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Despite losing two-big name athletes in two years, the Nedbank Running Club manager Nick Bester claims he is unbothered.
The world 50km Ultramarathon record holder (3:04:24) set in Gqeberha in 2021 and three-time Soweto Marathon champion Irvette Van Zyl is the latest big-name athlete to leave the Dream Team to join the Hollywood Athletics Club in Durban on Friday.
Van Zyl is one of the most decorated long-distance runners in SA and she could guarantee a podium place finish for her club.
She is a three-time Olympian (2012, 2016, and 2020), winning the Spar women’s 10km challenge a record four times.
She traded the green Nedbank jersey for the purple colours.
Her Personal best in the 42,2km marathon is 2:26:11, recorded in Valencia in 2022.
“It is natural for runners to come and go. People change jobs, and we do not care if we lose big names. There is always someone on standby to replace them. We have already found someone to fill the gap for Irvette. Runners move for financial gains and other reasons, and we do not block anyone’s path here,” Bester told SABC Sport.
In 2022, former Comrades Marathon champion and Two Oceans Ultramarathon record holder Gerda Steyn dumped the Green team to join Adidas International.
She left a big gap setting a new course record in the Two Oceans 56km, clocking 3 hours 29 minutes and 42 seconds, becoming the first athlete to win three consecutive ultramarathons representing a new club.
“No one is indispensable. No athlete is bigger than the brand. The Nedbank Running Club will always dominate the podium in different races without them. Nothing will change. We are still going to dominate the podium,” added Bester.
Bester told the national broadcaster, he sent his athletes for training camps in Lesotho, Rustenburg, and Dullstroom to prepare for the upcoming Nedbank Runifield Breaking Barriers 50km Ultramarathon in Gqeberha, starting and finishing from Pollock Beach, on Marine Drive, 26 February.
Van Zyl will defend her world record in the colours of her new club, Hollywood Athletics Club for the first time next month.
Van Zyl told the SABC Sports desk joining the Purple Family was the best decision. “I was looking for a place where I can enjoy my running and a club that believes in me and my dreams,” she said.
By Charles Baloyi
