For Benoni Northerns Athletic Club’s (BNAC) top runner, Nico Pretorius, finishing the Comrades Marathon is the result of being obsessive about getting the best out of himself.
Pretorius grabbed his fifth consecutive Comrades silver medal in the up-run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on June 9, after finishing the race in 07:12:19.
“My hobbies and interests are running, endurance sports and cycling. They intrigue me. I was not blessed to win the race, but nothing can stop me from training as hard as my body can handle,” he said.
The runner received his first silver in 2011 with a time of 07:25:32. He added his second the following year in 07:12:01, before taking a decade-long break from the Ultimate Human Race for another bucket list item.
In 2022, he added his third silver in 07:02:45 and last year he recorded his Comrades personal best of 06:53:49 in the down-run and made it five with another spirited run in June.
“You have to be obsessive about getting the best of yourself. Don’t just participate. I can appreciate people partaking in an event, but you must do the best you can. Give yourself a shot and see how far you can go.”
This never-die attitude has seen Pretorius break boundaries and shatter the glass ceiling in every sphere of his life. All his successes were the results of a hard grind and pushing his body to the limit.
He first took part in the Comrades in 2004 after taking inspiration from his dad, a regular at the ultra marathon. He finished the race at 08:57:37 for Bill Rowan medal, which he had trained for.
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He skipped the 2005 race to focus on studies, returning the following year for another Bill Rowan, which he obtained in an improved 07:48:10.
“I wanted to go for a silver. I was young and strong so I trained hard, but I missed the silver. It was in the middle of the exams; I didn’t do well, so I skipped 2007. In 2008, I ran again but it wasn’t good,” he said.
He finished the 2008 race in 08:33:04 for his third Bill Rowan medal.
The turning point came before the start of the 2011 race when he asked for help from renowned ultra-distance coach John Hamlett.
With Hamlett’s exceptional training programme, which included a three-week training camp in Dullstroom, Pretorius raced to his first silver. He added his second in the 2012 down-run.
Having ticked a silver off his Comrades list, the Ironman was his next goal while also completing his MBA. He did a few half-ironman events before conquering the full race in 2021.
After a failed attempt during the Isuzu Ironman 70.3 Nelson Mandela Bay in 2022, he returned to the Comrades for the first time in 10 years and continued his splendid run in the race.
Next year he will be running his 10th Comrades and is looking forward to continuing his silver medal streak and, most importantly, earning his green number.
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