Standerton athletes overwhelm comrades
STANDERTON - The Standerton Marathon Club is indeed very proud on their 11 athletes who entered and finished the Comrades marathon on Sunday, 4 June. Athletes currently have 12 hours to complete the course, extended from 11 hours in 2003. There are a number of cut-off points along the routes which runners must reach by a prescribed time or be forced to retire from the race. A runner who has successfully completed nine marathons wears a yellow number, while those who have completed ten races wear a green number, permanently allocated to the runner for all future races. Medals are awarded to all runners completing the course in under 12 hours.
Medals currently awarded are gold medals for the first 10 men and women. The Wally Hayward medal (silver-centred circled by gold ring) for the eleventh position to sub 6 hrs 00 min, silver medals from 6 hrs 01 sec to sub 7 hrs 30 min. The Bill Rowan medals (bronze-centred circled by silver ring) are awarded to athletes finishing in 7 hrs 30 min to sub 9 hrs 00 min and bronze medals to all athletes finishing in a time of 9 hrs 00 min to sub 11 hrs 00 min. The Vic Clapham medals (copper) are awarded when an athlete finishes in 11 hrs 00 min to sub 12 hrs 00 min.
Prior to 2000, only gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded. The Bill Rowan medal was introduced in 2000 and named after the winner of the first Comrades Marathon in 1921. The time limit for this medal was inspired by Rowan’s winning time in 1921 of 8 hrs 59 min. A new copper medal, the Vic Clapham medal (named after the race founder), was added in 2003. This medal coincided with the increase in the time allocation for completing the event from sub 11 hrs to sub 12 hrs. The Wally Hayward medal, named after five-time winner Wally Hayward, was added in 2007 for runners finishing in under 6 hrs.
From Standerton, Themba Selepe (8:27:14) received the Bill Rowan medal after Sunday’s up-race, while Richard Sangweni (9:07:39), Joseph Manana (9:24:28), May Mnisi (10:38:03), Tshepo Raymond Nsibande (10:38:03), Kenny Swart (10:42:01) and Sipho Mngomezulu (10:47:36) all received bronze medals. Vic Clapham medals were awarded to Boy Mkize (11:29:32), Lekgotla Dhlamini (11:55:40) and Fanyana Amos Ndinisa (11:58:07).
South African runner, Bongmusa Mthembu, won the men 2017 Comrades Marathon for the second time. Mthembu crossed the finished line shortly before 11 am, completing the taxing 89-kilometre race from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in a time of 5:35:33.
