Running has played a huge part in her life since growing up in South Africa. At school, she took part in athletics and cross country, often bare-footed, and found that she was rather good at it. And so she carried on going and going.
Her childhood dream was to one day take part in the Comrades Marathon, a 56 mile ultra-marathon which takes place between Durban (where she grew up) and Pietermaritzburg (where she went to university). Many Comrades days were spent either ‘braaing’ on the side of the road and cheering runners on, or sat on the couch watching the TV footage from 5am to 5pm. Local roads are closed for the event so those are the only options on Comrades day. One way or another, this race gets under your skin.
Fast forward to now, and Bronwyn has successfully completed the Comrades Marathon, within the 12 hour cut off, three times (two down runs, and one up run). Considering the distance, her times were pretty consistent: 9h45, 9h55 & 9h38.
Apart from Comrades, Bronwyn has taken part in many other marathons and ultra-marathons both locally and abroad. She is currently training for the London Marathon, which she has done a couple of times, but not since the pandemic. She’s also a fan of parkrun and is fast approaching her 300th.
Bronwyn’s top tip for running:
Just enjoy it. It’s easy to get distracted by the numbers but running is a privilege that is denied to so many for various reasons. Be thankful that you can do it.