Johannes Mosehla became the oldest Comrades Marathon finisher on Sunday at 81 — and he plans to keep breaking that record in the future.
The bricklayer from Limpopo also wants to go faster.
Next year Mosehla wants to improve on his time of 9hrs 26min 09sec that saw him cross the line well inside the top third of the field. He was 4,316th out of 14,895 and surpassed the title of oldest finisher that had belonged to legendary Wally Hayward, who was a few months short of his 81st birthday in 1989.
“I will be back at the Comrades. I want to improve my time,” said Mosehla, a father of 17 who now owns his 55651 race number as reward for completing 10 Comrades. He ran his first in 2006.
Last year he finished in 11:31:27, but he has won four Bill Rowan and four bronze medals and has a best time 7:57:11 from 2007.
And Mosehla wants to take his 2024 bid seriously. “I’m still enjoying work, but I decided to retire [from work] next year to concentrate on the training.”
He is planning to take a rest for two weeks before returning to the tar again.
“The longest distance when I run is 32km, and I train three times a week,” added Mosehla, who lives in the village of Magashoa in Jane Furse-GaMasemola.
He wants to keep returning to the Comrades as often as he can. “I intend to continue as long as I’m alive and still strong.”
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Oldest Comrades runner, 81, wants to train harder and go faster in 2024
Image: David Isaacson
Johannes Mosehla became the oldest Comrades Marathon finisher on Sunday at 81 — and he plans to keep breaking that record in the future.
The bricklayer from Limpopo also wants to go faster.
Next year Mosehla wants to improve on his time of 9hrs 26min 09sec that saw him cross the line well inside the top third of the field. He was 4,316th out of 14,895 and surpassed the title of oldest finisher that had belonged to legendary Wally Hayward, who was a few months short of his 81st birthday in 1989.
“I will be back at the Comrades. I want to improve my time,” said Mosehla, a father of 17 who now owns his 55651 race number as reward for completing 10 Comrades. He ran his first in 2006.
Last year he finished in 11:31:27, but he has won four Bill Rowan and four bronze medals and has a best time 7:57:11 from 2007.
And Mosehla wants to take his 2024 bid seriously. “I’m still enjoying work, but I decided to retire [from work] next year to concentrate on the training.”
He is planning to take a rest for two weeks before returning to the tar again.
“The longest distance when I run is 32km, and I train three times a week,” added Mosehla, who lives in the village of Magashoa in Jane Furse-GaMasemola.
He wants to keep returning to the Comrades as often as he can. “I intend to continue as long as I’m alive and still strong.”
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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