JRAC women take on the Comrades 2019

The Just Running Athletics Club (JRAC) continues to grow in leaps and bounds. This is demonstrated in part by the number of athletes who will be representing the club in the Comrades Marathon Up run on 9 June 2019. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 JRAC has had six (6), nineteen (19) and twenty six (26) athletes respectively register to partake in the Ultimate Human Race. This year, JRAC has a total of forty (40) athletes against its name in the start list. These dedicated men and women have spent the past few months slogging it out on the tarmac to be ready for the Comrades’ "Up" run instalment which spans from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has released the #COMRADES2019 statistics, which are summarized below:

Total entries received and captured: 24 567
Total Qualified: 21 594 (87.9%)

Male & Female breakdown:
Males: 17 238 (79.8%)
Females: 4 356 (20.2%)

The Male & Female breakdown of the 2019 Comrades edition might be interpreted to mean that the Ultimate Human Race is a preserve of the male runners; however, this is not the case. According to Comrades records, the first woman to run the race was Frances Hayward in 1923. Ms Hayward paved the path for many women ultra-marathon runners. Amongst the 2019 JRAC representatives, 47.5% are women. We wish these mighty women of valor a great run and we hope that they will set the Comrades trail ablaze, inspiring more of their peers to take up the Comrades challenge.

See you in Mgungundlovu.

Sizonqoba – Together We Triumph!