In the late ’70s, the sport of road running was nothing like it is today – the 1979 Comrades was an up run and had only 2,820 finishers. The most famous East Rand club at that time was without any doubt Germiston Callies, helped in no small part by Allan Rob’s frequent top ten appearances.
At this stage, Benoni Harriers had stopped their road running section to focus on track and field. Callies had a number of Benoni residents who would travel to Germiston for club runs and functions. There is some comfort in knowing that as much as things change, they also stay the same. For most residents of Benoni, Germiston may as well be on the back of the moon.
A few of these former Callies members first approached Benoni Harriers about re-forming their road running section. This was rebuffed. Benoni Northerns Sports Club was well established by 1980 with a vibrant hockey and cricketing scene. The decision was made to approach BNSC about forming an athletics club under the Benoni Northerns umbrella. The rest is, as they say, history. The new club was formed under the initial chairmanship of Martin Theron.
The club’s distinctive colour scheme was drawn up by Ivan Attwell and Martin Theron. There is no historical record of whether rum and coke were involved in the design.
Success came early to this young club with Jim Mabusela running a gold in the 1983 Two Oceans marathon. Jim was the winner of the inaugural Benoni Northern’s Sportsman of the year competition. He also went on to represent the then Transvaal at the South African marathon championships. He has an unrivaled Comrades pedigree with 5 silvers to his name and a slowest time of 6:57.
In 1985 Terry “Tex” Cullen became the first Benoni Northerns runner to attain a double green number for Comrades. Tex Cullen went on to run a further seven Comrades. The honour of the club’s first triple is yet to be bestowed.
No talk of road running from the ’80s would be complete without a brief look at Benoni’s most famous daughter (sporting-wise. We cannot claim any link to Charlize Theron) – Frith van der Merwe. Frith dominated the ultra-marathon scene in a country obsessed. Her down run record of 5:54 at Comrades still stands 30 years after she demolished the women’s field in the 1989 down run. Described by some as the greatest Comrades race ever run, she beat second-place Valerie Bleazard, also of BNAC, by over an hour and two minutes. Her record for Two Oceans also stands to this day.
While it would be easy to focus on the podium positions held by BNAC during that era; there were significant achievements at Comrades by other BNAC members. Gary Turner ran four gold medals and two silver medals between 1990 and 1996.
The rise of amateur triathlons through the late 90s was also matched in the club. Con Roux competed very successfully in triathlon at the highest level. He also was present at the first South African Ironman when it was hosted in Jeffrey’s Bay. Kristian Fesel, is one of seven people to have completed every full distance South African Ironman. In 2019 Jazz van Rensburg qualified for the World half Ironman champs at the South African leg of the half Ironman.
BNAC remains a club that is heavily focused on ultra-distance running, but this is not unusual in a country where the road running calendar is defined by Two Oceans and then Comrades Marathon. Though over the years as the sport of road running has increased its base the club is now far more accommodating for people who don’t wish to run ultra-distance. The club retains its large-family feel to it, and it has seen many lifelong friendships formed.
Trail running has become one of the fastest-growing athletic disciplines. Once again BNAC has been well represented as people have begun to turn their back on tar. In 2012 Phil Waudby ran from Benoni Northerns to the Augrabies National park before completing the Augrabies extreme ultra to raise funds for charity.
