Professional jockey Chris Taylor has raced on tracks around the world, but this year, he plans to run the Comrades Marathon in aid of The Coastal Horse Care Unit.
In the photo: Jockey Chris Taylor will be running Comrades 2012
“Apart from racing horses in KZN at Greyville, Scottsville and Clairwood and racecourses in PE, I have also spent eight seasons racing around the world in places like Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Singapore and South Korea.”
“The Coast Horse Care Unit is a great organisation that monitors the horse population around KZN and treats or rescues any horses in need of attention,” says Chris. “These horses are then re-homed once they have fully recovered. Its staff also provide training, in the rural areas, towards better stable management.”
All of this is done from a farm in Cato Ridge on a non-profit basis by Gillian Olmesdahl and her team.
Chris has qualified for a Comrades C-seeding with a time of 3h33, which he achieved in the PMB Marathon at the end of February.
“I have also just completed Cape Town’s Two Oceans Half Marathon in 1h28m, which put me in 90th place in the Men’s Open section, out of the registered 16 000 runners,” says Chris.
“Since this will be my first Comrades run, I hope to finish in under 10 hours but the main goal is to finish.”
For donations:
C Taylor CHCU/Comrades
First National Bank
Account number: 62350119303
Branch code: 221-526 (Kloof)
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ (for international deposits)