Road running loses a giant personality

If you're a social road runner, there will be people you spot at races who you might not know by name, and you might not even know what they do, but they seem to be everywhere.

- Wesley Botton

One of those people was Colleen McNally.

As ubiquitous a feature as water sachets and red paper cups, McNally was at just about every road race I have covered in and around Johannesburg through most of my career.

Though she was not a runner herself, she cemented herself within the fabric of road running in the region as an experienced and well-respected race referee.

McNally was a workhorse who sacrificed a great deal of her personal time to the sport she loved.