The Chaeli Running Club is affiliated to Western Province Athletics and encourages runners to raise funds to support our projects through their participation in various races. The CSRC Running Club has both able-bodied and differently-abled members, with wheelchair athletes becoming regular participants.
Making History …
On 29 May 2016 Chaeli Mycroft and Anita Engelbrecht became the first wheelchair athletes (assisted by their running partners) to successfully participate and complete the gruelling Comrades Marathon as part of a jogger team. The CSRC was instrumental in getting Athletics SA and the Comrades Marathon Association to accept that wheelchair athletes have the right to participate in the ‘most inclusive event’ in South Africa, following months of robust engagement with these organisations.
After months of in-depth conversations and preparation, Chaeli and Anita accomplished what many people thought to be impossible. Chaeli and her running partners, James Chevallier and Brett Glen, entered the race as Team Beastie while Team Blitsie was made up of Anita and her running partner, Hilton Murray.
Team Beastie finished in 10:51:45 and Team Blitsie finished in 10:57:51 – with both teams winning bronze medals and, in this way they opened the door for wheelchair athletes to compete in future Comrades Marathons. History in the making!