Lion of Africa Itheko was at full strength at the 2012 Peninsula Marathon with 169 participants in the half marathon and 54 in the full marathon. Well done to all of you and especially to those who ran personal best times or who were one of the many first timers in each event. Among them were our chairperson, Najmah Mallick, and group leader Amorett “Ammie” Truebody in the half marathon, and our club captain, Ebrahim Mohedeen, in the 42K event. Scroll down for a pic of Najmah near the finish and click here to read her story.

Ebrahim finishes his first marathon to a hero's welcome!

Najmah with the end in sight!

Itheko AC members turned out in their numbers at the Lion of Africa 10K and 21K races, hosted by Spartan Harriers. Well done to all of you who did your first 10K or 21K, and to all those who did their PBs as well! Dicardo Jakobs came in 4th overall in the half marathon and Fatima Emeran claimed the prize for 3rd female veteran in the 10K event. Click here to read Najmunesa’s account of her first 10K race and also see the pic below.

Fatima Emeran collecting her prize as 3rd female veteran in the 10K race.

Najmunesa Ebrahim with her very first 10K medal!

New member Basil Lehmann finished as the first veteran (over 40 yrs) at the Jacobus Bruintjies Memorial race hosted by Ravensmead AC. He finished in 36 minutes in windy conditions. Dicardo Jakobs was 5th overall. Thaabit Davids got the prize for 3rd junior male and several Itheko members improved on their best 10K times.

From the left: Remi Adeniyi, Taahirah Davids, Siviwe Mawonga, Thaabit Davids, Razeen Davids and Hermanus 'Manie' Pienaar.

Thaabit collecting the prize for 3rd junior male athlete.

Dicardo Jacobs won the 36 km Redhill Classic for Itheko on Saturday, beating the second-placed athlete by an astounding 6 minutes! Our top runners put in a fantastic performance with Dicardo, Mervin Steenkamp, Youssef Kanouni and Edgar Clark winning the team prize. Salih Solomon was the 5th Itheko runner to cross the line and finished in 18th position.

From the left: Edgar Clark, Youssef Kanouni, Mervin Steenkamp and Dicardo Jakobs.

The results board: Dicardo Jakobs first, Mervin Steenkamp 4th.

Thaabit Davids took 3rd prize for junior males at the KFC Brackenfell 10K, setting a PB of 48 min in very hot conditions. Dicardo Jakobs finished 4th overall in 32 minutes.

From the left: Fadeelah Kenny, Quaseem Mohamed, Siviwe Mawonga and Thaabit Davids.

Running has become an integral part of my life, and a priority activity in the cycles of a working week and weekend. With this in mind, and international travel ahead, I was super eager to find a race to run in a place in relative proximity to my travels to the Eastern seaboard of North America. This is how I randomly came across the Philadelphia Marathon, to be run on Sunday 20 November 2011.

Click here to read the full exciting story of Salih’s fantastic run at the Philadelphia Marathon.

Salih triumphant at the Philly marathon!

The hard-earned Philly Marathon medal.

Itheko development athletes Dewayne Mouries, Christopher Karelse, Dicardo Jakobs and Randall Smith scooped the team prize at the Old Mutual 10K on Wednesday evening, 26 October. We also grabbed the 2 big lucky draw prizes – a Samsung camera and a microwave oven!

Thanks to all the members who turned up for this league race. And well done to all those who finished their first 10K race, and to the many who did their PBs. A special mention is needed for Yaasin Salie who brought in a “bus” of mainly first-timers just before cut-off, and for Waleed Isaacs who ran a PB of 1:19 – great stuff guys!!

Our winning team at the Old Mutual 10K with development officer Abu Mowlana, coach Henry Campher and chairperson Fuad Adams.

Our winning team from the Soneike 10K with coaches Farouk Meyer, Frans Pienaar and Henry Campher, chairperson Fuad Adams and development officer Abu Mowlana.

Christopher Karelse, Mervin Steenkamp, Oscar Coetzee and Faizel October took the team prize for Itheko at the Soneike 10K, organised by Blue Downs AC. Well done to you all, let’s hope it’s a sign of more good performances to come!!

This is the second team prize we’ve won this year, the first being the 21K team prize at the Lion of Africa – WP Half Marathon Champs in February. On that occasion Elroy Gelant, Mervin Steenkamp, Faizel October and Edgar Clarke were the victorious Itheko team.

From left to right: Faizel, Oscar and Mervin at the Soneike 10K.

Itheko sprinters Nabeela Parker, Yusuf Ismail and Fadhl Samuels represented WP at the SA Games in Polokwane from 2-3 October. This youth athletics event is organised by the national Department of Sports & Recreation.

Fadhl won a silver medal in the 100m, Nabeela a bronze in her 100m and Yusuf Ismail a silver medal in the 200m event. Fadhl & Yusuf also won silver medals for their 1000m medley (relay), and Nabeela a silver for her 1000m medley. The track season is just starting so these results are just a taste of what is to come later in the season!

Well done to all of you and also to Coach Sharief Jefferies!!

Yusuf Ismail, Nabeela Parker, Fadhl Samuels and Coach Sharief Jefferies.

For more pics, see https://picasaweb.google.com/itheko.info/20111002SAGamesPolokwane.