A novice Comrades Marathon entrant, Arouchelle Nieuwenhuis, is looking at leaving her footprint on this year’s edition of the gruelling race. She will, on 9 June, join several debutants and seasoned men and women aspiring to conquer what has been dubbed the Ultimate Human Race.
Nieuwenhuis got herself into strides for the endurance-demanding marathon by competing in the 42,2 km Lemo Mall Mangaung Marathon race staged on 4 May in Bloemfontein.
The marathon was a qualifier for runners with an interest to participate in this year’s Comrades Marathon, which will be an upwards course from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
Nieuwenhuis won the Mangaung marathon’s category for senior women with a finishing time of 03:03:28. More than 1 300 runners took part in the marathon.
“I’m running my first Comrades this year, so my aim is just to enjoy and finish the race,” she said.
The Bloemfontein-based runner will be among the several South African and international runners to test their abilities.
The average finishing time for senior women running the Comrades is 10:45, while the fastest finishing time is 06:20.
Nieuwenhuis’ determination to make her mark on the upcoming race would be rewarded by crossing the finishing line in a respectable time, within seven hours, thus qualifying her for the Isavel Roche-Kelly medal cut-off time.
The Isavel Roche-Kelly medal was first introduced in 2019 for any female runner who finished outside the top ten, but under seven and a half hours.
The Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) Heritage and Traditions Committee recommended to the CMA board to have the Isavel Roche-Kelly medal cut-off at seven hours.
This means that runners will now stand a greater chance of earning the coveted Comrades silver medal.
Isavel Roche-Kelly is recognised for her indelible mark on the Ultimate Human Race.
Such was her contribution to the world’s biggest and oldest ultra-marathon, that the only medal named after a woman is the one bearing her name. In the 1980 Comrades Marathon, the then 20-year-old Roche-Kelly participated in the first ultra-marathon.
Earlier that year, she had become the third woman in Africa to finish a marathon under three hours. Roche-Kelly reportedly had her beginning in the Free State, as a learner in a Welkom high school.
