Have you seen Oom Henry in his Springbok Blazer?

South African Masters Athletics announced that the 2015 National Championships will take place from the 15th to the 16th May 2015 in Nelson Mandela Bay at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Sports Stadium. This prestigious athletics event will be hosted by Eastern Province Masters Athletics.

“The coaches and administrators are from the athletes of yesteryear who are still competitive but not at their formal level. These athletes still wish to compete, maybe even against former rival competitors and the South African Masters Athletics affords them this opportunity.” shares Mr Nic Human of the EP Masters Athletics.

Mr Human also adds, “Former friendships are rekindled and fostered. This keeps these coaches and administrators in the sport scene whilst still sharing valuable skills and knowledge. Most Sporting Codes offer a Masters component and fills a very important role in sport.”

The event is open to all athletes over 30 for women, and over 35 for men. Anyone can join Masters Athletics after a few easy steps. They need to register with Eastern Province Masters Association (EPMA) and the South African Masters Association (SAMA) at a fee of R 250.00 and must also belong to an Athletic’s club to be able to get Athletics South Africa (ASA) number.

Mr Human also encourages the road runners to join and participate in the SAMA Championships, as there are a large number of runners who can test their road times against track runners over 10,000 and 5,000 meters. Athletes can obtain National Colours by achieving qualifying times or distances twice in a season. All unions hold championships where these times or distances can be achieved and South African Blazers are handed over at the formal Dinner event on the Saturday evening of the National Championships.

All track and field events will be on the program for the South African Masters Athletics meeting. Athletes from across the country can be expected to participate. This includes South Africa’s Olympic hammer thrower, Chris Harmse who has indicated that he will attempt to break two world records.

Another popular athlete, Mavis Hutchinson better known as the ” Galloping Granny”, an ultra distance athlete who ran various Comrades but is better known for running across America in 69 days will participate in the SAMA Championships. Other well known athletes are Zola Budd , Charlie Koen and EP’s own “Oom Henry “, who at the age of 88 will take part in 100 and 200m events. Borg Stannius – male Masters Athlete of 2013 – who won Gold at the 2014 World Masters Championships in Brazil at the age of 86 is also expected to participate.

“We are so excited to provide a warm welcome to these athletes who have chosen Nelson Mandela Bay as the place to challenge their skills and competitors.” shared Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism Marketing Manager, Mr Titus Chuene

Mr Chuene confirmed that Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism will continue to collaborate with the SAMA to ensure the event is a great success in Nelson Mandela Bay as the host destination which benefits not only SAMA but our city as well.