A family that runs together, stays fit together

"My love for running started in 1970, while I was still in primary school. I took part in a variety of sports and I enjoyed doing the SPAR 10 km races, and ran regularly around the neighbourhood," says Jubeira Zubie Varatharjullu. Since completing tertiary education, she continued to run long distance races throughout the years. Jubeira is one of many adults who - since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - prefer exercising outdoors. The 2022 Strava Year in Sport Report records that the number of runners who completed a marathon doubled compared to the previous year.

We are family

Most people find it difficult to exercise after a birth and face an even greater challenge when trying to keep a consistent fitness routine while juggling a growing family. Jubeira continued to run while managing her family life, and even made it a family activity after joining her local Vitality group. "I gave birth to my first child in 1980 - a beautiful baby boy - and my daughter was born in 1989. After having my daughter, I relocated from Cape Town to Durban and this is where I became serious about running. I joined the Crescent Sporting Club. My kids were forced to join me every Friday evening to do the wildlife challenge at North Beach amphitheatre," explains the 64-year-old.

The parkrun queen

As the first individual in KwaZulu Natal to get 50, 100 and 250 record for the parkrun races, Jubeira is the certified parkrun queen. "I have also travelled to other cities and provinces to take part in races," says the mother of two. She had decided that she wanted to increase her running distance and training to compete in races. "I eventually attempted my first Comrades, which was unsuccessful. Since then I have four Comrades medals to my name," says Jubeira.

Running with legends

"In 2012 me and Bruce Fordyce opened the North Beach parkrun where I was run director and ambassador," says Jubeira. She references one of the best known Comrades Marathon runners in South African history, Bruce Fordyce, who won the competition a record nine times. Four years ago, Jubeira decided to join the Adidas family, with which she trains three times a week. "I find being part of the Adidas family extremely beneficial in that I'm improving my strength and speed." Jubeira may be in her 60s but she's still challenging herself and remains committed to staying fit and healthy. "I started doing time trials with Team Vitality a few years ago and was welcomed with open arms, so the move to join Team Vitality at age 64 was a natural progression," she says.