Dear Nedbank Running Club Chairmen, Committees and Members.
Nick Bester - Nedbank Running Club National Manager
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What an unexpected, strange year it was for humankind and for the Nedbank Running Club and all our members in South Africa as well as at our Nedbank Running Clubs on the African continent.
The complete newsletter Should just read-cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic. The familiar Nedbank Green gazebos and feather flags were not present like normal and our runners were not able to compete on the roads in races across South Africa
With most of the races cancelled luckily there were a couple of outstanding performances.
All credit for the continuity that the clubs maintained this year under very tough conditions was because of the capable and strong leadership of our Chairmen and Club Committees. They must be applauded for the manner in which they looked after the interest of our club members of the Nedbank Running Clubs across South Africa.
A couple of Great performances countrywide and abroad:
There were a couple of great performances in 2020 to add to the Nedbank Running Club`s achievements in this difficult year.
Dischem 21km
2020 starts off with green podiums for Nedbank running club
The 2020 season has officially kicked off and the Nedbank running club has started off where it left in 2019 by fulling up podiums around the country. From Johannesburg to Durban and Cape Town, January may not be over yet, but the team has already started to shine.
In Johannesburg at the popular Dischem Half Marathon, Nedbank running club athlete Chrizell Roberts took victory with teammate Deanne Horn in 4th. Roberts is an athlete to keep an eye on next year. Coached by national Nedbank running club team manager and former Comrades winner
In the men’s race, Sibusiso Nzima finished 2nd with former winner Juan Van Deventer finishing 3rd. Other Nedbank running club athletes Phillimon Mathiba and David Manja were 4th and 5th respectively giving Nedbank running club 4 out of the first 5 cross the line.
Om Die Dam 50KM Ultra Marathon.
Van Deventer leads Nedbank running club to victory at Om Die Dam
Former Olympic 1500m finalist Juan Van Deventer from the Nedbank running club green dream team stepped up in distance this past weekend at the Om Die Dam 50km in what was his first ever ultra-marathon.
The star athlete had no challenge after breaking away from the main group with 12km to go and went on to take victory in 2:52:55 leading home another 4 Nedbank running club teammates in the top 10 with former winners Marko Mambo and last year’s champion Joseph Manyedi in 5th and 9th respectively.
“I am elated to take victory today,” said Van Deventer after crossing the line. “This was a perfect steppingstone for Comrades and id like to also thank Nick Bester for guiding me, all our sponsors and my amazing wife Maxine, daughter and family for all the backing and support.”
In the ladies’ race, Cobie Smith came an agonizingly close 2nd, crossing the line in 3:34:33, the second time she has finished in this position.
Cape Town Marathon
Mothibi comes out on top at Cape Town Marathon
Nedbank running club green dream team athlete and defending Comrades Marathon champion Edward Mothibi ran one of his best races to date when he took the overall race within a race Cape Town Marathon yesterday.
Being Africa’s only World Athletics gold label marathon on the continent, the Cape Town Marathon had to get innovative in order for the event to take place. With Covid19 taking over the World and events being cancelled, Cape Town stepped up to hold an elite’s only invitational race but with a twist.
Run in 3 separate city’s, different athletes were hosted in each marathon, with coastal athletes all competing in Cape Town, and athletes living at altitude being split into two groups, with one in Pretoria and the other in Potchefstroom.
To make the process fair, Dr Ross Tucker formulated an altitude adjustment calculator to take into factor the different altitudes of the venues. This made the race interesting as it meant that someone winning in Cape Town could still lose the overall title to someone winning in Pretoria or Potchefstroom, even if the winners of the altitude event ran a slower time.
