Bongani Msimango (35) is the star athlete of Vryheid Athletics Club. Bongani started his running career in primary school when he competed in cross country and track events. His first long-distance event was in 1999 when he ran the City to City Marathon, which was 50 kilometres long. He received a bronze medal in that race. In 2005, he competed in the Zululand District Ultra-Marathon (56km), where he led for 45 kilometres before being overtaken to finish second. Bongani was determined to win the ZDM Ultra-Marathon before entering the Comrades and achieved his goal in 2006 by finishing in first place. The following year, he entered the Comrades for the first time and finished 51st in a time of 6:18.33 for the 90km down run. In 2008, he ran his most difficult Comrades (up run) in a time of 6:28.53 to place 53rd. 2011 saw him running the Comrades again; a race he considers to be his best up run. He finished 18th in a time of just over six hours and received a silver medal. In the same year, he was chosen as part of the South African team to compete at the Commonwealth Games in England. He was the first African man to finish in the 55km race, placing 21st overall in a time of 4:53.29. In 2012, Bongani ran his best Comrades down run in a time of 5:53.40 to place 26th and receive another silver medal, as well as the Wally Hayward medal. This medal is awarded to runners who didn’t finish in the top 10, but who still completed the race in a time of under six hours. During last year’s Comrades, Bongani struggled due to numerous injuries. He has run 11 Comrades in total, and feels despondent at not being able to run this year due to the national lockdown. He already started training for the 2020 Comrades last year November. On the positive side though, the 2021 Comrades will be a down run, which is what he is currently training for. Bongani believes in eating plenty of potatoes, and brown bread with Marmite and peanut butter, to enhance his performance during long-distance races. He has great plans for the future, since he would like to help and train young athletes. His advice to any young athlete is to start during summertime with cross country and track. He also advises that young athletes only start long-distance running from the age of 16 years old, and then only 10km and 21km races. Bongani trained himself by reading an athletics coaching book he received as a gift. When he is not training, Bongani enjoys his work at the pharmacy as a general maintenance handyman, and at home he is an avid farmer and gardener. We wish Bongani all the best with his training for the 2021 Comrades, in which he wants to honour Vryheid with a gold medal.

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