One of the best athletes that South Africa has ever produced, Zola Budd, confirmed her participation in the Comrades Marathon in the colours of the newly formed Hooters Athletics Club.
“I will be running for my international and South African sponsor, Hooters, in the upcoming Comrades Marathon,” said Budd speaking from the group’s headquarters in Umhlanga.
Budd, famous for running barefoot, burst onto the world stage when she broke the world 5000m record in 1984. This was not the only record she broke that day – at the tender age of 17 years old, she was the youngest ever runner to hold the record.
“I am very excited to get back home and run on South African soil over the next month or two. I will be back in South Africa for my final preparations for the Two Oceans Marathon on the Easter weekend which is part of my Comrades build up.”
Budd made her Comrades Marathon debut in 2012 and missed a silver medal by 35 minutes, finishing in a time of 8:05.
“My aim was to finish the race in one piece in about 8 hours which I did. There was a lot of pressure for me to break 7 hours 30 minutes to earn a silver medal, but I am glad that I took Bruce Fordyce’s advice and ran a conservative race. It was very tough and I said I would never do it again, but here I am excited to run again!” said Budd.
Budd was to race the up run last year, but fell sick with flu and was advised by doctors to withdraw from the race.
Zola being the new face of the club ties in with Hooters SA’s strategy to encourage social health amongst their guests of all ages, which is the key reason for having established the Athletics Club in the first place.
Roger Masson, Marketing Manager of Hooters SA said, “Hooters is a neighbourhood restaurant where friends and family come to enjoy great food, excellent service and all around good, clean fun. That’s why Zola is also the perfect person to represent the Athletics Club. She not only loves the Hooters brand and restaurants that she frequents in the US, but so do her husband and three kids. We are therefore honoured to have someone of Zola’s calibre running for our brand that she and her family have come to know and love over the years.”
Members of the public looking to join the Hooters Athletics Club can email brett@hooterssouthafrica.com where the full details and cost of what the membership entails will be communicated.
For updates on recommended running routes and scheduled group runs, visit www.hootersouthafrica.com, ‘like’ the Hooters South Africa Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.