national team manager and coach of Steyn, Nick Bester, also indicates that his athlete is ready to rumble. “She has trained really well and didn’t run into any issues such as any injuries or niggles,” said Bester. “On her tempo runs she’s been averaging 3:26 per km feeling very relaxed and her km repeats averaged around 3:09 per km so both her speed and endurance is there.”

With a personal best time of 2:27:48 from last year’s New York Marathon which is a much tougher course than what she will face on Sunday, Steyn looks set to run something very impressive. “We hope for something around 2:25 which I think she is very capable of, but it will all depend as well that the weather is kind to the runners.”

Colleen De Reuck holds the South African marathon record with her 2:26:35 from the Berlin Marathon back in 1996 and this will definitely be a time that Steyn will be looking out for.

The Nedbank running club wishes Gerda all the best for Sunday. Let’s all show our support for her by watching the event live on Sunday morning on Supersport.

Cape Town Marathon Virtual Race

Please Support our Nedbank Green Dream Team athletes competing in the Cape Town Marathon Virtual Race at 3 deferent location on 18th October 2020

In Cape Town:

In Pretoria:

In Potchefstroom:

Letter received from ASA regarding events

Comrades Marathon Virtual Charities Handover

‘Giving is not just about making a donation; it is about making a difference.’

“Our Comrades Race4Charity runners are an absolute inspiration and their motivation and passion spurs us on to do more, give more and be more,” says Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Charities & CSI Convenor, Pat Freeman, who has thanked all Comrades Marathon runners, supporters, sponsors and the public at large for their big-heartedness in contributing to this year’s Comrades Amabeadibeadi charity drive.

The CMA officially handed over the funds raised via entries into the 2020 Comrades Marathon (‘The Race That Never Was’) and the inaugural ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ virtual event to its six Official Amabeadibeadi Charities this week.

With the National Lockdown discouraging large gatherings, the CMA opted for an innovative virtual handover as opposed to the hosting of its traditional charities handover event at Comrades House.

R2.28-million was distributed to the six official Amabeadibeadi charities, namely the Durban & Pietermaritzburg Community Chests, Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC), Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, Hospice Palliative Care Association, Wildlands Conservation Trust and World Vision SA.

This amount included R330-thousand raised via the CMA’s inaugural virtual event, ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ which was hosted on Sunday, 14 June.

Runners who chose to Race4Charity raised R557-thousand with Dean Wight raising just over R400-thousand of those funds for the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, and being the Top Charity Fundraiser for the third consecutive year.

Freeman added, “In the spirit of the Comrades Marathon, every runner is a winner, therefore in my opinion, every charity becomes a winner too. On a daily basis I am taken aback by the commitment and passion that drives our six official Amabeadibeadi charities to deliver on their mandate and go the extra mile. The effort, time and commitment by these do-gooders is nothing short of phenomenal.”

CMA Chairperson, Cheryl Winn says, “Thank you to each one of you. Given that Covid-19 disrupted many of our plans, we still managed to achieve a lot and were able to once again demonstrate that Comrades Marathon Runners care. I hope that we will achieve a whole lot more as we work towards the 2021 Comrades centenary celebrations.”

CMA General Manager, Keletso Totlhanyo says, We salute each and every runner who has donated to our fundraising drive as well as all of the official charities who give of their best on a daily basis to make our country a better place.”

The CMA has produced a video to reflect the wonderful work of our Amabeadibeadi charities, including messages from the CMA and the respective charity representatives. Watch the handover video here: https://youtu.be/GG5RpXhYwN4b