The Ladysmith Athletics Club (LAC) recently hosted the 55th Arthur Creswell Memorial Ultra Marathon, 52km and 21.1km, which saw scores of athletes eagerly participate in the much-awaited post-Covid-19 event.
The 52km leg was also a Comrades qualifier, allowing runners competing in the 52km a qualifying time of 6h24m59s. The LAC had seen runners from all walks of life, ready to participate. “This is my first post-Covid-19 marathon and I’m so happy to be back,” said one of the 21.1km runners.
Other runners told The Ladysmith Herald that they were happy with the event and enjoyed visiting Ladysmith and taking part in this year’s Arthur Creswell Memorial Ultra Marathon, which had previously been postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The 52km runners kick-started their journey in Okhahlamba Municipality (Bergville) with the 21.1km runners starting at the Ladysmith Indoor Sports Centre. Both races started at 7am with runners braving sub-zero temperatures on the route, however, despite the cold, they still enjoyed the race as the weather for the rest of day fortunately made for great running conditions.
The timing of the runners was done by Eventtiming and the first male runner of the 21.1km was Lungelo Khumalo with the first female runner being Nokuthula Nstshangase. The 52km ultra-marathon was won by Mandisa Kubheka with a time of 03:10:19 and the first female runner over the finish line was Jessica Miathland-Struart with a time of 03:58:52.
Officials of LAC would like to thank all for their support as well as local businesses who provided water tables. “To all those who had been involved in assisting and planning the Arthur Creswell Memorial Ultra Marathon, a big thank you,” said officials.
