The Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC) is appealing to Kwatsaduza residents to enter the Tommy Malone Race on October 13 at Boksburg City Stadium.
The race honours the late Malone, who won the 1966 Comrades Marathon before his famous duel with Manie Kuhn in the 1967 Ultimate Human Race, where he cramped inches from the finish, allowing Kuhn to claim the victory.
Malone, who passed away in 2019, was among the founders of the BAC in 1975 and was elected the club’s first chairperson at its first meeting at ERPM Rugby Club in October that year, a role he served with distinction.
The race includes a 15km event and a 5km fun run. It replaced the Burger and Co 15km race and was rained out in 2018. The following year it attracted a crowd of only 400 runners.
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It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 and last year, it was cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship and unavailability of funds.
“We are taking a leap of faith this year. We are appealing to the Boksburg community to please support and enter this event and assist us in getting it off the ground,” said BAC secretary Caronn Harris.
The club has extensive experience in hosting road races. It annually hosts the Colgate Race, which attracts around 7 000 participants every year.
“We would love to have at least 1 000 runners at the Tommy Malone this year, which will help us break even and hopefully gain the recognition and traction that the race so clearly deserves.
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“The hope is that businesses and companies will come onboard with sponsorships for the event in future,” added Harris.
“We use any profit made for our underprivileged runners. We pay them to travel as well as their food, accommodation, running shoes and race entries for Comrades every year. We also fund as many race entries for other qualifying races throughout the year.”
The club will honour stalwart Josiah Makoro, who ran his 30th consecutive Comrades in May, earning his triple green number at its annual Comrades Marathon awards.
“We will be hosting and sponsoring the event for him and 20 of his friends and family to a wonderful celebration including gifts and a three-course meal at Dias restaurant.”
To enter go to https://www.entryninja.com/events/80911-tommy-malone
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