Hearts’ top runners accept Comrades challenge

The Daveyton Hearts’ elite runners have accepted chairperson Dikeledi Nhlapo’s challenge to bring back three silver medals from the Comrades Marathon on June 11.

Nhlapo, who has two Comrades finishes but can’t take part this year because of ill health, challenged the club’s stalwart Johnnie Mokgoko, who earned his green number in 2019, and senior runners Clement Modisha and Edward Kodisang.

Twelve members from the club will participate in the 87.7km down-run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on the 102nd anniversary of the race.

The chairperson is positive the top runners will finish the race between 06:00 and 7:30 to be among the silver medallists.

“Last year we had 12 runners and only 10 finished. Out of the 12 we are sending this year, I’m certain they will all finish. We are expecting at least three silver medals from our elite runners,” she said.

Mokgoko is the more experienced among the three, with 10 silvers in his 11 races earned between 2010 and 2022. He fell out of the silver medal category in 2013 when he settled for the Bill Rowan medal after missing the target by just over a minute, finishing in 07:31:55.

Now in his 50s, Mokgoko said he no longer has the legs and weight to carry the club. He has passed the baton onto Modisha, who has two silver medals in his two races.

In his maiden race in 2018, Modisha completed the race in 07:25:44 and the following year, he improved his time by 17 minutes after crossing the line in 07:08:44.

“Challenge accepted. Despite setbacks with minor injuries, I’m ready. I just have to do some hill sessions to be fully ready,” he said.

The two-time Comrades finisher said getting a silver won’t be a challenge for him. His best finish was achieved on the up-run in 2019. He’s challenged himself to finish this year’s down-run under 06:30.

“I run to work from Monday to Friday and on May 21, I did a 64km solo run. Getting a silver won’t be a challenge for me. I’m challenging myself to get an early silver. I aim to finish in sub-6:30.”

Although Modisha and company are ready for the challenge, the club had 19 members who qualified for the ultimate human race but seven had to withdraw due to ill-health and injuries.

Added to their problems is a lack of sponsorship, which is bothering Nhlapo because they urgently need tracksuits for their Comrades participants.

“We’ve tried by all means to reach out to businesspeople here in Daveyton to sponsor us. Last year, we were fortunate to raise enough money to buy sweaters for our Comrades runners. This year, we tried the same strategy. Unfortunately, no one has come through,” Nhlapo said.

She added that their financial problems, along with a lack of a training facility, further hampered their development plans as one of their objectives is to increase the number of their young runners, which currently sits at seven.

“We don’t want to see our young people sitting on the corners because we know drugs are a problem in our community. Our main objective is to take them out of the streets and develop them into runners.

“We are appealing to local businesspeople, especially those around Daveyton, to boost us. What we are doing is going to benefit the entire community.”

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