Cool down with local Comrades athletes
Nkosinathi Ngcongo from Stella Athletic Club, who finished his 17th Comrades, and Brett Goodwin from Hollywood Athletic Club, who ran his first Comrades, share their experiences from the day of the race.
Ahead of the Comrades Marathon, Berea Mail featured several athletes who planned to tackle the race. We followed up with two of those athletes to find out how the race went, what their times were and most importantly … if they plan to return for the 2024 Up Run.
AMONG the thousands of athletes who tackled the 2023 Comrades Marathon were Berea-based athletes, Stella Athletic Club’s Nkosinathi Ngcongo (47) and Hollywood Athletic Club’s Brett Goodwin.
The 96th Comrades Marathon enjoyed a 92.68% finish rate – the highest finishing rate in the race’s 102-year history.
Ngcongo first ran the iconic race in 2005 when he received a Bill Rowan medal – which is awarded to anyone finishing Comrades between 07:30:00 and 8:59:59. This year marked his 17th Comrades, and Ngcongo set his sites on a sub-six-hour run.
“It was okay. I smashed my personal best by 13 minutes to complete the marathon in six hours and 55 seconds. I didn’t reach my goal – I wanted to run just under six hours,” said the athlete.
Ngcobo notes that the competition was fierce in this year’s race.
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“It was faster than usual. I placed further back, coming in 64th. Last year, I placed 47th, even though my running time was longer – six hours and 15 minutes. The year before that, I placed 34th with a time of six hours and 13 minutes. So it means runners are improving a lot,” he said.
Ngcongo added that his running club, Stella Athletic Club, ran the fastest time overall for the 40-and-older age group.
“The weather was perfect. You always feel the pain, but you run with the pain when you know what you want,” he said.
First Comrades done and dusted
For Brett Goodwin (33), this year marked his first Comrades Marathon – which he hoped to complete around the 10-hour mark.
“It was a good first run. I didn’t manage to make the time I wanted, but I wasn’t far off. I completed the marathon in 10 hours and 15 minutes. I had a really bad patch from 20–30km. From 30–60km, I was feeling better, and then from the 60km mark, it was a mental game until the end,” said Goodwin.
A highlight for the runner was passing the halfway mark where his colleagues came out in their numbers to show their support to the runners.
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“A highlight was running through the Hollywoodbets halfway mark in Drummond – especially because there were 1 200 team members there from the company. It definitely picked up my spirits,” said Goodwin.
Ahead of the marathon, Goodwin told Berea Mail that he planned to run next year’s race alongside his uncle, Barry Holland, a Comrades legend who holds the record for the most Comrades finishes. Holland completed his 49th Comrades this year, and Goodwin plans to run the ‘big 5-oh’ alongside him.
“I will definitely tackle next year’s Comrades with my uncle,” concluded Goodwin.
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