Support gets Comrades winners across the line
SUPPORT, family and sticking to the coach’s plan are among the top reasons for the victory of this year’s Comrade Marathon title holders Bong’musa Mthembu and Ann Ashworth.
“I will celebrate when I retire… I didn’t even know my family were here – my brother and my sister were here… I am happy about my victory,” said three-time Comrades Marathon winner Mthembu.
He said the victory was a special one for him as he had doubted he would finish the race due to circumstances that arose during his training.
“It was not an injury but it disrupted my training. Because of this situation, there were times when I couldn’t train”.
Speaking about the race, Mthembu said that overall he thought it went well.
“I’m happy that I resisted the racers’ fast pace till I reached Pinetown, because that is where I saw it was the right time to make my move.”
Mthembu said it was emotional crossing the finish line because he went through a lot this season.
Unlike him, his older brother, Thulebone Mthembu, said he was more than comfortable that his brother, who was once a soccer player, would bag the win again. “He was a very good soccer player growing up and we played for different teams in school. So when he decided that he was going to branch off from a team and run alone, I knew and had faith he would excel at that as well,” said Thulebone.
Mthembu had not seen his family in two months because of his training and it was a pleasant surprise for him when he crossed the finish line and heard that his family were there.
“We are happy as a family. In fact I think the whole of KZN is happy that my brother won again. During his preparation for the race he would occasionally drop in at my place and ask for food when he was there, but you know how these athletes are… all they eat is non-fatty food so that was tricky for me,” joked Thulebone.
Ashworth, who is an advocate, crossed the finish line at 6:10:04, ensuring that the title of Comrades Marathon Women’s Champion 2018 stayed in South Africa.
“It’s taken a lot from me and my family… we have made big sacrifices.
“I ran this race for my mom. She’s over the moon right now, she’s been seconding me along the side of the road since I was 12 years old. She is my chief second and my biggest fan… I would do anything for my mom.”
Ashworth said that while she was thrilled at the win, no one was more surprised at the victory than her.
“My motto for this year’s race was ‘God made me for a purpose and you should fill his pleasure’ – I wanted to make sure that the title stayed in SA. I followed the plan we set with my coach; it was an interesting race.
“There was a lot of hot pace upfront and I didn’t want to get sucked into it, so I just ran my own race,” she said.
She said training for the race was tough especially since she hadn’t been at work for the past two months.
It was also an emotional end for runners who pulled and carried each other across the finish to make it before the race’s cut-off time.
“It’s hard, this race, but I also feel fantastic having completed it, I feel like I can do anything now,” said Australian Karen Tuporious, who was in tears.
While some runners collapsed at the finish, grateful to have made it, Miniyokulinda Luthuli walked across the finish line unfazed.
“Look my aim was to make the 11 hour mark and I made it with 15 minutes to spare. I had a good race from the beginning with no pain. It wasn’t my best time personally but I can’t complain since I did not get time to train this time around,” Luthuli said.
Andre Venter from Pretoria ran his first Comrades yesterday and was one of the last people to make it through before the cut-off.
“I’m very excited and very exhausted at the same time. This was my first and last run; I’m too old for this,” said the 52-year-old.
Venter explained that he only ran because his daughter was running with him and added that he experienced the Comrades “spirit” along the route.
“It was my neighbour who found me on the road, she took my hand and pushed me tremendously, it was her and her husband they got me through the race and they have been doing it for ten years now”.
LUCAS Makone’s dream of possibly finishing his 10th Comrades Marathon evaporated on a hill just before Drummond when stomach cramps forced him momentarily out of the 90km race yesterday.
After a 10-minute break – he went hunting for a toilet which he found in the nearby bushes – he re-joined the ultimate human race but fell short by a minute when the gun went off at the halfway in Drummond.
Instead of shedding a tear of disappointment, the 50-yearold from Pretoria, who was the first athlete to miss the cut when the gun went off at 6hrs 10 minutes, was upbeat and said he would be back next year.
“It’s no use crying – I’m disappointed – but that’s the way it is,” said Makone, who runs for CSR of Pretoria. “There’s no guarantee that you would finish Comrades once you’ve started. On the day if you feel good you will have a good race. I did not, hence I missed the cut at halfway.”
He put in a few thousand kilometres in training during the past 12 months, spent a lot of money on accommodation and airfares plus the R500 for the entry fee but it all came to nought.
But that will not be a deterring factor for him as he says he will go back to the drawing board to plan for the 2019 up run from outside the Durban City Hall to the Pietermaritzburg Oval.
He says that Comrades is an amazing race that every athlete would love to attempt and that it had got into his blood from the moment he started running the ultra-marathon 10 years ago.
“I’ve run nine Comrades – this was the first time that I missed the cut at Drummond. This could have been my 10th finish,” he said with a wry smile.
“I also had a problem with my right knee – I felt some pain and it was a nagging one that just did not want to go away. It was pulling as I came downhill and I decided to take it easy.
Makone has two silver medals, a bronze and six Vic Clapman medals to show for his previous efforts in running the Comrades Marathon.
He said that he paced himself well from the bitterly cold conditions in Pietermaritzburg on the way to Drummond before things started getting out of control.
“These are not excuses but these things do happen as you are all hyped-up to run the Comrades which takes the best out of you,” he said.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t make it this year. I’m disappointed – that’s for sure. This is a sport and you want to achieve, but when you don’t it hurts.”
KwaZulu-Natal woman Caroline Higginson, of the Michaelhouse Running Clubput on a brave face when the no-entry barriers were drawn at Drummond, signalling the end of her debut Comrades Marathon.
Standing alongside the wire fencing which separates the huge crowd from the runners on the road, Higginson said: “I was just so close to making it.
“Admittedly I did not put too much training into it as I was ill for the past six weeks. But I was feeling quite good this morning.”
The Michaelhouse athlete said she was not disappointed about missing the cut at Drummond and promised to be back for the race next year.
She said “I’ve achieved something in my short running career – at least I reached the halfway stage of the greatest ultra-marathon.
“I only started running competitively about nine months ago. I loved every step of the way from Pietermaritzburg and cannot wait for more.
“I’ll be back for sure next year.”
What made her attempt the 90.184km race so soon in her running career?
“I have no idea whatsoever. I just decided I’d give it a go and here I am standing on the road in Drummond, having just missed the chance of going beyond and to Durban.
“It was always my dream to run the Comrades. I did not make it but I’m not too sure if I would have continued for the remainder of the race had I made the cut at Drummond,” Higginson said.
She said she had battled her way through with breathing problems from Pietermaritzburg and after she regained her breath, Higginson, who has run three marathons and a half-marathon in her short career, said: “If I had made it through Drummond I don’t think I would have finished the race.”
Meanwhile, for Cape Town’s Elizabeth Smal it was not third time lucky to make the cut at Drummond.
Smal’s dreams of finishing her second Comrades in four attempts was shattered as she missed the cut for the third year in a row.
“It was just too hot for me today and it took a toll on me. I trained hard for this year’s race but just did not manage the conditions well. I had no problems on the route. It was enjoyable until I heard the gun go off and saw the barriers closing.”