Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Gatebe to run TOM for mom
THE smile that flickered across David Gatebe’s face as he addressed the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon’s pre-race elite runners’ media conference yesterday was nothing but a façade to hide a personal pain that was gnawing at the Impala Athletics runner.
On the morning when the world’s Christians were remembering the death of Jesus Christ, Gatebe was woken up by a phone call from his brother informing him that his mother had died.
“I’m heartbroken my brother,” Gatebe said on the sidelines of the conference afterwards, the earlier smile now replaced by a sombre look that can only be associated with the hurt of losing a beloved one: “My mother died this morning. My brother phoned me this morning to tell me the bad news.”
Many runners would probably have been too devastated to continue with the race. But not the man who finished runner-up in the last edition in 2019 and was champion six years before that.
“My mother has not been well. She was sick for a while. So, in a way she has rested. But it is painful still and what can I do? I’ve got to go and do my job. I must go run. I will run this one in her memory,” he said of his mother Masello Gatebe.
The man from Kroonstad, renowned for his run at the 2016 Comrades Marathon where he smashed the Down Run record, recalled that his father also died around the Two Oceans dates.
“Eish, you know I also lost my father shortly after I won Two Oceans. But such is life. It doesn’t make me look at the race in a bad way. I enjoy this race and I am looking forward to having a good race on Sunday.”
Now a veteran, Gatebe would be out to not only win the age group (4049) category but the entire event too, having learnt from his mistake in 2019 when he’d planned to make his break at Constantia Nek only for the race to be diverted via the Ou Kaapse Weg.
That he has been in the sport for as long as he has, Gatebe said, is because he is surrounded by young runners.
“The secret to my longevity is competing with these young boys. They give me motivation. I know they have a lot of speed so I plan to hang on to them because I know that after 42km they will get tired. I am going into Sunday with a strong mind and now my mother’s death has now motivated me even more. Also, I know the distance and I have experience of this race.”
Another man with vast experience of the race is champion Bongmusa Mthembu who sent a voice message to the media conference as he only arrived in the Mother City afterwards.
“I am glad that this iconic and beautiful race is back. It is always a privilege and an honour to be able to take part in the Two Oceans. I know it won’t be easy, especially because I am the defending champion. The other guys will chase me and try to make it difficult for me, but I am ready to compete at my highest level.”