Klerksdorp Record, Klerksdorp - The smiles on the faces of all Klerksdorp Marathon committee members were visible for kilometres on Sunday afternoon.
They successfully hosted another edition of the Aurum Klerksdorp Marathon on Sunday February 11. Someone said church pews were empty for the morning service in Klerksdorp as approximately 1 500 athletes took part in the four races. The most entries were in the 42km marathon route. A bus full of runners from Gaborone and runners as far as Kimberley, Mahikeng and Bloemfontein participated.
Highlights of the day include Comrades Marathon runner-up Adele Broodryk competing in the 10km and winning in 38 minutes. Adele is a lecturer at NWU and full-time mom while performing at highest levels of running in SA.
Louis Massyn who is a celebrity in the running community with 47 consecutive Comrades marathon finishes, took part in the marathon and completed it in 4 hours 44 minutes. The first runner home for Klerksdorp Marathon Club was Tikologo Makhoana in an impressive 3:35. Ratanang Shabangu was the first lady of Klerksdorp and in the overall 10th place.
Another highlight was that of a wheelchair athlete from Mafikeng who completed the 21km in 2 hours 11minutes. Vostile Ruba is the chairman of GBT Mongoose Wheelchair Basketball at Gelukspan and competes for his own fitness, awareness about wheelchair athletes and fundraising for the club. His first official race was the Soweto marathon last year and since then it seems the bug has bitten and he is planning a lot more races. He said the potholes was a challenge for him at certain points but overall he enjoyed the route and all the support he got along the way.
The event had 11 water points along the way and they served ice cold drinks and water to the athletes. Runners went through 17 000 water sachets, 1 200 litres Coke (90 cases), 550 bags of ice, 11 000 cups and 1 000 water bottles.
