Multiple Comrades Marathon champion Bongmusa Mthembu was taken aback to find himself sitting alongside the male top ten contenders for Sunday’s 97th running of the Ultimate Human Race.
“I was surprised to be invited. I was not expecting myself to be here,” the three-time Comrades winner who missed out on a top ten finish last year – leading many to consider him way past his sell-by-date.
He was not about to entertain the idea he is finished though, Mthembu telling the media that they only know him on race day and have no idea of the challenges he faces.
“Two percent of you do not know Bongmusa. You only know Bongmusa who is running Comrades. You don’t know what I go through from December, but you can write,” he responded to a question. “I respect running, Running is my life. Whenever I do not do well, you don’t know what I have gone through. You just write about what you see and the results only. You don’t see what happens.”
A close runner-up to Edward Mothibi in the last Up-Run five years ago, Mthembu described himself as ready for Sunday’s run.
“My preparation went very well. I am as prepared as I have been here. I went out of KZN to get the altitude training. I am going to do very well (in the race) and I am not thinking about age. I know how to run Comrades. I know how to compete at this level. So, let’s see how it goes.”
Mthembu will be starting his 17th Comrades and chasing his 10th gold medal and fourth victory of what has been a stellar career in the world famous ultra marathon. Incredibly though, the majority of those top ten finishes were in the Down Run – the man from Bulwer having won seven golds when the race was run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. He has only ever got two on the up – in 2017 when he won and five years ago when Mothibi denied him the hat-trick by leaving him at the top of Polly Shortts.
He would no doubt love to get his 10th gold in what appears to be a route he has not mastered yet.
Meanwhile ‘flying’ Dutchman Piet Wiersma is back for seconds after running the Comrades ‘blindly’ last year, but producing a big scare with his runner-up finish. And this time he is thoroughly prepared.
A student in Italy, he returns for the Ultimate Human Race more knowledgeable not only about the race but his adversaries as well.
Speaking during the elite runners’ pre-ace media conference at a hotel on the Durban beach promenade, the man who gave Tete Dijana a mighty scare at the finish line of Last year’s Down-Run inside the Kingsmead Stadium, made it clear he is here to fight for glory.
“I ran blindly last year and it worked out for me. My only task was to stay with the group until 60 and then speed up. I don’t think personally for me things will change much now that I am known (by the competition). I am still a favourite. I feel confident about my training,” said the man who revealed he did six weeks’ training at high-altitude.
“I trained better and I did a lot more hill work. I spent six weeks in Kenya and that was my first long training camp so let’s see how it turns out so I can go and give it a go. Last year I just knew which group to stick to. But now I have done more research. I know some of the guys, I know then course. But that’s not what will make a difference, my training will. I cannot promise to win this weekend but I can promise to run the best race of my life.”
IOL Sport