Endurocad CEO Elna Mayor and Blanches Moila, the first black woman is to be honored with South African national colors. Photo supply
The South African Olympic silver medalist Elna Mayor will lead a group of 120 girls in a 5 km race in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in the weekend.
The group is part of Endurocad, a non-profit established by the Mayor and director of the Cape Town Marathon, Janet Velham, which focuses on developing the next generation of South African athletes.
There is a “Zebra tribe” in the heart of this effort, a group of dedicated runners who have become a familiar view in the marathon.
This year is the fourth consecutive time when the Zebra tribe will participate in the event, using its participation as a platform to raise funds for Endurocated initiative.
The mayor’s relationship with the Zebra tribe is deep. The group was formed in 2013, and its unique name stems from a prestigious moment when the Mayor’s long -lasting rival, Zola Buddha, presented her and her companions with a short zebra carvant during the early days of the marathon.
This symbolic gesture has since become part of the identity of the tribe, which connects the two most famous runners of South Africa to the shared goal of supporting the emerging stars of the country.
The mayor, who won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics, is not a figure for the Zebra tribe, but also an active participant. This year, she will join the South African running icon blanch Moila with the first black female athlete to be awarded national colors in various race categories of marathon along with the first black female athlete to be awarded national colors.
Beyond the star power of the mayor and his associates, the focus is on the youth. Endurocad’s Achane Pathway program, which aims to develop “strong, self -sufficient young women through running” to develop, 120 girls will participate in a 5 km race.
The program offers girls opportunities to have skills, confidence and positive impact on the track.
Through the elite athlete development and educational bursteri program, Endurocad provides young athletes a chance to combine high performance training with educational or vocational education.
This approach has already produced a string of national representatives in various sports, in which many people are going to represent South Africa on the international stage.