Johannesburg — As a running coach, Mdu Khumalo is more passionate about helping develop young talent than getting athletes to win big races such as the Comrades and the Two Oceans Marathons.
But as a club owner, ‘Vura’ knows that the country’s premier ultra marathons are what will help bring in the bread and butter and thus make it possible for him to provide a platform for promising athletes to be groomed.
It is for that reason that the owner of the fast-growing Phantane Athletics Club is open-minded about having big name athletes join his club. And they don’t come bigger than their latest addition to the stable, with the great Gerda Steyn licensed to run for Khumalo’s club.
“We have an arrangement with Adidas, her main sponsor, that will see her run some international races as Adidas athlete and some local ones as a licensed Phantane athlete. We are trying to work out something, a partnership that will see everyone being happy.”
Nothing will make Khumalo happier than to see Steyn defend her Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon title, which she won in a record time last year, as a Phantane athlete on Saturday.
“It will be great for us as a team. That will help elevate Phantane to another level.”
Steyn, who also holds the Comrades Marathon Up Run record, is the second big name ultra athlete to throw her weight behind the fledgling KwaZulu-Natal club after Ann Ashworth teamed up with them a couple of years ago.
She will be the only elite female participant for Phantane at the race this weekend though with Khumalo sending an all male team that he believes will be very competitive.
“We are sending a solid team to Two Oceans, although we are disappointed that Bonginkosi Zwane picked up an injury at training. Actually he got serious blisters from the shoes he was wearing and will thus miss out. This was going to be his Two Oceans debut and he was one of my favourites for a top 10 after the great work he did as a pacer at the Durban International.
“The boy has been very unlucky because last year he was forced to pull out of the Cape Town Marathon due to flu, having flown to the Mother City for the race. And then when we went for Cross country trials, he had a blocked chest and could not participate.”
But all is not lost for Phantane as Khumalo has the likes of seasoned Lesotho international Motloka Mkhabutlane ready to challenge for honours.
“Motlokwa will be running in our colours and his experience will help our young boys like Mohau Massheonayne, who finished 14th at the Soweto Marathon last year. He is also ready and excited about making his ultra debut and he is in great shape as he ran a 2:20 marathon in Ladysmith at the beginning of the year. We will also have Nkululeko Ngubane, who ran a 6:02 at Comrades last year and will be making his third attempt at Two Oceans.
“For me as a coach and chairperson of the club, ultra marathons are not really my focus. But for the sake of our sponsors, I know what it means for them to have an athlete shining there and this is why we have to send athletes to those races as our way of giving back to our sponsors. They are helping me to invest in development which is my passion and having athletes such as Gerda team up with it will help us give our sponsors a return on their investment.”
IOL Sport