PODCAST | It’s puzzling and hopefully an autopsy will reveal more: Comrades race director

Comrades Marathon race director Rowyn James hopes an autopsy will reveal the cause of Mzameleni Mthembu’s “puzzling” death during Sunday’s race.

James told Marawa Sports Worldwide (MSW) Mthembu was a B-seeded runner in the 90.2km down run from Pietermaritzburg, meaning he had run a marathon (42.2km) in less than three hours 20 minutes and was no hack.

The Hollywoodbets Athletics Club runner collapsed near Pinetown en route to Durban, where the race ended.

The death of a second runner, Phakamile Ntshiza of Gauteng-based Adventist Athletics Club, close to the halfway mark, was revealed by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) on Tuesday.

James said the race doctor had been in contact with the casualty ward at Westville Hospital, where Mthembu was admitted.

“In terms of the actual complications, we're not exactly sure what happened. The doctor confirmed to me they would do an autopsy tomorrow (Tuesday) and then we'd hope to have more concrete details,” he told MSW.

Asked, given Mthembu's appearance as healthy and fit, if he had any idea on how he could have died, James said: “He was a B-seeded athlete, in terms of which you have to be able to run a marathon in under three hours and 20 minutes, so he was indeed a very fit guy.

“It's not a case of a borderline qualifier. So it's certainly rather puzzling and hopefully an autopsy will reveal more.

“But Comrades ... is an endurance event, hence one of the reasons we put in there that you need to run at least one qualifying marathon to ensure you are fit enough to take on an endurance event.”

About 16,000 participants ran in the 2022 Comrades.

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