Bromhof and Randpark Ridge brothers share their yearly dedication to the Comrades Marathon
Local brothers train for Comrades Marathon by running to work and fetching their children.
Bromhof resident Lesiba Sethoga and his brother-in-law Raymond Ndzo will participate in the 2022 Comrades Marathon on August 28.
This will be Sethoga’s eighth marathon and Randpark Ridge resident Ndzo’s fifth. Sethoga’s wife Nthabiseng shared how the two turned running into their daily mode of transport. “They run to work and to school when they fetch their children,” she said.
She added that their late brother-in-law Khotso Kotso was a coach to Ludwick Mamabolo who had placed in the top 10 of the Comrades several times. Furthermore, their other late brother-in-law Tumelo Kotso placed 11th in the 2009 Soweto Marathon, so evidently, these ‘brothers’ had been born to run.
Sethoga and Ndzo said they had begun training for the marathon in January this year.
“Running is part of my life. I do most of my training through the commute, which is I run between work and home. I have been doing this since 2011 and sometimes cycle to work to rest from running,” said Sethoga.
Ndzo shared that his biggest challenge was the weather during the rainy seasons and Sethoga admitted injuries were his.
“During my first Comrades experience I had a lot of cramping in my legs during the last quarter of the race,” said Ndzo.
Sethoga added, “My first race was in 2013. I had very bad shin splints and was advised to rest from running a couple of weeks before the race.” He said he learnt to never compete in anything that was brand new after he ran in brand new cycling shorts that had chafed him.
Ndzo shared that with more training over the years, the challenges seemed to lessen. Sethoga said running opened many doors for him. “I took part in the Allianz Sports, Allianz’s ‘Olympics’ for its employees around the world in Munich in 2018.” He also participated in Barcelona this year and ran in the 5 000m and 1 500m.
“The most important part of our being is our bodies because if you don’t have a healthy body you cannot fulfil your purpose. You need a healthy body to fulfil your purpose in life,” said Sethoga who hoped his participation would encourage South Africans to live healthy lifestyles.
During the lockdown, Ndzo focused on his studies and did not train while Sethoga continued to do bodyweight training and run.
