Aiming for bag back-to-back Comrades medals

Nontobeko Dlamini from Greenhills is aiming for back-to-back Comrades Medals this year.

Nontobeko explained she’s been running since high school. Her dad, who also finished the Comrades Marathon, always took them to races. For a while, she stopped but in 2015 decided to run again.

In 2023 she started taking the sport more seriously by training regularly and competing in races.

She joined RandMark early in 2024 as she wanted a community to run with and also planned on competing in the Comrades Marathon for which you need to be part of a club.

Now in good training mode, she is preparing for the Kosmos 3in1 race which she hopes to be her qualifier for this year’s Comrades. In 2024 she finished in a time of 11:30:00 and looking to win back-to-back medals.

She explained the Kosmos 3in1 is a whole day’s race and added she is extremely proud to have finished the race in 2024.

“You start with a 42,2km race and after a break, you do a 21,1km race. After another break, you finish with a 10km race. The challenge is cooling down during the break before you start running again.”

She also appreciates the support given to the runners during the race.

To aspiring runners, she advised, “Get your mind right, running is a mental sport as well as a physical sport. Having a group to run with is also helpful for both motivation and momentum and you meet amazing people.”

She added other runners can also offer you advice about nutrition, sleep, hydration and other factors that affect your running.

For Nontobeka, hydration is very important, not only to save your kidneys but also to help your body perform.

Having the right running gear is another crucial aspect, especially having the correct shoes to prevent injuries to your knees and hips. She added this is the first thing a person should consider before running.