TomTom in South Africa is pleased to be sponsoring the winning team, Gift Kelehe, 2015 Comrades Marathon winner, and his coach, John Hamlet.
“At TomTom we make products to help people achieve more and we are extremely proud of Gift’s achievement” says TomTom South Africa’s Marketing Manager, Carey Dodd.
Hamlet has been a winning coach and trainer for the past 25 years and during his career has personally coached a variety of athletes who went on to win 45 Comrades Gold medals. He has also been a TomTom Ambassador for a number of years and his athletes including Kelehe have been training with TomTom Cardio GPS Watches. Hamlet believes that the data collected from the TomTom Runner Cardio Kelehe wore for the duration of the 2015 Comrades Marathon, will provide valuable performance insights for his team.
Kelehe ran the near 90 km race in 5 hours and 38 minutes; and burnt over 7,000 calories to clinch his win. Maintaining an incredible average pace of 3 minutes and 49 seconds per km, Kelehe’s performance overall was smart and steady. The data collected revealed Kelehe’s performance at specific locations along the race route, and how the changing topography not only affected his heart rate, but pace and speed as well. “It was a vital part of our running strategy that Gift kept at a steady pace and heart rate, to ensure that he did not peak too early and would be able to have something left in the bag for the finish,” Hamlet adds.
According to Dodd, “To be a small part of such a phenomenal success is a privilege and we will continue to support the team on the road, all the way to future Comrades victory!”