The Runified City 50km event which will start and finish at Pollock Beach, Summerstrand on Sunday, 25 February, will be open to all this year and an added incentive for entrants this year is that there will be an official 42,2km timing mat which runners will be allowed to use to submit as a qualifier for Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon.
Transport back to the 50km finish line will be arranged for those athletes who finish on the 42.2km mark.
Nedbank running club, who are hosting this event, are expecting a strong turnout of local athletes.
Hannes Pelser, who runs for 32Gi athletics club, picked up his running shoes nine weeks ago after surgery and decided to prepare for his first Comrades marathon this year.
Hannes, who has been training with well-known local top athlete, Kelly van Vliet, will be using the 42.2km marathon within the Runified 50km to qualify.
“I was thrilled to hear that we can only do 42.km and stop at that point,” said Hannes.
“My training has gone extremely well and I would love to run a sub 3 hour or even faster.
“I will be running with Kelly and we will be supporting each other,” added Hannes.
Brendan Dreydon, who runs for Achilles running club, will be training for his second Comrades in 35 years.
“I will use the 50km as a good training run as I know it will be well supported and hopefully improve my marathon time and starting position for Comrades with this race,” said Brendan.
Another eager local runner from Despatch athletics club, Lily Janse van Rensburg, will be running her first 50km at the Runified event.
“I have two goals for my first 50km ultramarathon,” said Lily.
“The first is to finish in five hours, which gives me one hour for every 10kms and the second goal is to have fun because I run for the love of running.”
The Runified City 50km, which is organised by EP Athletics in partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, has also added a 10km race and for the first time this event will incorporate the Athletics South Africa 50km national championships, with athletes from around the country expecting to compete with the honor of being crowned national champion. Not only is this a first for the event in Gqeberha, but it is also the first time that the 50km distance qualifies for an official national championship.
The flat and fast 50km route is the perfect opportunity to use as a qualifier for the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons and for competitive athletes to achieve their personal best times.
The 50km route starts at Pollock Beach and heads towards Kings Beach, Humewood for the first turn then back to just beyond the Humewood Golf Course to turn and return past the start towards Kings Beach for final turn before heading back to the finish.
“As long as the weather plays along, we are expecting some very fast times on this flat course which is a mildly rolling route on the out and back with a high of around 25m and low of 3m,” said Norrie Williamson, World Athletics A grade course measurer and technical delegate.
“This event could well become the most popular qualifying 50km race in the country due to its perfect timing prior to the Comrades marathon.
“Athletes need to finish the marathon in five hours and the 50km in 06:30 to qualify for Two Oceans Marathon, and they need to finish the marathon in 4:50 (6:53min per km) and the 50km in 5:50 (7 min per km) to qualify for Comrades Marathon.
“So the advantage of the 50km is the slower pace required for qualification and seeding,” explained Williamson.
This year local athletes will be able to pick a pacing bus that will lead them to their personal best finish goal for the Runified City 50km.
Athletes will be able to pick a bus that suits their race finish time goal for the 50km, with pacing buses arranged for sub 5hr, sub 5h30min, sub 6hr and sub 6h30min, the qualifying finish time for Comrades Marathon.
Local athletes will have the opportunity to be led by East London’s Mkhululi Jack will lead the sub 5hr bus, Jabulani Dube and David Mama will lead the sub 5hr30 bus, Mkokeli Malghas will lead the sub 6hr bus.
The only female bus pacer, Nosita Nqwataand, will lead the sub 6h30 bus.
The closing date for online entries is Sunday, February 18, however for elite contenders, all entries and applications will have to be done by Friday, February 16.
Collection of race numbers as well as late entries will be available on Saturday, February 24, from the Marine Hotel between 09:00 and 20:00. Race number collection will also be available from the Marine Hotel from 04.00 – 05.15 on race day for the 50km and from 05.15 – 06.30 for the 10km. No late entries will be taken on race day under any conditions.
For more information athletes can contact Michael Mbambani on 079 149 6796, Irene van Eeden on 083 299 1775, EP Athletics office on 041 374 2818 or email epa@pe.co.za