| FRITH TO RUN COMRADES |
| The 2005 Comrades Marathon received a major boost today when Frith van der Merwe, a three-time winner of the race, announced that she will be running the world-famous ultra-marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban's Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead on 16 June 2005. Van der Merwe last ran the Comrades Marathon in 2000 when she finished in 7:07:26 - just outside the gold medal finishers. This time around she wants to go for gold and at the top of her mind is the veterans title - she qualifies for this category as she is now 41-years of age. "With Germany's Maria Bak out of the way I believe I have a great chance of winning the veterans title. However, I would have to contend with Grace De Oliviera this time around. It will be a great duel," she said from Johannesburg. Van der Merwe, who became the darling of South African ultra-marathons when she won the title three times between 1988 and 1991, is no doubt a major coup of an entry for the Comrades Marathon Association as they celebrate 80 years of the event this year. She also announced that she will run for the Mr Price team of elite runners. "I'm in the best of health but not any faster or fitter than I was when I won the Comrades when I ran flat out. However, I'll be very competitive this time around as well but there's no pressure on me to win the race," she said. At the moment Van der Merwe is trying to bring her marathon time down to a respectable one. She ran the Bedfordview Marathon in 3:10 and then the Standerton Marathon in 3:05. "I'm trying to break the three-hour barrier. It's a battle at the moment because I have not been competitive for a few years. It will take some time but it'll not worry me if I don't. "I have a niggling hamstring problem and will not push myself to get my marathon times lower. I'll do as little as possible – training wise - between now and June 16 as I want to run the 80th anniversary race." Cheryl Winn, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Comrades Marathon Association, was delighted when she heard the news of Van der Merwe's decision to run this year's Comrades. "It's the best news so far - Frith will definitely add an exciting new dimension to the race, given the fact that the race has been dominated by the Russians for the past few years,” Winn said. “Her record of 5:54:43 is now 16 years old and to date no one has even come close to that sort of time." "If Frith is going to be competitive as she says she is going to be, then standby for a duel of a lifetime in this year's Comrades between the Russian twins - Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva, who have dominated ultras in this country for the past few years, as well as Farwa Mentoor who gave them a race for their money last year." Van der Merwe also made known her plans for the next four years. She intends running 10 Comrades Marathons by the time she is 45 years of age. This year will be her sixth Comrades. Frith van der Merwe's record are as follows:- 3 Gold medals and 2 Silver medals 1987: 7:22:19 (Silver - 28th) 1988: 6:32:56 (Gold - 1st) 1989: 5:54:43 (Gold - 1st) 1991: 6:08:19 (Gold - 1st) 2000: 7:07:26 (Silver - 11th) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comrades Marathon Media Release 2005/20 Statement Release on Tuesday, 5 April 2005 |
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