Tim Low and his wife Karen running with their children

Tim Low, Senior Lecturer in Statistical Sciences and Mathematics at UCT is currently completing a year of milestones in the year that he turns 50.  He has just completed his 20th Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, in an impressive time of 4 hours and 57 minutes - earning him the esteemed Chet Sainsbury sub-five hour medal.  In terms of milestones, this was Low's 50the Ultra and 150th standard plus marathon (of 42.2km or more).  

Tim, who was born in the UK, moved to Cape Town in 1994 and met Karen his wife in 2012..  Karen is also a long distance runner and the two regularly take their children running with them in baby-running prams.   The couple used the 2013 and 2014 Two Oceans Marathon and Comrades Marathon (and all the gruelling training required to compete in the races) to decide whether they were well matched and suited to each other - and ran the entire way together!  A huge achievement in itself!

What is remarkable is that Tim was diagnosed with asthma from birth and medication has helped him manage the condition and keep running.  He says that his asthma is best controlled by being active and he makes an effort to run on the mountain a couple of times a week and can be found pushing a running pram around the Green Point parkrun on the weekends in a speed-dash.

The Two Oceans marathon has always been a special event to Tim - he enjoys the support along the route and has been a sub-5 hour bus driver on two occasions.  For 8 years he used his academic skills to write the stats report  for the results magazine, comparing times and the number of finishers at specific medal cut-offs.

Tim receiving his permanent number at Comrades in 2018

Tim completed his 10th Comrades Marathon last year and has competed in many international marathons including the Berlin marathon, which is his favourite international one because of the festival of running that takes place and the breathtaking views around every corner.  

Growing up, Tim was a middle-distance runner and the likes of International Association of Atheltics Federation (IAAF) president Sebastican Coe and now retired track and field athlete Steve Cram were his inspiration.  Tim describes how Coe and Cram dominated middle-distance running during the 1980's and inspired him and the national to emulate them.