If you can finish the Comrades, you can conquer anything in life

THE youngsters of today would describe Fikile Mbuthuma as having “a lot of giggle gas”. She laughs that much.

“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 is 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 Athletics Club) Charne (Bosman) who won it last year and there are many other very good runners,” she says before breaking into yet another piercing laugh.

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 broke into a laugh before answering just about every question.

Laughter, after all, is the best medicine – don’t they say? And perhaps it is her ability to laugh 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 plus six Bill Rowans. She got bronze in her second race having failed to finish her maiden Comrades in 2005. Mbuthuma has generally been improving and it is because of that, that the Comrades Marathon Association included her in their list of the top contenders for honours on Sunday. As appealing as that is for the 36-yearold, she is not putting herself under any 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 said. “I will be happy if I improve on that time. 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 recently recovered from a hip injury after winning the Zululand Ultra Marathon in March, but says she’s fit to race.

“I didn’t train for three weeks because of it but I am back to full fitness now and I am looking forward to the race,” Mbuthuma said.

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

“When I was young, I used to sit near the radio all day and it was like I was on the road. The voice of Zithulele Sinqe brought the Comrades to life and it made me to want to be a part of it one day.” It was hearing how the likes of Farwa Mentoor and Riana van Niekerk were doing that got a young Mbuthuma – pretty good in track running at school at the time – determined to compete in the Comrades. After matric, she ran a few 10km races and then completed the Maritzburg Marathon: “I knew after that marathon that I was ready for Comrades.”

But is she ready to win it this year? “Maybe it’s about time,” Mbuthuma laughs.

I DO NOT CONSIDER myself a runner. But I like to try out anything and everything that seems impossible.

And so it was that me who took on the Comrades Marathon in 2014 and finished in bronze medal position. I then went back the following year and got a Vic Clapham medal, mainly because that year I did a lot of interviews on the road encouraging people and telling them that it is possible to do this mighty race.

But the experience of the first one lingers the most.

I remember how emotional I got at ANOTHER SETBACK: Tiger Woods has once again made headlines for the wrong reasons.

Picture: LYNNE SLADKY, AP the start as we sang the national anthem. It felt like I was about to represent the country. And then I look around to see all these other people with fancy gadgets on them and you are just wearing a watch and you start doubting. Being in the G batch I only got to start running after about 30 minutes. Yet my Comrades journey really started after the 70km mark. It was at that point that I lost my toenails; my nipples were so chafed they began bleeding, I felt so sore under my armpits and my face was burning from the sun. And I had put on sunscreen, but after 70km it was all gone. And being the novice I was, I did not know I had to put plasters on my nipples to protect them.

Sure a few of my clubmates from Zwakala AC were there and they’d shouted encouragement early in the race and my running partner Phumzile Manzini had been of great help. David Mashile was very supported and gave me some pasta and energy boosters at the 65km mark.

But thereafter I was all alone and that’s when I realised the testing nature of Comrades.

Everything was aching, I was fatigued, and the cramps were kicking in.

And I learnt that day just how powerful the mind can be because it took over and the word finish took over from pain.

I started drawing inspiration from just about everything. There was a guy who shouted my name from seeing it on my top and that kept me going for a kilometer or so. Of course when I started I believed I was ready; I’d trained hard; my diet had been good and I believed I had on the right equipment.

But after 70km all that was gone and even the willpower couldn’t carry me. I knew then that “only God could help me” and scripture power stepped in. I started thinking of my wife and kids who were back home hopefully watching on TV and cheering me on.

At some point though I started hallucinating. I started feeling like I was in space. I blamed myself even for the lousiest of things, like why in the world did I choose green shoes of all colours.

But you know what, I went on and finished. And when I finished Comrades, I felt like I have this superman power. I felt like I could conquer anything in life – hence I will be doing the Iron Man this year.

Comrades taught me a lot. It was, to me, a perfect metaphor for life because in life you go through highs and lows; there are difficulties that make you wish you could just give up or quit. But if you hang on, the rewards always makes up for it all.

Ole Ledimo is owner of House of Ole and also a Kine Influencer