Gerda Steyn is the overwhelming favourite to win her fifth Comrades crown next Sunday, but the men’s race is being touted as pretty wide open.
Two obvious contenders are defending champion Tete Dijana, winner of three Down runs now trying to add the Up crown to his mantle, and Piet Wiersma of the Netherlands, winner of the last Up race in 2024.
And then there’s a multitude of contenders, including a dark horse everyone is likely to keep a wary eye on, a former track and cross-country runner who competed in his first Comrades only last year.
George Kusche, who like Wiersma runs for Nedbank, finished 12th in his debut, even after his race had derailed around halfway when he vomited.
“I didn’t train with my supplements or my nutrition enough so I wasn’t used to it when I ingested it during the race. Just about halfway through the race I puked the nutrition out, and from there I didn’t consume anything. So even the most talented athlete would start to be significantly fatigued because there’s no carb intake, no water intake.
“I struggled a lot but I pushed through and managed to get 12th anyway,” said Kusche, a data scientist employed to forecast company revenue and sales.
Did it all barefoot
The 26-year-old has learned that plans don’t always come to fruition. As a kid growing up in the Mpumalanga town of Malelane, on the edge of the Kruger National Park, he did everything barefoot — from going to primary school and playing rugby at flank, getting picked for the Pumas under-12 team.
“I used to think that I was a sure bet to become a Springbok, but then I went to Affies and I tried out for the U14 team [and] I got F team,” said Kusche, who quickly discovered his athletics talent, winning an inter-high 1,500m.
“I stopped playing rugby and then I joined the cross-country team.”
He studied in the US, but glandular fever frustrated his career, causing a constant fog of fatigue. When he returned home in 2023 he quit running and packed on 20kg before giving it another go. From 86kg he’s dropped to 62kg.
I’m not a big fan of setting a time because I like running on feel. Even in training I never tell myself I’m going to run this time and then do it; I just tell myself this is the effort that I will be exerting and that usually corresponds roughly to a time
— George Kusche
He’s also been dropping his times.
In February Kusche won the Peninsula Marathon in a 2hr 13min 09sec personal best despite running into a slight but constant headwind.
At the Two Oceans half marathon in April he clocked an impressive 65:33 on hilly conditions — terrain that he enjoys. “It naturally occurred that every time I ran in a hilly race and we hit a hill, I used to pull away from the field. So I kind of started liking them. But we do live in a very hilly area,” added the Pretoria-based father-of-one, who is keen to buy a piano to resume his old skill from school.
Despite his love for numbers, Kusche views running in a different light. “I’m not a big fan of setting a time because I like running on feel. Even in training I never tell myself I’m going to run this time and then do it; I just tell myself this is the effort that I will be exerting and that usually corresponds roughly to a time.
“For the race, I’m going to run on feel the first half, probably just stick with the leading pack, but try to keep it as easy as possible from the advice I have been given by prominent former Comrades runners.”
Listen to your body
Steyn likes to run on feel. “Every time before a race I would go through different scenarios in my mind, but you always have to have a little bit of leniency [either side],” said the Hollywood club star.
“If you’re feeling better than you thought you would feel, then you must not be scared to listen to your body. But if the pace that I’ve planned to run feels impossible to maintain for almost 90km, then I have to draw back.
“You mustn’t find yourself in a situation that you didn’t plan for or that you don’t know how to react to,” said the 36-year-old, whose primary goal is defending her title.
While she keeps an eye on her competitors, she focuses on herself. “It all comes down to how I feel, how I take on the road, how I pace myself, how I feel inside, and how I execute.”
The race is 130m shorter than when she set her 5:49:46 Up best time in 2024, but her primary goal next weekend is defending her title. “That would be really, really amazing for me to try and challenge the record again this year [but] the record is not the main goal. It will always be to defend my title.”
Steyn’s Hollywood teammate Dijana has the same approach. “The course record is not something that I am looking for, it will come automatically.”
He believes any of the top runners is a candidate to take the win.
That includes Kusche.
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