Fun-loving Fikile could be a dark-horse for Comrades

THE YOUNGSTERS of today would describe Fikile Mbuthuma as having “a lot of giggle gas”. “Me winning Comrades? Are you kidding me?” she laughs “Gosh I wish!”

With Caroline Wostmann out of the race, I’d put it to KwaZulu Natal’s best female Comrades runner for the last three years that this was her chance at the Holy Grail of local road running. She met the suggestion with serious mirth. “A lot of people have called me telling me about Caroline pulling out and they are all telling me I should go and win it. But there’s my teammate (Nedbank AC) Charne (Bosman) who won it last year and there are many other very good runners,” she laughs.

Having initially thought she didn’t believe in herself, it soon became evident that laughter is a significant part of the lady who finished eighth in last year’s race. She laughs before answering just about every question.

Laughter, after all, is the best medicine – don’t they say?. And perhaps it is her ability to find humour at just about everything which has helped her do so well in the notoriously difficult race that is the Comrades.

“Of course I can try to win. But iyoo, Comrades is very tough,” she giggles.

Not that you can tell it is tough by looking at her results. Her eighth position last year was preceded by two silver medals in 2014 and 2015. Since her Comrades debut in 2006, Mbuthuma has generally been improving and it is because of that that the Comrades Marathon Association has included her in their list of the top contenders for honours on Sunday.

As appealing as that is for the 36-year-old, Mbuthuma is not putting herself under undue pressure.

“This year all I want to do is break my seven hour 18 minutes time from 2015 which got me into position 15,” she says. “The key for me will be to control my pace and not run too fast in the first half like I did in that last up-run.”

Mbuthuma has recovered from a hip injury after winning the Zululand Ultra Marathon in March but says she’s fit to go.

She says she took to running Comrades because she grew listening to the race on radio back in her home in Harding.

“The great Zithulele Sinqe brought the Comrades to life for me and It made me to want to be a part of it one day,” she says.

It was hearing how the likes of Farwa Mentoor and Riana Van Niekerk were doing that got a young Fikile determined to someday do the big race. Is she ready to win it this year? “Maybe it’s about time,” she laughs.