Durban — Among the men who will be looking to break David Gatebe’s seven-year Comrades Marathon down run record of 5:18:19 is an athlete who was inspired by that compellingly stunning run by the man from Kroonstad.
Dan Matshailwe has vivid memories of watching Gatebe’s ‘crazy’ run.
“That man made me want to run Comrades. I remember watching that race on TV as if it were yesterday and I was like ‘that man is crazy’,” says the Nedbank Running Club athlete who finished third in his maiden race last year.
A mommy’s boy, Matshailwe recalls going about his usual chore of making a cup of tea for himself and his mother and switching on the television. It was their morning ritual.
“My mom and I used to drink tea together most mornings and we always had the TV on. On that day when I switched the TV on, they were showing Comrades. Initially I saw those guys at the back and I thought I could do that.”
But it was Gatebe’s run that really grabbed his attention.
“The way David broke away from the other guys and just kept opening the gap, it was something else. It was inspiring. After David won I told my mom, ‘I am going to run like that guy one day’. She said to me ’stop being crazy, you are footballer.’ But I was really inspired and I decided to take up running.”
Matshailwe was a 22-year-old back then and a little of the chubby side, he still is a big boy. But he was not to be dissuaded.
“I am naturally a go-getter and when I set my mind on something, I don’t let anything stop me”
He was working at Amanda Belt Mine at the time and met Joseph Manyedi whom he told about his desire to run Comrades.
“Joseph was running and he told me that to run Comrades I have to be focused and take my training seriously. I knew nothing about running then and I was surprised to hear words like fartleks,” he chuckles, inducing great mirth among his teammates who are sitting with us at the table following dinner at their camp in this high-altitude town in Mpumalanga.
Among those teammates is 2019 champion Edward Mothibi who played a big role in Matshailwe’s improvement as a runner.
“Slender approached Peter Gaobetswe for me and I started training under him. And when I went to my first marathon – the Nelson Mandela Marathon – I saw David Gatebe and I was so excited I wanted to jump out of the car. I wanted to beat David in that race but I finished position 19, I ran about 2:30.”
While improving as a runner, Matshailwe realised he needed to do something to really improve. And he went drastic.
“I quit my job but I lied to my mom that they had fired me. I wanted to really focus on my running. And everything changed for the better when I met the magic coach – Dave Adams – inn 2021. He asked me what I wanted to run and I said marathons and ultras. He told me that I should listen and then made me do a series of ten one kilometre runs all under three minutes He ten advised me to learn to be patient.”
Adams made Matshailwe aware that ultras are the only way to make a living out of running in South Africa and got him to focus on that.
The results have been incredibly good, Matshailwe finishing third at last year’s Comrades as a novice and then going on to be a runner up at the Two Oceans Marathon in April, a race coach and athlete had expected to win.
“Dan should have won Two Oceans. But he stepped wrong early on in the race and that affected him. You saw him clutching at his thigh late in the race because he was in pain,” Adams says as we drive in his car following the runners during their fartlkes session on the main road in Dullstroom.
Looking at Matshailwe, Adams recalls their initial meeting:” He was a bit fat and I did not think he was a runner. But he is a determined lad and a hard worker. But he still looks big hey.”
The old man believes his runners will once again dominate the podium and believes ‘only Bongmusa Mthembu’ can spoil their chase of a top five clean sweep. He says any of his runners have it in them to win the race, Matshailwe included, though he might have reduced his chances of success by racing Two Oceans.
What are the chances of Matshailwe emulating the man who inspired him to take up running?
“I believe a 5:25 can win the race if the bunch does not go for the record. I can run that,” says the man who crossed the finish line at the Moses Mabhida in 5:36:25 last year “The key on Sunday will be to stick with the bunch and track every move. And I must be patient. I must not change what I have been doing. And don’t force a win. It will come in its time. But I am sure that top five is going to Rustenburg”
IOL Sport