#Covid-19 lockdown: Update from Boksburg Athletic Club

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All events organised by the Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC) have been cancelled during the lockdown, these include club and social training runs, according to the club’s new chairperson Richard Montjoie.

Montjoie added: “On the road running side of things, the running calendar focuses on training for Comrades, which becomes very difficult in the current lockdown conditions.

“Comrades has not yet been cancelled or postponed, and many members still need to qualify or want to improve their seeding before Comrades, which is currently scheduled for June 14.

Comrades will be updating runners on the status of Comrades mid-April. If Comrades is cancelled, it will be for the first and only time since World War II in the 99-year history of the race.”

Quizzed on other ways the lockdown has affected the club, Montjoie explained: “The club maintains itself through a combination of annual membership fees, as well as through sponsorships through the hosting of athletic events, such as the annual Colgate Race, typically held near the beginning of May.

“Fortunately the bulk of our membership fees are paid at the beginning of the year, allowing the club to function; however, our annual Colgate Race has been postponed until October this year, so that will defer some income for the club until then.

“We host the Blitz Time Trial which has always been run since 1968; it has been impossible to host in its traditional format since the lockdown. Fortunately technology has allowed the Blitz Time Trial to continue and runners have taken part in the safety and security of their own home, either by running on a treadmill or around their garden, and recording the activity on running tracking devices such as Strava, which gets reported.”

Montjoie took over from Benzi Tenza at the club’s last annual general meeting in October last year.

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