Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 55, February 2014 | Page 32
Comrades
Hitting
the Miles
This year’s Comrades Marathon is just a few months away, so
runners should now be hitting the mileage hard and getting their
qualifiers behind them. This is also a great time to improve your
seeding by giving back at the World’s Greatest Ultra!
– BY DELAINE COOLS
BENEFITS OF GIVING BACK
The Comrades Marathon’s charity fundraising
campaign is an ongoing facet of the world’s biggest
and oldest ultra-marathon, with six charitable
organisations benefiting from our Amabeadibeadi
drive. An exciting new development is that runners
can now create their own charity fundraising page
linked to their Comrades Marathon entry, which is a
great step to qualifying for the special CC starting
batch on race day.
Just note that a few terms and conditions
apply:
•
Normal race entry rules and qualification criteria
apply, so you still need to enter as per normal
and run a standard marathon qualifier in under
five hours.
•
There will be no refunds – if you do not raise
the minimum amount, the funds raised will still
be paid over to the charities.
•
Only the Comrades Marathon’s Amabeadibeadi
official charities will be supported on this
platform.
To support a runner, go to www.comrades.com, click
on the Charities tab and then the Race4Charty page.
Find your runner on the list (type their surname in
the search string) and click on the Fundraiser icon
column to go to their page. You can also send them a
message of support when making a donation, which
can be made by credit card or electronic fund transfer
(EFT). Please make sure the correct reference
number is used when making bank payments so that
the funds can be allocated to your fundraising page.
circuit while also strengthening the relationship
that the CMA has built over the past few years
with the race in the south-eastern Chinese city
of Xiamen. The athletes are selected on the
criteria that they had not previously represented
our country overseas, and were ranked on the
basis of their fastest marathon time in 2013.
Benedict and Kim were accompanied to China
by their coach, Michael Seme, and CMA Board
Member Terence Hoskins.
CMA Chairman Mac Chitja says, “The CMA’s
partnership with the Xiamen Marathon
Organising Committee began about two
years ago when we sent a delegation to their
marathon. This was reciprocated by a visit from
a Xiamen government delegation, who visited
Comrades House to find out more about our
race. A partnership has developed between us,
with the intention of learning from one another
through the exchange of ideas, innovation,
expertise and experience.”
So why wait? Go to www.comrades.com and
be part of this Comrades Marathon feel-good
initiative.
Xiamen Marathon Success
Images: Lauren vd Vyver & Courtesy Kim Laxton
The CMA has once again reserved 1000 entries for
Race4Charity runners who raise a minimum of R5000
by 6 May 2014 and thus qualify to start in their own
special seeding batch between batches C and D, near
the front of the field. All Race4Charity runners will
also receive an exclusive goodie bag, which they can
collect during registration. Here