Ambitious runner is in need of sponsors
BURGERSFORT – “Why do you run next to the road every day?” several motorists have asked Thapelo Maphori (33). He has been training for the past five years in the hope of taking part in the Comrades Marathon one day. His ambition to achieve his highest goal, has had Thapelo going around businesses in town, …
BURGERSFORT – “Why do you run next to the road every day?” several motorists have asked Thapelo Maphori (33).
He has been training for the past five years in the hope of taking part in the Comrades Marathon one day. His ambition to achieve his highest goal, has had Thapelo going around businesses in town, asking for sponsorship.
He has completed and been rated in several races and was among the top 10 in the Soweto Marathon. The Comrades, which takes place on June 1 requires all entrants to qualify by completing an officially recognised race. “I want to complete the Two Oceans Marathon on Easter weekend in Cape Town but don’t have the necessary funds to do so,” says Thapelo.
Although entries for both these runs have closed for this year, Thapelo would still require sponsors if he wished to compete next year. “I need a bicycle, athletics uniform, money for transport, accommodation and running shoes. I am unemployed at the moment and would work for these items if I am given the opportunity. I come from a very poor background but I am willing to take any job in order to pay for myself,” he says.
Thapelo discovered a love of athletics in Diphale Primary School. With him he carries a list of contacts or references. “I am a good, kind Christian man without any criminal record. My wish is to run against crime and child abuse. If I could have my way I would run for the rest of my life,” he says.
He can be contacted on 072-514-0170 or 072-592-8800.
The Comrades Marathon is the world’s oldest and largest ultra-marathon run over a distance of approximately 90 kilometres between the capital of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban. The entry cap for this year is 18 000 runners and is the same for 2014.
The first Comrades Marathon took place on May 24, 1921, Empire Day, starting outside the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg with 34 runners.
It has continued since, annually, with the exception of the war years 1941-1945, with the direction alternating each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the so-called up and down runs.
