{"id":153722,"date":"2017-06-13T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T04:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/153722\/callies-traverse-the-long-comrades-road\/"},"modified":"2017-06-13T22:10:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T20:10:30","slug":"callies-traverse-the-long-comrades-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2017\/06\/13\/callies-traverse-the-long-comrades-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Callies traverse the long Comrades road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germiston Callies Harriers are back from the 2017 Comrades Marathon and Saturday saw the runners getting together at the annual \u201cAches and Pains\u201d party.<\/p>\n

The event held at the Germiston Stadium recreation hall was filled with fun, laughter, food and camaraderie.<\/p>

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During the party, incentives were handed over to those who won either a silver or a Bill Rowan medal.<\/p>\n

There were also awards for the first Callies\u2019 man and woman.<\/p>

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The first man across the finish line for Callies was Zwelithini Vaphi, who ran the race in 6:47:18, to earn himself his 17th silver medal.<\/p>\n

Vaphi told the GCN that his love for running, especially the Comrades, started when he was in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to listen to the Comrades Marathon on the radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time Bruce Fordyce was still running and I told myself that one day I would run it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now he has just completed his 17th Comrades Marathon and is aiming to win 20 silver medals before he retires.<\/p>\n

The first woman across the finish line was Siziwe Ntshebe, who finished in 9:19:36, earning herself her green number (10th Comrades).<\/p>\n

In addition there were a number of fun hand-outs given to runners because they did something strange on the day, or for other reasons.<\/p>\n

The full results are:<\/strong><\/p>\n