Bringing home the Comrades spirit

On Sunday morning over 20 000 brave souls donned their running shoes, gathered in the dark at the start line in Durban and set off on the epic journey that was the 90th running of the evergreen Comrades marathon.

The Dolphin Coast Striders and Tongaat Panthers AC were part of the many thousands who conquered the hot, hilly up-run, with 37 Dolphins and 15 Panthers crossing the finish line.

“Vulindele Zweni was our first Dolphin man home in a great time of 7:14:16 and received a silver medal, while our top Dolphin ladies were Candice Kater and Nikola Ramsden finishing in a fantastic time of 9:16:41,” said Dolphin Coast Striders’ Sarah Swainson.

The Tongaat Panthers’ Strini Moodley was particularly proud of Thembile Qhaniso, who was the club’s front runner and received his green number after he finished his tenth comrades in a time of 7:31:48.

Xolile Bixi was the second Panther home and both Qhaniso and him received the Bill Rowen medal.

“Sajhida Abdool and Zandile Mtshali were the only two ladies for the club and finished the race in a time of 10:41:50 and 11:52:21 respectively, which we are very proud of,” said Moodley.

What made this Comrades particularly exciting was that for the first time in 23 years, both the men and women’s race were won by South Africans.

“It is really encouraging to see that six of the men’s gold medals and four of the women’s were South African, which made Sunday a truly great day for South African running,” said Swainson.

So if you did not make the Comrades this year, get your running shoes on and start training, because the next one is only one year away.