Congratulations to our staff members, Mrs Jessica Ferrandi and Mr Tyson Siweya, on successfully completing their 4th and 13th Comrades Marathons, respectively.
Mrs Ferrandi is our Head of Department: AP Mathematics and head of Eland House, while coach Tyson is the mentor to our distance athletes and cross-country runners.
Mrs Ferrandi completed the race in 9 hours and 34 minutes. It was her second fastest run and she was pleased with it. “I’m up and running at 5 in the morning five days a week,” she said. “It gets me ready for the day and energised to meet my AP boys,” she said.
She took two weeks off after the race, but is back training now. “I’m going to take a break from Comrades next year and do the Two Oceans instead,” she said. “At the moment, I am running because I love it.”
Coach Tyson is a serious runner. He finished almost two and half hours ahead of Mrs Ferrandi, in 7 hours 12 minutes, to earn his 12th Silver Medal. He came 8th overall in his age category – 50- to 60 years old.
“I’ll be back at Comrades next year,” he said. Before then he will be running in the Highest Altitude race in Lesotho in December – recognised as one of the toughest in the world. And, before popping in to show us his silver medal this week, he quickly ran 18km in 67 minutes, as his Madiba Day tribute to the late Nelson Mandela.
Our boys are fortunate to have role models like these two at the school. Their dedication, strength and determination are inspirational. They are well worth aspiring to.
