Soweto athlete Khubulani Zondo may not train at a fancy gym with state-of-the-art facilities, but he believes he has what it takes to be a successful athlete.
With 60 medals hanging proudly against the corrugated wall of his Orlando East shack, 36-year-old Zondo describes his latest achievement - a silver medal from the Virgin London Marathon held last month.
“My biggest motivation is the support structure I have at home and work. I also take a great deal of motivation by improving myself with every race I take part in.”
Zondo, who works as a security guard at Clearwater mall, was one of 28 South Africans who took part in the marathon held on April 21. He was the first of the group to finish the race with a time of 2:31:44.
He is also one of three South African athletes to receive the Virgin Money sponsorship for the world-famous marathon.
But the father of two was not always a runner. He only got into running after his colleagues talked him into taking part in a fun run in Pretoria.
“The only running I did was during boxing training for four years. So when I won a bronze medal at the 32km relay fun run, I opened myself to the idea of running more often,” he said.
“That was the first and last bronze medal he won in all his 60 races”, added his partner and mother of his two children, Judith Mashile.
Dressed in a purple dress and seated on the bed right below the medals, Mashile explained how she supports her man.
“The cold mornings are the worst,” she said. “But I wake him up and remind him of his dream and what he wanted to achieve that day.
"I also have to make sure that he eats the right food, so I am very picky about what I cook for him.”
Zondo runs about 18km to and from work at least three times a week. This excludes the daily running he does at the Discovery running club, which he joined in 2005.
Thrilled of his latest achievement, club chairperson Cathie van Rooyen said Zondo’s performance at the world famous London marathon shows what a great athlete he is.
“Having him be South Africa’s first male home makes our club proud, and in typical runner style he lamented his time being slower than he had hoped due to the delay in the start to allow the 'elite men' to get ahead.
“We are so proud of Khubulani and know in our hearts he is our 'elite runner',” Van Rooyen said.
Zondo is now training for next month's Comrade's Marathon.
He said pointing at a picture of his idol - Zimbabwean runner Stephen Muzhingi - on the family's fridge: "I hope to get enough funding to go to the New York marathon next year or the year after. There is nothing stopping me.
"One's background should never prevent them from achieving their goals and dreams. Look at me, I live in a shack and I have been to London."
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