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Mandisi Dyantyis is taking on the Comrades Marathon for the third time after an impressive performance in the 2024 race.
Mandisi Dyantyis will be participating in his third Comrades Marathon this weeknd for the Methodist Church. Picture: Supplied
Musician Mandisi Dyantyis is running the Comrades Marathon for a third time this year, but this time he will be doing it to help the Methodist Church.
“The Methodist church has a bursary fund that helps underprivileged kids with registration, books and with things in the university. It’s been going on forever, but its funds have depleted, so we’re just doing whatever we can,” Dyantyis told The Citizen.
Dyantyis said that, more than raising funds, he is also trying to raise awareness about the depletion of funds.
The Tsietsi Mashinini Bursary Fund within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) is a bursary fund focused on empowering Methodist youth in Southern Africa by facilitating their access to tertiary education.
“I guess not even raise funds, but first raise awareness about it because a lot of people didn’t know that the thing [the bursary] even existed,” he shared.
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Comrades Marathon
In his participation at last year’s Comrades, the Ungancami singer clocked in an impressive time of 9:33:58 at an average pace of 06:41 min/km.
Crossing the line just after 3pm, Dyantyis was one of the 1 ,313 athletes who ran and finished the race before the 12-hour cut-off time.
“You know, Comrades training is long, and I think if you keep consistency for a long time, then you’re probably gonna benefit,” he said, adding that part of this year’s preparation was running at Two Oceans Marathon, and he continued training after the April marathon.
“My training has been very good, I think it’s the best one I’ve had so far,” he said.
When asked about his targets for the year, the singer spoke modestly.
“Honestly, runners who are running in my sort of ability are constantly trying to get to the nine-hour mark. So anything in the nine-hour mark, that’s sort of our holy grail, as it were. So it’s not going to be different for me this year, I’ll try and be around that nine-hour mark.”
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‘Running for me is meditative’
Dyantyis has previously spoken about his love for running and being outdoors. He says the running benefits his artistry.
“It’s everything,” he says of his running.
“Everything we do in music is very emotional, every aspect of music –whether it’s writing, rehearsing, practising, performing, engaging people-it’s all emotional…and so you need an outlet where you can let all of that out. You need an outlet where you can be alone and sort of meditate.”
“Running for me is meditative because you’re by yourself, you know, you’re using your God-given body and no other aide. So you’re constantly in touch with how your body works, how your breathing works, how your mind works, and these are the things you need to be able to communicate with people with music,” he shared.
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Playing with a 65-piece ensemble
While preparing for the upcoming marathon, Dyantyis is also staging performances at Cape Town’s Artscape Opera House alongside the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
Both the marathon and the upcoming shows are taxing on different fronts, but Dyantyis says he enjoys pushing himself.
“We’ve got 24 hours in a day, I love to challenge my body and my mind. I think that’s when I get excited about these things because I’m able to do other things, like after comrades, it’s gonna be work, and then I’m gonna miss running. I was in England for a month and a half, and I missed being on stage. I always need to do things that make me remember that I’m fortunate to be in this position.”
The Cape Town shows are set for July 11th and 12th, while a one-time show in Joburg at Emperors Palace Centre Court will take place later in July, where he will share the stage with a 50-piece orchestra.
Dyantyis says these upcoming shows will be different from what fans have seen him do in the last few years, particularly because listeners of his music are eagerly awaiting a new body of work since the critically acclaimed album Cwaka from 2021.
“This one is the biggest one yet, in terms of format. Not in terms of the show itself. I’m having to relearn the music, there’s a lot of risks in the music,” expressed Dyantyis.
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Dyantyis on new music
For these shows, Dyantyis will play fan favourites off Cwaka and Somandla, and will also perform unreleased music from his highly anticipated third album, Intlambululu.
Explaining the meaning of the upcoming album, the singer said the title has a double meaning.
“It’s very layered. It’s Intlambululu, to cleanse and ukuhlabulula, to repent. And you look at those two words and what they mean…the next project really is zoning into the inner self, the things that make you wake up at night,” he said the muso.
When asked about a release date, Dyantyis couldn’t commit.
“No, no, no…it will appear. You will sleep one day, and it will be just there. I’m sure before the 31st of December, the only date that can be guaranteed is the 31st of December,” he said, bursting into laughter.
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