Why we run: Caroline Cherry

Heather Dugmore tracks down the personalities behind Wits’ distinguished legacy of distance running as the Varsity Kudus Running Club turns 45 this year.

Wits accounting lecturer Caroline Cherry (MCom 2021) formerly Wöstmann, began her running career in 2009 to get back into shape after the birth of her first child. She joined Wits in 2011 and in 2012 she placed 15th in her third Comrades and 6th in 2014.

“The next logical step was to see how far I could go and how fit I could get,” explains Cherry. She put everything into her training and it paid off handsomely. In 2015 she won the 90th Comrades and the Two Oceans Marathon. She was the first South African woman to win Comrades in 14 years, and the second South African woman, after Frith van der Merwe in 1989, to win both the Comrades and Two Oceans in the same year.

“When I won Two Oceans it was a confirmation that I was fit enough to win Comrades. It still feels like a dream. It was an amazing experience to train for and win those prestigious events.

“Looking back, I am very happy I managed to achieve this as I started running late and within seven years I won Comrades,” she explains.

“Coach Lindsey Parry put together a brilliant programme for me in the build-up to Comrades where I was doing 200km a week of hard running as part of my routine training, whereas when you are running socially you typically run about 60km a week.”

She is a member of Varsity Kudus, about which she says: “I love Kudus; it embodies the Wits culture, it has a great history of distance runners and a wonderful group of people. Kudus is about far more than running, there is a whole community behind it and we have great fun and wonderful intellectual conversations.”

Her husband Mark Dowdeswell (BSc 1998, BSc Hons 1999, MSc 2002) is also a member of Varsity Kudus and lectures in the School of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Wits. He’s running his 16th Comrades this year, and Cherry has run eight. Cherry developed successive injuries that are now behind her.

“This year I have a small baby but from next year I’ll probably run Two Oceans and Comrades again,” she says.

“I have two Comrades to go to the coveted Green Number. While I might not win again, I will continue to enjoy the atmosphere of the races and being part of the running community.”