DURBAN occupational therapist Sara Mohamedy is gearing up to take on her fourth Comrades Marathon where she hopes to improve her time of 11:23 in the endurance-testing ultramarathon on Sunday, June 14.

Mahomedy will be among the thousands of athletes battling through the 85km Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, in under 12 hours. With her previous time sitting at 11:23, Mahomedy said she is aiming to complete this year’s race in 11:00, but would be just as happy with finishing.
“It’s tiring but there is less pain in the up run,” said Mahomedy.

“Comrades is 60% mental strength and 40% physical strain, and giving up is not an option for me. You need to be of strong mind to get to the finish line.”

Motivating Mahomedy to get to the finish line on time will be her fundraising goal of R10 000 for the NPO Community Chest. “When my feet hurt, it’s the thought of helping thousands of little ones at early childhood development centres that will help me to the finish,” she said.

Also Read: Charities rake in big bucks at Comrades

The NPO supports children, the elderly, disabled, mentally handicapped, and STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Maths) projects throughout the province.

“So when you donate to my Comrades Marathon run, you can be assured that 100% of all proceeds is directly channelled to those needing it,” said Mahomedy, who began her running career while in high school to improve her fitness and manage her weight.

“I was chubby back then and took up running to aid my weight loss. It soon became my routine throughout university and I have not stopped since,” said Mahomedy.

“My first 21km was in 2019 and my first marathon was in 2020. Comrades was always on my bucket list. You can never get a better feeling than the first one.”

She encouraged her fellow runners to run their own race come June 14. Her advice to other runners is, “To get to the finish line, you need to be able to run Comrades alone. Be in your own head, don’t get held up and don’t hold others up. Take a leap of faith and do it.”

To run alongside Mahomedy by supporting her Comrades fundraising efforts, visit https://charity.comrades.com/ to donate on her page.

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