Comrades-nytt
Maria Bak keen to win third Comrades
May 23 2002
By Iqbal Khan
The Mercury
German ultra-distance runner, Maria Bak, is confident of her success in the Comrades Marathon on June 17.
And she bases her reasons on the fact that she has not done anything different in preparing for the race nor had she done anything extra which could have caused her a few problems.
She arrives in Durban three days before the race and will stay in the same house that she has used for past Comrades.
"I want to be relaxed before the Comrades. That's the only way to run this race - to be relaxed and feel good on the day," she told Ray de Vries in an e-mail from Germany.
Bak, who ran a time of 2:40 in the Regensburg Marathon two weeks ago, believes she is close to where she wants to be as the countdown for the big day looms.
Now that South Africa's biggest hope and early favourite for the race, Gwen van Lingen, is out because of an operation on her hamstrings, the way is open once again for the foreign runners to take the honours.
Bak, winner of the race in 1995 and 2000, believes this will be her year once again. But she will have some stiff opposition from last year's winner, Elvira Kolpakova, whose training is also going according to schedule.
Added to this there are threats from the likes of novice Sarah Mahlangu, last year's runner-up Debbie Mattheus, KwaZulu-Natal's Grace D'Oliviera and two other Russians, Marina Bychkova and Valentina Shatyaeva.
De Vries, manager of the Mr Price World team, said yesterday: "It is a great pity for South Africa that Gwen is out of the Comrades. I believe she was South Africa's best hope this year. The women's race is now open with any one of half a dozen athletes in with a chance of winning the crown.'
In the e-mail he received from Bak yesterday she added: "I am feeling very good for Comrades. My planning for Comrades is always the same and this year nothing has changed, except my times are better and I want to win it more than I ever have.
Winning the Comrades will mean R150 000 plus a gold medal. All Top 10 finishers receive prize money plus a gold medal in both the women's and the men's race.
May 23 2002
By Iqbal Khan
The Mercury
German ultra-distance runner, Maria Bak, is confident of her success in the Comrades Marathon on June 17.
And she bases her reasons on the fact that she has not done anything different in preparing for the race nor had she done anything extra which could have caused her a few problems.
She arrives in Durban three days before the race and will stay in the same house that she has used for past Comrades.
"I want to be relaxed before the Comrades. That's the only way to run this race - to be relaxed and feel good on the day," she told Ray de Vries in an e-mail from Germany.
Bak, who ran a time of 2:40 in the Regensburg Marathon two weeks ago, believes she is close to where she wants to be as the countdown for the big day looms.
Now that South Africa's biggest hope and early favourite for the race, Gwen van Lingen, is out because of an operation on her hamstrings, the way is open once again for the foreign runners to take the honours.
Bak, winner of the race in 1995 and 2000, believes this will be her year once again. But she will have some stiff opposition from last year's winner, Elvira Kolpakova, whose training is also going according to schedule.
Added to this there are threats from the likes of novice Sarah Mahlangu, last year's runner-up Debbie Mattheus, KwaZulu-Natal's Grace D'Oliviera and two other Russians, Marina Bychkova and Valentina Shatyaeva.
De Vries, manager of the Mr Price World team, said yesterday: "It is a great pity for South Africa that Gwen is out of the Comrades. I believe she was South Africa's best hope this year. The women's race is now open with any one of half a dozen athletes in with a chance of winning the crown.'
In the e-mail he received from Bak yesterday she added: "I am feeling very good for Comrades. My planning for Comrades is always the same and this year nothing has changed, except my times are better and I want to win it more than I ever have.
Winning the Comrades will mean R150 000 plus a gold medal. All Top 10 finishers receive prize money plus a gold medal in both the women's and the men's race.
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