Wanderers’ running doctor chases under 9-hour up run at this year’s Comrades
For Dr Kirsten Morley-Jepson, Comrades is more than a race. The Wanderers runner and anaesthesiologist says it is the best day of the entire year as she prepares to tackle the iconic ultra marathon for the fifth time.
Dr Kirsten Morley-Jepson, a proud member of Wanderers Athletics Club, is lacing up for her fifth Comrades Marathon this year with one goal firmly in mind: Finishing the up run in under nine hours.
Having claimed her Bill Rowan medal last year on the down run, the Johannesburg-based anaesthesiologist knows what it takes. “It would be special to go under nine again, but, above all, I just want to soak it all in and enjoy my favourite day of the year.”
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Her running journey began in 2012, when her now husband coaxed her into joining Braamfie Runners in Braamfontein.
One step led to another, and she soon found her natural home at Wanderers Athletics Club, where her mother is something of a legend, having played hockey and golf at the club for decades and earning honorary membership along the way.
Fittingly, it was peer pressure of the most affectionate kind that first brought her to the Comrades start line. Two hockey teammates convinced her to enter. “I suffer from terrible FOMO (fear of missing out),” she laughed. Fourteen years, 42 marathons and ultramarathons later, that admission has clearly served her well.
Balancing training with a demanding career in anaesthesiology is no small feat, but Morley-Jepson frames it beautifully.
“Running gives me the chance to get outdoors and take my mind off what can be a very cerebral and high-intensity job.”
Far from being a sacrifice, running has become her social world, with Wanderers providing a community of friends she has travelled with to races locally and abroad.
For her, Comrades is about far more than personal glory. “I always say Comrades is the best day of the entire year. It brings together thousands of South Africans from every walk of life. There is no greater day to champion the human spirit.”
Ask her about the finish line, and she needs no prompting. “There has never been a Comrades finish that hasn’t turned on the waterworks.”
This year, she runs not just for a medal, but for the sheer, uncontainable love of it.
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