Former Benoni Northerns Athletics Club (BNAC) runner Bright Mikolongwe came back from a five-month injury lay-off to clinch his first podium since joining Nick Bester’s Nedbank Running Club earlier this year.
Mikolongwe injured his left ankle and took longer than expected to recover. But in his first race back, he quickly settled and ran like he was never out for five months to finish the Tommy Malone Memorial Race men’s 15km on October 13, third.
The Malawian was part of a six-man chasing group shortly after the gun and by the 2km mark, he, along with winner Kabelo Mwahla and runner-up Kopano Muso turned it into a three-horse race after dropping the leading pair of Michael Pienaar and Heinrich Kamffer.
However, Mikolongwe began to fade as the twists and turns in Parkrand took their toll on his not-yet-fully recovered ankle. He and Muso fell behind as Mwahla dropped them and eventually won in 49:00.
Muso finished second in 49:39 and Mikolongwe clocked 50:51 for third place.
“The race was good, no complaints. As always, whenever the Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC) host a race, the marshalling was on point. I’m thankful to God. I always try my best. I’m happy and thankful to God for giving me the strength today,” he said.
The runner took it easy after his coach, Ian Morshead, advised him to “take it step by step” to avoid reinjuring his ankle, hence he decided to step back when he felt some discomfort on the injured left ankle on some of the corners on the course.
“Every race has challenges. Here, there were too many ups and downs and twists and turns. So with my injury, I had to take it easy on the turns. My injury is on the left foot. If I made a mistake and continued to push hard, I wouldn’t have finished third.
“I know I’m a fast runner but after realising my ankle is still sore, I dropped my pace and when I felt comfortable, I pushed.”
Mikolongwe dominated the shorter distances for years but switched to the marathon after clocking his PB of 02:19:31 in the distance at the Trac4 Elands Marathon in March.
He has been working hard on his endurance and provided he stays fit and injury free, he believes he could succeed in the longer distances.
He would have participated in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon this weekend had he recovered from his injury on time.
“I took longer to recover so my coach thought it would be best to look at the Soweto Marathon in November. I’m preparing for that to see how I would perform and would then start to build-up for next year.”
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