2013 winner Moshiywa ready for down race
Former Comrades Marathon winner Claude Moshiywa has been quietly going about his business, finalising his preparations for this year’s race in three weeks.
When he won the race in 2013, he was the first South African to win the up run in 21 years.
“My last Comrades was in 2017, and I had just had a hip operation, but now I have recovered. I have trained and done a few races and I am feeling comfortable. I am targeting a top-10 finish. I think the runners are hungry, and winning Comrades changes your life forever.
“I believe the race is going to be a lot quicker, and it is open because of those two years that we did not run Comrades due to Covid-19. But it is not easy to predict who will win it this year,” said Moshiywa.
Moshiywa said though the prize money was slashed by half, it was not going to affect competition among runners, and the whole event. “The prize money will not have an effect on the runners.
“Nedbank is our sponsor and we have incentives, which are very good and I do not think I can complain about the prize money at all. I am not in camp in Dullstroom because I am working full-time from 7am-4pm and where I am working there are policies for leave. But I do train after work.
“I have tested the distance and still have three weeks to prepare, and I think that I will be ready. At work they have allowed me to take those final three weeks so that I can polish my final preparations.
“I do not know much about the down run. I won the up run and I think it’s easier than the down run. Here in Johannesburg there are a lot of hills and I’ve never been in camp, I always train here. So, it makes it easy because of the high altitude as well. With the down race I am never sure how to train for it, but I hope to perform much better.”
Moshiywa said people cheering on the streets give runners an extra “oomph”.