A member of the Run Alex Athletics Club Khutso Mogashoa (31) is on cloud nine after he etched his name in the annals of running history with a stunning silver medal, finishing the race in six hours, 56 minutes, and 30 seconds at the recent 2024 Comrades Marathon.
Mogashoa was born and grew up in Limpopo and moved to Alexandra in 2011 while studying at Ekurhuleni West College’s Kempton Park Campus.
His love for running began in 2015 when he started running to stay fit after giving up soccer.
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“I was inspired by Sipho Ngomane’s victory in the 2006 Comrades Marathon at the age of 23. I was a teenager at that time, doing my high school grades, and I told myself that one day I will be the one who takes victory on the Comrades Marathon,” he said.
He registered for the Pirates 10km race in 2015, his first official race, and finished in 43 minutes. “I later registered for the 2015 Soweto Marathon and finished in four hours and 10 minutes.”
From there on, he ran other marathons, building up to the 2016 Comrades Marathon which he finished in seven hours and 22 minutes.
For the 2024 Comrades Marathon, he said his strategy was to run at his full pace, which gave him an estimated finishing time of six hours or less, but the uphill stint of the race showed him flames just before he could reach the halfway point.
“I then went for plan B, which was to maintain a five minutes per kilometre pace for the rest of the race, so that I could at least finish in less than seven hours, 30 minutes to get a silver medal,” he said.
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He could not believe that he managed to win a silver medal after being in the running wilderness, taking a two-year break from the sport.
“I couldn’t believe I crossed the finish line in less than seven hours and got the silver medal because I thought this was beyond my reach as I was dragging myself during the race. This accomplishment has revived my running passion which had faded for a while. And to see my club [Run Alex Athletics Club] celebrating my victory means a lot to me.”
Mogashoa encourages perseverance and dedication to overcome obstacles and for dreams to come true. “Running marathons is one example that shows that working hard to reach your goals can help you in life.”
