The 47-year-old and 2016 women’s Comrades Marathon champion, Charne Bosman, is one of the first well-known athletes to indicate that she will be running the 21.1km event of the Bestmed TuksRace on Saturday, 18 February 2023.

It is no surprise. Like a bee can't resist the nectar of flowers, Bosman loves training or racing at Tuks. 

"There is something about being on the sports campus. When you are there, it is as if you feel the quest from every athlete to be at their best. You can't help but be motivated. That is why I do nearly most of my training there."

Bosman holds the distinction of having won the inaugural Bestmed TuksRace Marathon. What made it special was that she was also tenth overall. For various reasons, the Bestmed Tuks race organisers decided to do away with the marathon for this year. 

Bosman's participation in the Bestmed TuksRace 21.1km is undoubtedly one of the feel-good stories of the event. 

Last year was an annus horribilis for the Murray & Roberts Running Club athlete. She collapsed during the Comrades Marathon and was unconscious by the time she arrived at the hospital. After tests, it was established that her heart enzymes were far too high, but luckily, there was no damage to her heart. For about 12 weeks, she was not allowed to over-exert herself because her heart rate was too high. 

It was not the only setback she had to overcome. At the beginning of last year, she went for a training run during load-shedding. She made a slight judgement error in the dark when stepping off the pavement. It led to her going down hard. 

"I was sore, but it did not stop me from completing my training run. The following day I was really hurting. Still, I continued to train. But after three days, I could hardly walk or stand on my leg. It was established that I had fractured my hip quite severely. For eight weeks, I was forced to be on crutches. I can't tell you how frustrating it was."

Despite all these setbacks, Bosman has no plans to retire. 

"I might be 47, but age is only a number to me. It does not define who I am or what I should do. The goal is still to see if I can up my Comrades gold medal tally to ten. Currently, I have got six gold medals to my name. I have also set my sights on breaking some veteran and master's records.

"My training has been going well. I am back to running 150 kilometres a week. The one thing I still got to work on is improving my speed."

Being injured made Bosman realise that eventually, there might come a time that she really will be forced to call it a day on her running career. But she is not one to sit still. That is why Bosman took up playing golf. Yesterday she went for her 10th coaching session at Pretoria Country Club.

"I absolutely love playing golf. My coach is battling to get me to put all my clubs away and go home. Golf is so different from running. You got to be focused all the time. When I am at the Tuks driving range, it feels like it is just me, my clubs and the ball. It is a fantastic feeling."

Do not miss out to join us in celebrating Pretoria’s most loved race. Register your 2023 Bestmed TuksRace entry HERE!