The country’s best marathon runners will be descending on East London this weekend to take part in the annual Tsogo Sun Buffalo Marathon and the SA Marathon Championships that will take place on Saturday.
“Preparations are on schedule and excitement is growing at the prospect of seeing the top SA athletes competing in East London,” said Border Athletics’ Meta Scott.
Many national and international runners participate in this event hoping to qualify for either the Two Oceans or Comrades Marathons.
However, an added attraction this year is that it is a qualifier race for athletes who wish to participate in the Olympics 2016 and will also incorporate the SA Masters Championships.
Although a championship, this event is an open race, so anyone can enter.
The usual route that has been used for the Buffs Marathon over many years has been changed for this year’s race.
“We had to change, because our normal route does not comply with the standards laid down by ASA (Athletics South Africa) and the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations),” explained Scott.
“The first thing is we could not have the start at one point and finish at another, the start and finish has to be at the same point and the second thing is that we can’t be too high above sea level, so there are a lot of technical aspects at play that we had to deal with.
“So what happened was ASA themselves came down here, Buffs worked out about five different routes for them and they chose this particular route.
“They feel that this route is a fairly flat and easy route and complies with all the requirements needed for a national championship.”
This will definitely add some spice to this year’s race with opinions expected to be divided. With Border Athletics and ASA at the helm of this year’s race they will be working hard to ensure that everything is on line for a successful event.
“We are quite happy with the route, we know some people are a bit disappointed due to the history of the old route, but I feel that this is such a prestigious event to bring to East London,” said Scott.
“At the same time the runners that are here are here for pride and they come here because they want to run for their country and represent their country overseas.”
Entries are increasing daily and runners can enter online for both the marathon and the half-marathon at www.entrytime.com.
Manual entries are available at Sportsmans Warehouse, Beacon Bay.
Entry forms can also be obtained from Border Athletics office, Recreation Road, Arcadia or downloaded at www.buffsroadrunners.co.za.
Entries close at midday today, so act quickly if you want to get in.
Athletes must collect their race packs from Buffalo Club, Buffalo Park Drive between noon and 8pm on Friday night. There will be the usual pasta evening at the club on Friday night and the popular after-party at Buffs Club the Saturday after the race, which everyone is welcome to attend.
SA’s top distance runners set to hit EL for the Buffs Marathon
“Preparations are on schedule and excitement is growing at the prospect of seeing the top SA athletes competing in East London,” said Border Athletics’ Meta Scott.
Many national and international runners participate in this event hoping to qualify for either the Two Oceans or Comrades Marathons.
However, an added attraction this year is that it is a qualifier race for athletes who wish to participate in the Olympics 2016 and will also incorporate the SA Masters Championships.
Although a championship, this event is an open race, so anyone can enter.
The usual route that has been used for the Buffs Marathon over many years has been changed for this year’s race.
“We had to change, because our normal route does not comply with the standards laid down by ASA (Athletics South Africa) and the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations),” explained Scott.
“The first thing is we could not have the start at one point and finish at another, the start and finish has to be at the same point and the second thing is that we can’t be too high above sea level, so there are a lot of technical aspects at play that we had to deal with.
“So what happened was ASA themselves came down here, Buffs worked out about five different routes for them and they chose this particular route.
“They feel that this route is a fairly flat and easy route and complies with all the requirements needed for a national championship.”
This will definitely add some spice to this year’s race with opinions expected to be divided. With Border Athletics and ASA at the helm of this year’s race they will be working hard to ensure that everything is on line for a successful event.
“We are quite happy with the route, we know some people are a bit disappointed due to the history of the old route, but I feel that this is such a prestigious event to bring to East London,” said Scott.
“At the same time the runners that are here are here for pride and they come here because they want to run for their country and represent their country overseas.”
Entries are increasing daily and runners can enter online for both the marathon and the half-marathon at www.entrytime.com.
Manual entries are available at Sportsmans Warehouse, Beacon Bay.
Entry forms can also be obtained from Border Athletics office, Recreation Road, Arcadia or downloaded at www.buffsroadrunners.co.za.
Entries close at midday today, so act quickly if you want to get in.
Athletes must collect their race packs from Buffalo Club, Buffalo Park Drive between noon and 8pm on Friday night. There will be the usual pasta evening at the club on Friday night and the popular after-party at Buffs Club the Saturday after the race, which everyone is welcome to attend.
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