Teacher runs her sixth Comrades Marathon

Making it with 46 minutes to spare, local woman Giovanna Cocciante crossed the finish line at this year’s Comrades Marathon in 11 hours and 14 minutes.

Giovanna, an English home language teacher from Grade 8 to 12 at Ladysmith High School (LHS), took part in her sixth Comrades over the weekend.

Aside from running, Giovanna enjoys reading and hiking.

With six months to a year of preparation for each Comrades, her motto has been “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”.

In her opinion, an up run is easier as it is less strain on the legs, but this doesn’t mean your legs aren’t sore anyway.

Making it even tougher this year was the fact that she was suffering from a head cold. Her best time in a Comrades is 10 hours and 26 minutes. The 40-year-old runner was hoping to make it in under 11 hours, but says her head cold really slowed her down. The last 6km were the toughest, according to her.

She adds that the spectators really pulled her through. She explains that she started losing hope early on in the race, but when she saw a colleague of hers, Mrs van der Berg, motivating her at the 10km mark, tears filled her eyes and she knew she was going to continue and finish no matter what.

Although the staff, learners and her training partners are always firmly behind her, as well as her brother who has been there every year in support (taking her to the start and waiting for her at the finish line), she says this will be her last Comrades as it is not easy and is just getting too much. “I made a commitment to do the Comrades this year and although I had a cold and was not sure if I was going to make it, I still gave it my best and finished in time,” smiles a proud Giovanna.

She concludes that the Comrades Marathon is a very humbling race. “To see blind runners complete the race, it shows that we should be grateful for what we have.”

A word of advice for all the runners out there who are thinking of tackling the Comrades: “It’s a privilege and getting to the start line is an achievement in itself. Keep on running, remain disciplined, maintain focus, stay committed and you can finish the race.”

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