Jerry’s 25th Comrades
After two broken legs and a broken hip, you'd think a man would give up on his dreams - but not this man.
Jerry Maseko is a 52 year old Comrades legend who will be running his 25th Comrades on Sunday.
“Running is my medication and I get sick when I don’t do it.”
In 1991 Jerry ran his first Comrades and he only ever missed one race since then.
“I broke both my legs and was in a wheelchair for three months and two months on crutches. I recovered quickly and ran the Comrades the following year. Although my time wasn’t great, I still finished and that’s what it’s all about.”
Jerry has won 17 silver medals which means he has run 17 Comrades below 7 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds.
“This year my plan is to get another silver medal. My long term plan is to have 20 silver medals and then I want to continue running until I have run at least 30 Comrades. I’ll stop running until the day people stop drinking.”
Being a Comrades legend, Jerry doesn’t have to pay for registration and he gets invited to run the Comrades.
He has been part of Eskom AC since 2001. He doesn’t have a sponsor and he is his own coach.
“My best time was 06:31 before my legs were broken and if I don’t run a silver medal this year, I at least want to run below eight hours.”
Never has Jerry once not completed a race and when he did his first 42 km, he came last.
“The sponsors, ambulances, fire brigade and police all escorted me. I was last but I finished. At the end I received a bag of oranges and a pair of shoes for my courage. After that, I never finished last ever again.”
Before he goes to work, Jerry runs at least two hours and sometimes rests just once a day.
On Thursday he had a 10 km run and he’ll only run again on Saturday before race day.
“I’ll be driving to Pietermaritzburg and then my legs will be a bit stiff. So on Saturday I’ll run 5 km.”
His secret is that he listens to his body and never changes anything on race day.
Jerry eats four slices of bread with peanut butter before training or running and he’ll be sticking to his nutrition.
“Don’t ever run on an empty stomach. I also drink at least a litre of fluids an hour before I run. When I’m on the road, I’ll take the potatoes or bananas but not to eat, just to snack. When I take Coke and water at the first station, I stick to it. When I take yellow Powerade at the first station, I stick to it. Don’t confuse your stomach on this tough day.”
In 2012 Jerry was in a road accident and broke his hip but he still got a bronze medal at the Comrades.
When Jerry isn’t running, he works for an insurance company and is also the vice president of Athletics Mpumalanga.
“Since 1994 I’ve been part of the executive board. I want Mpumalanga to prosper and use the potential we have.”
He is especially active in the development and training in rural areas.
“We need to keep our people of the streets and rather introduce them to sport like running.”
His main aim is to have locals running.
His whole family loves sport and he teaches them especially four things:
•It’s important how you present yourself
•You need to be healthy
•You must be positive about yourself
•Do a lot and say less.
And what will be going through his mind on Sunday?
“I tell myself that it is not the end of the world. Although I am not first, I am not last. I know I started and I know I will finish.”
Jerry is an amazing person and his positive spirit touches you. He is quite an inspiration to anyone who wants to live limitless.
“Running inspires me and refreshes my mind. All in all, I just love my running.”
