Monisi inspired many athletes
Blind runner’s talent will keep him in the hearts of people
Born: January 4 1969 Died: June 10
The glowing tributes that are pouring in for Richard Malose Monisi from the SA athletics family is testament to the late blind runner’s invaluable contribution to the sport.
Monisi’s exploits in the ultramarathons saw him win a number of medals, a feat many sighted athletes can only dream of.
Monisi’s death on Saturday came a week after he conquered the 92nd Comrades Marathon . It was his 13th appearance in the Comrades.
He has won seven Bill Rowan and six bronze medals in the Comrades with a personal best of 8:28:23 in last year’s Down Run.
Stories of Monisi’s heroics have been shared by hundreds of friends and fans on social media.
He completed 12 Two Oceans, winning seven bronze and five Sainsbury medals.
At 48, Monisi did not appear to be slowing down.
Last year he competed at the prestigious New York Marathon.
Monisi died after an alleged hit-and-run accident in Soweto. He died at the time when a secret fund-raise drive had been put in place to help him to run at the 2018 London Marathon.
Monisi was born in Elim, Limpopo, and attended school at the local Reboni School for the Blind. He later relocated to Johannesburg and worked at Services for the Blind, a company in Coronation, Johannesburg, mainly doing packaging.
When the company closed shop in 2014, he got employment at a call centre in Parktown.
He had been working there at the time of his death.
His niece Marvelous Mnisi said the family had lost a selfless man who played a huge role in her life.
“He supported me when I came to stay with him in Johannesburg when I was unemployed in 2011,” Mnisi recalled.
“He took care of me until I got a job in 2013. He treated me like his own child and my parents did not spend a cent while I was staying with him, looking for a job.”
Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) said Monisi inspired runners everywhere with his impeccable running performance despite his disability.
Chairman Sifiso Nzuza said Monisi inspired many Comrades runners by showing them that his challenges in life did not stop him from realising the goals he had set for himself.
“His great deeds will keep him in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.”
The CMA awarded Monisi the Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Award in 2015 for exhibiting the noble attributes of race. Monisi’s famous words upon accepting the accolade was: “Blind but not behind”.
Monisi joined Rocky Road Runners in 2013 before joining Orlando Athletics Club last year.
He is survived by two wives Sonti and Gloria, three children, three brothers and two sisters and mother.