While a majority of runners were preoccupied with gunning for winning the first prize money at the weekend’s Soweto Marathon, Charne Bosman decided to go the opposite route.
The 2016 Comrades Marathon winner decided to do the 10KM run instead of the 42Km distance most runners of her calibre opted for. Bosman wasn’t bothered by the fact that she would miss out on an opportunity to possibly walk away with some cash-prize money after some few hours of running on the road. In fact, that thought was far away from her. It was her birthday. The long distance runner was turning 41. Bosman said she didn’t want to celebrate her day with aching muscles all over her body.
“Yes,” Bosman said. “I just wanted to enjoy myself. I didn’t want to compete and so I decided to go for the 10km run instead. I had a good year (by winning Comrades) and so I wanted to finish it off by just (going on a fun run) in this one. I was invited by Nike to come and motivate some of their runners and even take a few selfies with them. However, it was never my intention to come out and compete in this one, never.”
And though next year’s Comrades is seven months away (June 4th), Bosman said good early preparations would see her doing well in the ultramarathon, like she did this year.
“I’m planning to start with my training soon,” Bosman said. “I’ll be working on improving my speed in the next two months. I’m not saying that I’m going to win it again, but I’ll definitely give it my best. The plan is to stay healthy and injury free as possible leading up to that race.”
Independent Media