Bosman To Defend Marathon Title

In 2011 she won the SA Marathon Championships in 2:44:44 when she beat Tshifiwa Mondalamo from Central Gauteng Athletics by exactly 3 minutes.  Now, on 5 February, Charné Bosman will be back to defend her title in George, and is hoping to improve her time in the process.

The 36 year-old event coordinator for the Momentum Health I-flex National Duathlon Series started running at the age of 17, mainly in the shorter distances, and made the transition to the half marathon in 1999.  At this level Bosman represented South Africa at the World University Games as well as two World Championships.

Only four years later it was the start of her marathon career, and a good one it proved to be.  On 14 September 2003, in her first marathon ever, she won the Cape Peninsula Marathon in 2:42:56.  Later that year (2 November) she took Soweto by storm and claimed victory in 2:44:53.  The following year proved another outstanding year where she added another prestigious Soweto Marathon title to her collection.

Apart from Soweto, some career highlights include her 4^th place finish at the Amsterdam marathon in 2005 (2:39:26) and then her participation at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

Bosman struggled with injuries between 2007 and 2010, but this year the Gauteng North athlete hopes to improve her times and achieve the Olympic qualifying A-standard of 2:37:00 in order to be up for selection for the 2012 Games, before she makes the move up to the ultra-marathon in the next 5 to 10 years.

The defending champion can expect some stiff competition on Sunday, but won’t allow this to distract her from her goals.  “I am going to run my own race and not focus on anybody else.  I just want to run a good time,” said Bosman

Charné Bosman- Marathon Career