EDITORIAL | Comrades Marathon shows human endurance at its best

The display of human endurance during the Comrades Marathon at the weekend is the stuff of legend. It was an exhibition of determination in its purest form. Sadly, but also joyously in a way, many runners overcame severe hardship to make it to the finish line. Each story is different; some are silent testimony to the everyday struggles of South Africans; some are related to wars; others are more personal victories.

Claude Moshiywa, the Comrades champion of 2013, was reportedly hijacked on Thursday on his way to OR Tambo Airport and held captive for hours by five men in Thembisa, Gauteng. Despite this trauma, Moshiywa, with a borrowed watch on his arm, finished 13th in the ultra-marathon down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. He was quoted by Beeld newspaper as saying he would not let a hijacking stop him running the Comrades. Between April and June, more than 5,800 hijackings were reported countrywide, a 14% rise compared with the same period last year. Moshiywa became a crime statistic, but through pure courage he also, again, inscribed his name in ultra-marathon statistics. He deserves respect.

Russian runner Alexandra Morozova, who took the women’s crown, was in tears at the media conference afterwards, apologising for turning to the courts to secure her start in the Comrades. This after she was informed on Thursday that World Athletics wanted to disallow her in solidarity with Ukrainian athletes. The “ban” was based on a World Athletics instruction that Russian elite athletes who may win prize money should be denied entry to its affiliated races. The Comrades organisers tried to compromise by proposing she start at the back and not within the elite cluster. Morozova’s last-minute court application was successful and she proved her point by winning the women’s race.

“Discrimination against me solely on the basis of my nationality is no more acceptable than discrimination against a person based solely on their ethnicity,” Morozova said in court. Her battle isn’t over. The Pietermaritzburg high court ruled she would not be entitled to receive prize money, a matter that will go back to court in November. Hers is a story of ruthless politicians engaged in a senseless war, taking and ruining lives. Yet she won the day.

Winner and down run novice Tete Morena Dijana’s success story is general knowledge by now. He became an overnight celebrity, not only for his incredible run, but also his hard work before the race despite many disadvantages. Race commentators told how he worked as a security guard at night and slept the bare minimum after his shift. This was to ensure he had enough time to train for the ultra-marathon during the day. Dijana won’t give up his job as a security guard, he said after his victory, adding he would seek financial advice on what to do with his R260,000 prize money. Only his second Comrades, he beat the defending champion and some of the world’s best runners — and he beat his own difficult circumstances. 

Perhaps SA’s Jenna Challenor, who crawled over the finish line to take fourth place in the women’s race, was the embodiment of the Comrades. Her muscles in spasms, she could not get up and finish the run. With a brave smile on her face and Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban loudly cheering on, Challenor crawled through the pain and fatigue to her own victory, saying later she did not want to crawl but had to. And she was proud of herself for finishing in the top five. With reason.

This year’s Comrades cannot be written about without mentioning Joseph Kagiso Ndlovu and his girlfriend Prudence. The so-called “Ultimate Human Race” is not just about the top runners, it’s also about the 11,700 who finished Sunday’s race out of 13,200 starters. Widower Nldovu is one of them. He entered the stadium with a banner declaring: “Prudence, will you marry me? Run 90km for you.” He told TimesLIVE Premium Prudence, whom he had met at church, said “yes” to his proposal. “It was the 10th anniversary of my wife’s death. I believed it was time for me to move on; therefore I proposed to Prudence.”

Through sickness and in health, exhaustion and tears, crime and war, the Comrades Marathon every year brings out the best in us. We should take a moment to celebrate it.