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