Khojeta conquers the Comrades Marathon
Khojeta Nkanyana, or Pinkie as she is called by her fellow runners from her club, Waterfall City Athletics, completed her first Comrades Marathon recently.
The 36-year-old hails from the small village of Dzingidzingi outside Giyani.
“I began running as a pass time activity after attending a seminar at work where a psychologist said “develop a habit in order to balance life to avoid taking frustrations from work to home”.
“I fell in love with running as it gave me the necessary ‘me time’.”
She said that whilst running she can connect with her inner-self and also be in nature.
“It gives me time to think and to solve problems in a non-biased way.
“I’m an introvert by nature so ‘me time’ is very important to me.”
She says she started running in December 2018 when she met her running partner Pattronicah.
“We exchanged phone numbers and we have not looked back,” said Khojeta.
The duo has run a number of marathons together, such as Om die Dam, Two Oceans and the Kosmos 3 in 1.
Her ultimate goal however was to run the ultimate human race, the Comrades.
Also read: Local runners conquer the Comrades Marathon
“It’s been two full years of consistent training and dedication.
“We wake up around 04:30 in order to balance family time with training.”
She said the training of the last four months have been hard yet crucial to compete in the Comrades.
“We trained at least three times during the week and weekends were dedicated to long runs, anything between 15-30km.
Also read: 20 Comrades marathons. 20 Days. A R1 million goal
“I have dedicated my debut Comrades medal to my son, Ntivo. He is my biggest motivator. He said to me to know that when I start to get tired, that that is when you are at your strongest.
“I want to appeal to the young people to start to do sports to combat violence, and substance and alcohol abuse. This will help to channel their energy into something meaningful,” she said.
She added that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught her to be humble and that respect is important.
“Whether you are popular or not, respect and humbleness are important regardless of status,” she said.
“I am not yet sure whether I’m going to go back to the Comrades again. It is too soon to decide.
“But I do believe one should run the Comrades at least once in your lifetime.
“I’m blessed with a husband who is supportive. He is a businessman, Howard Mashaba of Xilumani Hotel. I have three children, two boys and a girl.”
She says her father has taught her and her siblings “munhu u dya swa nyika wakwe”, meaning one has to work hard and channel your energy into anything worth achieving in order to fulfill one’s dreams.
“I attained a BCur degree at the University of Limpopo and is currently working at Clinical Medico Legal Services as a forensic nurse in Gauteng,” concluded Khojeta.
