Runner bringing purpose to Comrades
RUNNING with a purpose. That is Nontuthuko Mashimane, who will run her third Comrades Marathon this year.
Having recently completed the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town in March, where she was a #GoGreen Ambassador for the Old Mutual anti-littering campaign, Mashimane will run the Comrades next month for Community Chest to raise awareness for early childhood education.
Speaking from her Pietermaritzburg home this week, the 35-year-old nutritionist said: “I have found what I am meant to be doing and I believe that finding your purpose brings happiness.
“When I was younger, I didn’t know I was a runner, and now I am using my running to fulfil my purpose, as well as meeting so many fantastic people and working with huge brands.”
The first time she ran was in 2014 and, the day after her first 21km race, the Mandela Day Marathon, she entered her first Comrades Marathon. “I was also the first person to enter Comrades in 2015. I was so inspired after running the Mandela Marathon.
“I had been a social runner for about a year. When I was young, my mom used to take us to Pinetown to watch the runners. I would never have imagined that I would run Comrades, that I would be an ultra-marathon runner,” she said.
Her brother Sibonelo, is also a runner and will compete in his 9th Comrades this year, so she receives encouragement from him. But it was being part of the Old Mutual Running Club that took her running to a different level when she became part of the #GoGreen campaign.
“We need to start educating people about this (the impact of litter) and from running clubs to race organisers, we can highlight the importance of the environment.”
The #GoGreen campaign, developed by Wildlands and supported by Old Mutual, was launched at the Two Oceans Marathon this year and it is being implemented along the last 27km (Camperdown to the finish line) of the 87km Comrades route.
Mashimane is training six days a week to prepare for the marathon, which is coupled with nutritious “no junk” food. So is she looking forward to her second up run?
“The down run is more painful due to the pounding, but you do a faster time as you are going downhill. The up run is harder, but you feel stronger,” she said.
tanya.waterworth@inl.co.za