Comrades Marathon runner, Enrico Biko, from Jeffreys Bay, recently established the Kouga Youth Athletics Club, to enable children in his community to develop their athletics skills and support their passion for sport.
During his matric year at Humansdorp Secondary School in 1996, Biko was very active as an athlete, which is where his love for running began. He said that from a young age he was fascinated with Comrades Marathons and the Two Oceans Marathon and found it very interesting that people were able to run such long distances.
To work towards his dream of running in a Comrades Marathon, in 2016 he joined Jeffreys Bay Athletics Club and he began participating in qualifying races which required him to run 42km in four hours and 50km in five hours.
After a lot of preparation and hard work, in 2017 his dream came true when he completed his first Comrades Marathon.
Since then, he has competed in multiple Comrades Marathons and Two Oceans Marathons and is currently training for the next Comrades Marathon in August and the Two Oceans Marathon later this year.
To his surprise, in March this year, a few children from his community were interested in joining him on his daily runs.
At first, he said he was hesitant to have them join him since he ran approximately 6km to 10km each day to ensure that he stayed on track with his training for the week.
“I was worried about the children joining me on my daily runs because the distances I run each day are quite far, but I was willing to give it a try, since they were so eager to join,” said Biko. He said four children joined in March but since then the number of active runners has grown to 21.
“It is not always easy to run alone, but the children who have joined me each day have motivated me, and I look forward to seeing how they enjoy our training,” said Biko.
He said when the children first began running with him, they often ran along the beach since many were either barefoot or wore flip flops.
Fortunately, local business JB Fencing and Civils donated clothing and running shoes for the children, which has enabled them to run in different environments with people from the community cheering them on.
Biko said the children in his community were passionate about sport but since there were not many opportunities for progress at the schools in the area, their talents were wasted.
To help the children develop their skills in their respective sporting codes he established the Kouga Youth Athletics Club, an NPO dedicated to children in the community.
“I’ve seen a lot of potential in the children that have joined the club and I try to support them in their passion for sport,” said Biko.
On June 16, the athletics club will participate in the Mayoral Cup at Mentors Country Estate and will encourage local primary schools to join their club for a pre-race on the same day.
To ensure that the children are safe while running long distances and to avoid injuries to their muscles, he is currently completing an instructor course at Trifocus Fitness Academy.
He is also hoping to receive assistance from people in the community who have experience with specific sports to help the children who have joined the club develop their skills in sporting codes which they are interested in such as rugby, netball, or athletics.
Furthermore, he hopes to receive more donations for the children, which will enable them to expand the club.
“The youth is our future, and we have to try to take them out of negative environments and expose them to positive environments,” said Biko. With this club we also want to remind them that we care about them and want them to succeed.”
He said he looks forward to seeing the children compete as strong athletes or marathon runners and excel in their respective sporting codes.
- For more information contact Enrico Biko on 078 441 4471.
