Johannesburg - Edndale Belachew is a man on a mission. The Maxed Elite Running Club athlete wants to dispel the notion that east Africans “are not good at ultra-distance running”.
While they have dominated the standard marathon and half marathon for many years - Ethiopians, Kenyans, Ugandans and Somalians hardly ever feature in distances over 42.2km.
But having gone some way to prove that Ethiopians can run fast and long by winning the 56km Two Oceans Marathon at his first attempt in April, Belachew has now set his sights on becoming the first runner from east Africa to be crowned champion in the 89km long Comrades Marathon.
It will be a Herculean task given that he will be making his debut in the Ultimate Human Race, Belachew having run further than the standard marathon for the first time at the Two Oceans Marathon.
But the Ethiopian is confident that he can reign supreme.
“To me, running is just running. The distance is not a problem,” Belachew said.
“I have been training very hard for the Comrades and I am ready to win it. I enjoyed running in South Africa when I won the Two Oceans, and I am looking forward to Comrades.”
Having grown up admiring the legendary Haile Gebrselassie, Belachew says he is keen to establish himself as one of his country’s great runners of his era and knows that winning the Comrades will go a long way towards helping him achieve that.
“Haile was my hero as a young boy. I think he is everyone’s hero here in Ethiopia. But I also want to be a hero for other young boys who like running. And I know that I must win big if I am to be that,” Belachew said.
While he admitted to not knowing much about the Comrades Marathon route, Belachew does not foresee it as being a hindrance in his quest for glory.
“I have heard that the Comrades is a tough race and very long, so I am not taking it lightly. That is why I have been training very hard here. I am not resting because I need to be ready for the race. I am training at high altitude, and I know this will help me to do well at the Comrades,” Belachew said.
The Two Oceans-Comrades double is a rarity, especially in the men’s race. In recent years only Bongmusa Mthembu came close in 2019 when he won the Cape Town race and finished runner-up in KwaZulu-Natal.
The difficulty of winning both has generally been put down to the two races being too close to one another, in April and June, and thus not giving athletes enough time to recover in between. But with this year’s Comrades only taking place now in August, that excuse no longer holds water.
Could that then provide the perfect chance for Belachew to make history? After all, never has a debutant ultra-marathon runner, nor an east African won both races in the same year.
Maxed Elite team manager Martin Ngwenya, who is looking to win the team trophy with his strong men’s team that boasts the likes of Teboho Sello, Lebenya Nkoka and Winfred Mutiro, believes Belachew has what it takes to be crowned champion on Sunday.
“He showed with the Two Oceans victory just what a class athlete he is. But the Comrades is much longer than the 56km Two Oceans and what will be key for him is pacing. If he can control his run and stick with the leaders, he has a chance to win it. I believe he has what it takes to win on Sunday,” Ngwenya said.
IOL Sport