Molinaro Sets Sights On Valencia Marathon After Outstanding Comrades Outing
Hollywood Athletics Club’s Carla Molinaro produced a stunning effort to finish the 2024 Comrades Marathon in a time of 06:12:01, claiming a Gold Medal in the process. The 39-year-old now sets her sights on Valencia.
Hollywood Athletics Club Elite Runner Carla Molinaro produced a stunning Comrades Marathon up run in a time of 06:12:01 to finish fourth on Sunday 9 June. The 97th edition of the oldest ultra marathon in the world started in Durban and ended in Pietermaritzburg for the first time since 2019.
Molinaro, who finished third in last year’s edition, made her intentions clear from the word go as she was among the leading ladies. Before Polly Shorts, she was well inside the top two before other runners overtook her. She describes the race as one of the hardest she has ever participated in.
“I don’t think anything happened, it just that other girls were quicker and they overtook me. I wanted to go out hard from the beginning [to] see what happens. I think they were a bit conservative [early on] and they overtook me. But I’m very happy with the way I performed. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I raced as hard as I could and I’m glad with how I performed on the day. Of course, as an athlete, you always want to get on the podium but I’m happy with the position I got overall,” said Molinaro
The 39-year-old made history by becoming the first Hollywood AC Woman to win a Comrades Gold Medal. It was also her first on the up run. On the two previous up runs, she obtained Bill Rowan Medals. In 2017, she ran 07:55:10 and improved in 2019 with a time of 07:51:05. She credits relocating to Cape Town for her stunning 2024 success.
“I was living in London where there are no hills. Now, I’m in Cape Town where there are plenty of hills. Lots of training in the hills has helped. Plus it has been five years of hard training for the up run. So I think all the time in your legs adds up,” she added.
The World 50k Champion is planning to rest a bit before starting preparations for the Valencia Marathon in December. She’s looking to eclipse her previous PB of 2:46:10 set in the 2022 Sevilla Marathon.
“I’m actually going to do the Valencia Marathon later in the year in order to try and get faster. It’s a fast race and a good one to get the fast Marathon time. I think last year, over 6 000 runners ran under three hours so I think the quality is very good,” she said.
In the end, Molinaro thanked the support from Hollywoodbets along the Comrades route. The fifth-place finisher in this year’s Two Oceans Marathon is still hungry for more success.
“I’m looking forward to learning more this year from what I had last year and seeing what I can do next year. Hollywood are amazing and a very nice team. The whole support team along the route was crazy. Every time you run past the Hollywood tent, it was smiles all around and was really fun,” she added.