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PWC GEORGE CLAASSEN
THE STORY BEHIND THE RACE:
George Claassen was a teacher and as head-master of the Middelburg High School he ran his first Comrades Marathon in 1969 at the age of 43. He was third overall in a time of 6:34:07, breaking the record for a novice by more than 30 minutes!
His 2nd Comrades Marathon was in 1961 when he finished in first position in a time of 6:07:07. There were 98 finishers in that race. Earlier the same year he also won the Peter Korkie Marathon, one of only a few runners to achieve this double in the same year.
Oom George (as he was affectionately known) is the 2nd oldest Comrades winner after Wally Hayward. He ran a further eight Comrades Marathons to achieve a total of ten medals. His permanent number is 994. His last Comrades was in 1977 at the age of 60 years. At that age he could still run a sub 3-hour marathon.
George Claassen was a founding member of the Pretoria Marathon Club in 1973 and he was chairman of the club from 1974 to 1985.
The George Claassen Half Marathon and 10km races are still held every January in his honour.
Oom George passed away on 17 June 2014 at the ripe age of 97.
BROOKLYN ROAD RACE
THE STORY BEHIND THE RACE:
Andrew Greyling was a well-known former athlete and sport shop owner. At the age of 58 his life was tragically ended. Andrew Greyling and Marcel van’t Slot opened Run-A-Way Sport in Lynnwood on 10 March 1994. On 4 December 1994 Marcel was tragically killed while out running. In January 1998, Stein Steinbach became a partner in Run-a-Way Sport and in December 2007 Stein and Werner Steinbach bought Andrew’s shares.
Andrew was a versatile athlete who had received national colours for cross-country running and excelled at obstacle-racing. He came 3rd in the Two Oceans race in 1980 and on the track, Andrew finished 3rd in 1975 , behind Ewald Bonzet (who set a SA record) He finished 3rd in the 3000 steeplechase at the 1977 SA Champion ships. In the marathon of 1975 Andrew finished 3rd at the SA Championships. His PB marathon time was 2:18:49.
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