Kelehe to run virtual marathon in honour of Covid victims
Legend to run 45km Two Cities with running mate
Former Comrades Marathon champion Gift Kelehe will run his first virtual marathon at a training camp in Secunda, Mpumalanga, with his coach John Hamlett next month.
Kelehe is preparing for the Two Cities virtual marathon which takes place on March 14.
The Moving Ahead Development Agency-NPC (MADA), funded by the Gauteng department of sport, will host the virtual event in three distances – 10km, 21km and 45km.
“Those interested in participating can register online at www.twocities.co.za. Runners can still enter on the day of the race.” Kelehe, who won the Comrades in 2015, is the ambassador of Two Cities. He also works as a physical training facilitator at the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).
The athlete from Sekhing village in Taung, the North West, said he’ll run the virtual race in honour of Covid-19 survivors. Hamlett has a training camp set up in Secunda and he will be setting out the 45km route.
“My brother and sister survived Covid-19. I thought I was going to lose them but they lived to tell the tale,” Kelehe said. I will run for them. The preparations are going well. We will run the race with my coach and training partner Lizzie Babili in Secunda.
“We will also run for Cherise Arendse, who slept in ICU for weeks due to Covid-19. She too survived the virus.”
Kelehe is not a fan of virtual marathons, a new phenomenon introduced by the ban of open roadrunning events due to Covid-19. In virtual races, individual runners run the distance from wherever they are and submit evidence electronically.
“I’m doing it to honour frontline workers who were the biggest motivation for me to accept the position of ambassador in the first place. Virtual races are not fair. You run alone and it’s just you and your time.”
But he urged fellow runners not to sit at home and do nothing and gain weight in the pro.
“Keep on doing something even if there are no races. Keep your body active,” he said.