Champion Leonid Shvetsov confirms Comrades Marathon 2009

Leonid Shvetsov, defending champion and current record holder, of the last two Comrades Marathons, confirmed today that he will be lining up at the start of this year’s Comrades Marathon down run in Pietermaritzburg on 24 May in Nedbank Running Club colours.

Shvetsov will be competing for the Nedbank Running Club with team mate Herman’s Mokgadi, the first South African runner home in 2008. Other elite Athletes that are competing for the Nedbank Running Club include:

White Modisenyane, Gift Kelehe, Joseph Marman, Lucas Nonyana, Frans Kutu to mention a few of the top men and Lindsay Van Aswegan is one of the Nedbank Elite ladies athletes.

“To have a runner of Shvetsov’s pedigree choosing to run in Nedbank colours is an honour and shows how far Nedbank has come in establishing itself as a major sponsor and supporter of South African road running,” says Patrick Baransky, sponsorship portfolio manager, Road Running.

In an email addressed to Nick Bester, the National Manager for the Nedbank Running Club, Shvetsov expressed his desire to win at least one more Comrades Marathon before turning his attention to a career as a medical practitioner.

“In the mail I could sense that he won’t be satisfied with anything less than another Comrades win. I also spoke to his manager, Sergey Krasnochekov, who told me that Leonid is as ready as can be for this year’s race,” says Bester.