ALTHOUGH there were several runners competing in the Comrades Marathon this year, it still strikes as a symbol of failure for runners in KwaZulu-Natal, in this race which marks the 99th anniversary of its establishment.
We are getting excited about this year’s Comrades which will be run next Sunday, June 14, the up run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
Among the runners who are being watched this year, are Tete Dijana, Piet Wiersma from Netherlands and Edward Mothibi.
Dijana from Mahikeng, North West, was the one who won this race last year in the down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, with a time of 5:25:28, closely followed by Piet Wiersma who finished second in 5:25:33.
Dijana, who joined the Hollywood Running Club earlier this year, still holds the record fordown run this race is the record he recorded in 2023, with a time of 5:13:58, also sitting on the heels of Wiersma.
Wiersma wansondo then won theup run in 2024 at 5:25:00.
The prominence of this runner from the Netherlands for three consecutive years starting in 2023 when he started running the Comrades, makes there is no doubt about his being counted among the runners who are expected to win this year’s race.
As for the women, Gerda Steyn, who has won the race for three years in a row since 2023, is still being watched, breaking records.
In 2023, he set a new record ofdown run for women in a time of 5:44:54, he did the same in 2024, recording the up run in a time of 5:49:46.
Although she did not set a record in last year’s race, this lady from Bothaville, Free State, won the race in a time of 5:51:19, and this year it will be watched with great interest to see if she can win.
In January, Dijana and her family, Mothibi, left Nedbank Running Club and were signed by Hollywood Running Club, joining Steyn who joined the club in January last year.
This club based in KwaZulu-Natal, its signing of these runners who perform well in Comrades is an indication that it is determined to have a large number of its runners who win Comrades.
On top of that, they continue to inspire the KwaZulu-Natal runners, who are doing well in this race. In fact, KZN was the last in 2018 to have a runner who won the Comrades, with Bongumusa Mthembu.
In 2022, Mthembu and Nkosikhona Mhlakwana are the runners from this province who have done better in this race finishing fourth and sixth.
In 2023, not a single runner from KZN made it into the top ten. In 2024, Mthembu intervened and fell asleep.
Last year, in the down run, he mediated and Mthembu was the only runner from KZN to enter the top ten, taking eighth place with a time of 5:35:48.
However, Mthembu (43) who has won this race three times, according to his age, he cannot be trusted to win the Comrades, as he always says that he is not running to win this race.