Montrose Primary teacher shares his emotional Comrades story
What started as an ultra-marathon for Mokhosi Makara, turned into a deeply personal tribute to a mother, and a message about men speaking out.
Mokhosi Makara didn’t just run the Comrades Marathon for a medal… He ran for meaning.
The teacher and marketing manager at Montrose Primary School says the race becomes something deeper every time he lines up, but this year it carried two powerful personal causes:
Raising awareness for men’s mental health and honouring his late mother. “I think running Comrades is a very special race. Every time I run, I dedicate it to something bigger than me.
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That’s what pushes me, especially after the 60km mark. That’s when I go back to my why and it carries me through.”
That why included a growing concern about how men deal with emotional pain.
“It’s not spoken about enough. I have seen my male friends keep things inside. You can see it slowly eating away at them. Even with my dad after my mom passed, I saw how much he suffered quietly.”
For Makara, the message became even clearer during the race itself. Around the 80km mark, after Polly Shortts, he saw runners pushing through exhaustion while carrying photographs of loved ones.
“People were struggling, but they kept going. It showed me everyone is running for something bigger than themselves.”
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The most emotional moments, however, came much closer to home. At around 70km, cramps set in, and with them came memory.
“My mom used to pray for me before every Comrades. When I was struggling, I thought about those prayers. It felt like she was still there, still carrying me.”
Makara described his mother as a woman whose impact stretched far beyond her family.
@caxtonjoburgnorth Mokhosi Makara, a teacher and marketing manager at Montrose Primary School, speaks about his Comrades Marathon journey. Video: Duduzile Khumalo #caxtonlocalmedia #Localnews #newsupdate #Communitynews #southafricatiktok🇿🇦🇿🇦 #johannesburg #SOUTHAFRICA #Sandton #localsports ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
“She took in children from broken homes and raised them. Some are now professionals who came back to support her. Even in her passing, people she helped contributed. She was loved by the community she served.”
His message coming out of the race is: “Speaking about your challenges to the right people is not weakness. It’s strength. It can be the difference between someone surviving or not.”
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