Shifaan Ryklief
Montrose Park’s Shamiel Dramat, 56, was the first Topform Athletics Club runner to cross the finish line at Nantes Athletic Club’s inaugural 10km road race, a fortnight ago.
Billed as the “Freedom to Run and Walk Day”, the action kicked off at the crack of dawn on Wednesday April 27 as thousands laced up for the 10km run, 10km WP league walk and a 5km fun run.
It was all systems go as race marshals and traffic officials were on point and the bang of the starter’s gun sent more than 4 000 runners on their way.
Gugulethu Athletics Club’s Vuyolwethu Mbukushe was the first runner to complete the route, crossing the finish line first, with Itheko’s Brandon Pullian finishing in second. Dramat said it was a memorable race because he also ran a personal best (PB) time in the 10km run.
“It was good weather for a race and it was a nice fast course. There were not many turns but nice long stretches,” said Dramat.
“Yes, I crossed the finish line first for my club, but for me, it was more about my PB time of 40.53min that I ran.
“My previous time was 43.20min,” said Dramat – who, like many of the runners present, recently ran the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon.
Dramat said his PB came through a combination of factors, including the race being a flat one. He was well rested and felt fresh at the starting line. He said after being introduced to the sport back in 2010, he found a passion for road running and has never looked back.
“This is my sixth year with the club. I started running on a temporary licence before I joined Topform. My colleague who runs for Celtic encouraged me to try it out, and I’ve been been hooked ever since,” said Dramat
“My first big race was in 2010 when I did the Two Oceans half marathon. And, in 2013 and 2014 I ran the back-to-back Comrades Marathons but decided to take a break from the race to achieve my goals at the ultra marathon.
“So far, I’ve done five ultra marathons and I’m aiming for 10.
“I always attempt new training techniques to improve on my times. For the last ultra marathon, I went with a high mileage training regime which meant I ran almost 1 000km before the marathon, and it made a big difference to my race,”he said.
