Friday, 15th June 2007 at 6:39 pm

Rolo favourite to win Comrades

Usually it’s middle-aged Russians, Zimbabweans with a look of desperation in their eyes, and South Africans with twin brothers conveniently waiting in portable toilets; in 2007, however, there’s a new and unusual face on the list of potential Comrades, and one who has the bookies taking large sums of money: Mark Rolo, the young long-distance runner who may yet emerge as this year’s champion.

Rolo - who hails from the family that controls the confectionary empire - has been picking up increasingly impressive times in marathon and untra-marathon events across South Africa, and according to coach Cecil R. Kent, Rolo is in outstanding, possibly record-breaking form. “Rolo is in outstanding, possibly record-breaking form,” Kent said after his charge’s victory in the Burger King Challenge in Pittsburgh in May, and further triumphs in the Pizza Hut Mile and the Taco Bell Enduro suggest Rolo is raring to go.

The athlete himself - who, despite the combined celebrity status of his burgeoning marathon career, and a spot on celebrity hockey team the Mighty Dodos when not training, remains strictly single and completely chaste in order to maximise his athletic potential - isn’t saying much in the build-up to the Comrades, but if a slightly shy figure with a loping stride crosses the finish line first this Sunday, you know where you read it first.