Comrades runner shares his running journey

Leon du Plessis (58) from the Florida Running Club is the kind of runner you’ll hear about in the same breath as legends and lunatics — a true ‘crazy’ who has turned the gruelling Comrades Marathon into a personal tradition.

With 14 Comrades under his belt (two completed virtually), the running enthusiast has six Bill Rowen medals and is aiming to complete 20 marathons.

Speaking to the Roodepoort Record, he shared that he has already qualified for the 2026 edition, and he has made it a personal goal to challenge himself, proving that passion and perseverance with a touch of madness can turn into a lifelong habit.

He also holds a permanent green race number, an honour awarded to runners who have completed the Comrades 10 or more times, or who have won the race three times, or earned five gold medals. He said holding the green number is a massive achievement in the running space, and he is proud to have done it.

“I started running in 2011 after I was into mountain biking for many years. I ran my first Comrades in 2012, where I completed the race in 08:50:00 and earned my first Bill Rowan medal. My personal best is 08:39:00.

“I started running just for fun, and through hard work and dedication, I turned it into a lifelong passion,” he said.

His words of encouragement to novices or aspiring Comrades runners are that no one else can push them to take on the race – they have to want it for themselves and be utterly determined.

Adding to his Comrades achievements, Leon has also done the Two Oceans Marathon once, run 139 parkruns and has toured 91 different parkrun routes.

Every year, he also competes in the 947 Ride Joburg and has done 12 races in total, including 16 mountain bike races.

He also prides himself on raising awareness for prostate and testicular cancer in men by running the Hollard Daredevil.

In his club for 2025, he was awarded the first Comrades Runner for 2025, Best Performance for Comrades and the men’s Road Runner of the Year.