No mission ever impossible for Willie
IT’S always a proud moment to associate Durban with people who have succeeded, such as Willy Govender, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and sportsman who was born in Chatsworth in 1966 and now lives in Durban.
Govender moved to the city at a young age, and matriculated from Overport Secondary in 1983. “I was interested in all things related to school, academics, sports and leadership,” Govender said.
He represented the school in various sporting codes, including soccer, cricket (as captain), volleyball, table tennis and athletics.
“I played cricket at club level at school, and also played club football for Carlisle Football Club in the erstwhile Durban Football Association for several years, and we won many league titles and trophies. I also had a stint with Juventus Football Club.”
The 52-year-old marathon runner originally set out to study in the education field, but dropped out because of the political situation in the ’80s. He then started a job, took an interest in computer programming and has never looked back.
“I started my first business 25 years ago with Data World in the information technology industry, and then started other ventures in technology in land management, digital writing and telecommunication. Most recently, I started a philanthropic venture called Eduworks (www.eduworks.co.za) aimed at providing digital content for maths and science for schools and students.”
Even in the business world, Govender has made waves, winning many awards along the way. “I won the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009, among many other awards, and in 2017 sold my business to a JSE-listed company.”
One of Govender’s mottoes is to “work hard and play hard”. He certainly does both and has echoed this in running marathons, something he started only at the age of 45.
“Running is something I took up seriously late in life, although I ran between 5 and 10km all my adult life, with a personal best of 15 minutes and 30 seconds for 5km as a 20-year-old. However, I set a goal to run all the World Marathon Majors before I turned 50, which triggered my marathon-running career. I was always intrigued by long-distance running, but never had the time to really commit to beyond 10km. My wife bought me a Garmin sports watch for our 20th wedding anniversary, and that was the trigger to start.”
Govender embraced long-distance running and set out to achieve his goal of completing all the world’s major marathons. “I have run the World Major Marathons (Berlin, London, Boston, Chicago, New York and Tokyo), as well as the Paris Marathon. All have had their own nuances – the humility and respect of the Japanese standing out in Tokyo, the crowd participation in London, the patriotism of the Americans, and the speed and pace in Berlin. The only continent I have not run in is South America.
“To accommodate my schedule, I run early in the mornings, and nothing is more beautiful than enjoying the sunrise in Durban, especially as I live close to the ocean.
“When travelling locally, I get up extra early and run, or when abroad, I try to fit in treadmill sessions in India, and I love running in other cities that I am blessed to travel to.
“Training and a good diet are the main factors to take into consideration when tackling a longdistance run.
“For me, I believe the hardest part of marathon running is the training, as it requires about four months of dedicated training to prepare.
“Under 4 000 runners have completed all six majors (grand slam of running), and being part of that club is also an achievement as it is fewer than the number of people who have scaled Mount Everest.”