This didn’t matter though for Mothibi as in brutal conditions and a very slow course, Mothibi obliterated his previous marathon best to take not only the win in the Potchefstroom event but the overall Cape Town Marathon title to with his 2:16:48. Teammate Peter Muthubi took 3rd in the Potchefstroom event in a time of 2:25:23 and 6th overall
Over in Pretoria, teammate Phillimon Mathiba who was running his first marathon since his amazing 2:13 in last year’s Dublin Marathon ran a strong race in equally tough conditions and a harder course around the Tuks University grounds. Finishing nearly 3 minutes ahead of the 2nd placed finisher, Mathiba crossed the line with his hands in the air in 2:18:29. With the adjustment of time, Mathiba took overall 2nd in the event giving the Nedbank Running club the top 2 spots on the podium. His teammate Chrizell Roberts took 3rd in Pretoria in the ladies’ race in a time of 3:21:59.
London Marathon
Gerda Steyn shines bright in rainy London
Nedbank running club green dream team athlete Gerda Steyn yesterday produced one of the races of her life, finishing 7th in the London Marathon in 2:26:51, and narrowly missing the 14 years old South African record of 2:26:35 run by Colleen De Reuck in the 1996 Berlin Marathon.
On a day that saw many athletes struggle, and winning times in excess of up to 4 minutes slower than what was anticipated, Steyn used her ultra-marathon background and strength to move through the field, which ultimately resulted in her 7th place finish in what is one of the most competitive races in the World.
Each year, the magnitude of the London Marathon stands above any other marathon in the world, where the world’s best including World Champions, world record holders, Olympic champions and some of the fastest runners in the World on the international scene run London, in which this year was by invitation only.
“Tough, but so worth it!” stated Steyn after the race. With the race being run in a secure biosphere due to the Covid19 pandemic, no spectators were allowed at the event which saw the athletes navigate 19 laps of St James Park.
“I’m so grateful for the support from around the world. What we missed in the crowds of London today, I carried with me in my heart and it was all of you that made for a roaring day.” Her time eclipsed her previous best of 2:27:48 from last year’s New York Marathon, an event which saw her qualify for the Olympic Games which has now been postponed to next year.
Steyn will now need to assess her plans for 2021 which could see a clash between the Olympic Games and the Comrades Marathon, roughly 1 month apart. “I am already on my way again out of London and I will spend my travel time to rethink everything.”
On just missing the South African record, Steyn showed her true character and smiled. “I am getting good at just missing records now by a few seconds, but I will leave here feeling proud that I put it all out there from the start.” The reference to just missing records comes from last year’s Two Oceans Marathon where Steyn narrowly missed out on the 21 years old course record of Frith Van Der Merwe’s.
Records will always be broken, but titles remain forever. The Nedbank running club congratulates Gerda and her coach, Nick Bester, our National team manager on a fantastic performance in the wet and windy streets of London
Nedbank Runified series of virtual races.
The Nedbank Runified virtual races were a huge success-Please see in depth report when you click on this link https://we.tl/t-WAGBNatfJ7
On top of the social series our Elite team did have the opportunity to race over several distances with very good incentives and prize money that were awarded to the top 10 athletes.
10km Results Male
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10km Results Female
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21,1km Results Male
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21,1km Results Female
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32km Results Male
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32km Results Female
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42,2km Results Male
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42,2km Results Female
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Well done to all the Green Dream Team athletes who managed to run a solid race in 2020.
Development programs
The Nedbank Running Club’s Development Programs across the country stayed on course and were well managed with strict COVID-19 protocol reserved. Former marathon star Pio Mpolokeng, manager and coach of the Nedbank Running Club Klerksdorp in Central North West is one of the best coaches and development officers in South Africa and he scouted for new talent in the North West Province. Will see his team next year on the roads with several of his development athletes expected to perform at the highest level in major races in the country under his mentorship.
We are delighted in the superb work of the NRC’s Development group in Soweto, under the very capable chairmanship of Siyaya Khoza. Siyaya kept on advising and recommend training programs to his development squad to be ready for 2021.
The new established development club in Carletonville under the watchful eye of Coolboy Ngamole is still going strong.
