ALTHOUGH the legendary mountain gorilla, ‘Mighty Joe Young’ might have topped the charts in 1998, Empangeni’s very own star, Joe Bellingham (68) has been making headlines since 1964.
Born and bred in Johannesburg, Joe started his career in athletics when he joined the Diggers Club in matric.
Quickly making history, he featured as Huisgenoot’s sportsman of the week and countless newspaper publications in his day.
Crowned the 1964 SA Schools Champs winner, Joe competed in an international cross-country event in the then Rhodesia in both 1967 and 1968.
Later that year, Joe won the SA cross-Country Championships and the following year broke two South African records.
‘We ran the one-hour record at altitude which at the time, was the furthest distance on the African continent- about 12 miles and 359 yards. I was the only person to run it three times and each time I broke my own record,’ said Joe.
Walking away as the title holder in the Germiston Callies Harriers annual 25km run and several others in the early days of his career, Joe said one of his most prestigious wins was the SA Marathon Champs.
‘A marathon is a man’s race,’ he chuckled.
‘I was one of only 100 champions at the time and the second South African to break the two hours 20 minutes record when I won by six minutes,’ he said.
At the end of 1969, Joe stopped running and made a grand comeback in 1973 where he claimed victory and broke the record at the Southern Transvaal Marathon Champs.
‘I actually booked off a week from work to run the race. Little did I know, my face would be all over the news and I got a blasting from my boss upon my return,’ Joe said.
After countless wins that year, and labelled as ‘unbeatable’- Joe stopped running again.
Empangeni
It was 35 years later and by then, completely blind in his right eye, Joe started running again.
‘In 2010, I competed in the SA Champs and came third in my age category. I got my provincial colours when I started running for the Athletics Gauteng North.’
In May 2013, Joe moved to Empangeni and continues to participate in athletic competitions.
‘I want to get my KZN colours – that is my goal. I am sure I will be good enough to be in a team. All I need is a sponsor because my trips to Durban to compete have proved costly since I am a pensioner.’
Joe runs 6km every morning and is a keen racing pigeon fan.
‘I love it in Empangeni, I am a Joburg boy, but I would never go back, and since moving here, I have made some friends with the same interests,’ he said.
