Durban — The Nedbank running trio that occupied the Comrades Marathon podium on Sunday are not only training partners, but brothers too.
This much was evidenced by their delight for each other, despite the competitive nature of the individual sport that is road-running.
Edward Mothibi, champion last time around in 2019, was surprisingly okay with having been beaten to second place, and thus robbed of back-to-back titles, by Tete Dijana.
Their teammate Dan Moselakwe finished in third place.
“I am happy with my results. The body can only take you to a certain place. I was not right with the last 10km to go, and I am happy that Tete decided to go. I am happy that he won the race.”
Mothibi and Dijana ran together from the bottom of Fields Hill, where they took over from their Nedbank Running Club teammate Onalenna Khonkhobe, who had led from early on and literally ran solo, enjoying a huge lead, until then.
The duo then looked like they would go all the way to a sprint finish, only for the novice down-run athlete to break away just before 45th Cutting and never look back.
Mothibi explained that they had followed the plan set by their somewhat reticent coach Dave Adams.
“We are training partners. We train together and we know each other well. So it was amazing to see us together towards the end.
“We talked along the way, and we kept checking who was coming for us. We had to keep the pace that the coach gave us.”
He said it was not a fluke that they won the team prize, with Johannes Makgetla and Joseph Manyedi occupying fifth and seventh places respectively.
“We had a wonderful training camp, thanks to our great coach Dave Adams. As captain of the team, he always told me what to tell the guys, and I am very happy that they listened to me even though some are younger and some older than me.
“For the race, the coach gave us strict advice on what we must do. He made us aware that we had done the job at the camp and simply told us to run at the speed he gave us.”
This they evidently did, the Nedbank runners controlling things from the outset, with Khonkhobe in the lead and the rest in the bunch behind him, until Mothibi and Dijana pounced.
While many had thought Mothibi would reign supreme given his superior Comrades experience, the discerning road-running fan would not have forgotten how Dijana beat him at the Nedbank Runified 50km race in Gqeberha earlier this year.
And it was thus not surprising when the down-run novice pulled away to race to a famous victory that even Mothibi himself celebrated.
The champion was at a loss for words to describe what the success meant for him.
“I feel great. I really can’t believe it is me who has won the Comrades. Anything can happen along the way, so after taking the lead I tried to be careful. I tried to maintain the pace, and it was only when I was reaching the stadium that my confidence grew. I enjoyed the crowd when I was getting into the stadium.”
He is sure to begin to enjoy his new-found status as a legend of South African ultramarathon running, the victory no doubt sure to elevate him to the status of a celebrated and respected athlete.
This is a fact Mothibi knows only too well – hence his delight for his teammate, brother and homeboy from Mafikeng in the North West.
IOL Sport