Ludwick Mammobola,Comrades Champ established a Nedbank Development Club in Limpopo in the beginning of 2020 and they are growing fast in numbers with quality runners in their camp.
Nedbank Fastlegs running Club under the guidance of Kantoor Nkoane in Bloemfontein is stable and they are getting ready for the 2021 season.
The Nedbank Skosana Development initiative in Gauteng North is also moving forward. This club is under the management of SA athlete Enoch Skosana, a multiple SA representative. His athletes are ruling the cross-country and track scene in Pretoria and did organise and present the very successful Nedbank/Skosana 10km road race for the 3rd consecutive year.
All thanks to our sponsor Nedbank
Most importantly is the faith that our sponsor Nedbank has in our clubs, and we want to take this opportunity to thank them wholeheartedly for the on-going support during this extremely different and tough times for all sporting mass events. With a sponsor such as Nedbank the Nedbank Running Clubs and athletes can approach the future with confidence that they will stay supporting them -even in tough times when needed most.
We are pleased that Nedbank Marketing confirmed their support to the running clubs till the end of December 2022. The very capable Tobie Badenhorst and Kelly Thompson are at the steer at Nedbank Marketing and did this from their homes was another challenge.
Important
Please remember that the members are our biggest assets and we must ensure that we are ready for them to join our clubs without any problems in 2021. Please ensure that there will not be a shortage of running gear when you reopen in January 2021.Please see that your administration is in place to ensure a smooth joining process in January 2021.
Road running races and entry procedure:
Please keep in mind that the trend these days is that entries to major races like Comrades, Soweto marathon, Two Oceans, etc. did get sold out very quickly-make sure to get you and your runner’s entries in ahead of time.
Please stay closely in touch with your Athletic Province to know when the 2021 licenses will be available and make arrangements and get yourself in gear with all the necessary tools to be able to handle the rush in the new season should covid-19 rules on races being relaxed . Here are some pointers.
- My suggestion is that all clubs must plan to attend the very first race in their respective provinces with license numbers, joining and registration forms and club kit. The club gazebo and representatives of your respective clubs must be at all the races in your province for at least January and February, as this time is crucial to recruit new Nedbank Running Club members.
- Club kit-We got enough kit on hand EXCEPT RUNNING VESTS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic all NIKE`s factories were closed abroad and we could not place an order for this. We still got some Vest`s sizes in stock but if we run out we need to order the locally manufactured vest for next year. Please send us a breakdown of all the sizes of the vests that you require for your club members-also specific state how many men`s and how many women`s vests you require and work according to the membership totals registered on our national website page. We will supply -first come first supply-the Nike vests first and then order the other vests locally. Please remember there are a waiting time of 8 weeks for this.
- The box of free kit that we send to you is mainly for training purposes and must please be used for development runners, incentives to committee members as well as prizes at club functions and time trials. You received it free from us and we expect you to give it out to get the Nedbank name on the roads and to support your active and loyal club members.
- We are waiting in anticipation to find out when the new 2021 license numbers will be available, but the 2020 licenses will be allowed until at least 31 January 2021.
- A friendly reminder to distribute advertising pamphlets with your club’s contact details and joining procedures at all the races during January and February 2021 to attract more members.
- Please try and plan your AGM long in advance to ensure all at the club are aware of the AGM to enable as many people as possible to attend. This will allow the election of a strong committee to look after the needs of the members.
Other sporting activities under the IAAF and ASA constitution
Historically the NRC has concentrated on ‘road running events’, and that will continue to be our focus, but we ask you to pay special attention to the needs of your members regarding IAAF/ASA standards, namely cross-country, race walking as well as track and field.
Trail running, and track events is becoming very popular. It would be a good idea to start catering for these athletes, especially in the light of the amount of publicity it has been generating lately. In doing so, we could attract many (junior) members as school children are restricted from running long distance road races, and they are mostly involved in cross-country and track events. A good idea is to consider an annual junior trophy or two in your annual awards ceremonies. |