Oupa runs his first Comrades Marathon

He planned to finish the race in 8 hours and 30 minutes but it was not as easy as he thought it would be.

“The Comrades Marathon is really one of the best running experiences that every athlete would die for. I could not believe what I saw there in a sense that about 17 000 runners could gather at 05:00 in the winter, singing “shosholoza”. Blacks, indians, whites and foreigners. Waiting for the big shot. I have never seen such a thing in my entire life. It was so amazing,” said the runner.

Finishing it was like a dream gone wrong

Oupa started running in November 2015 and before that he never really showed interest in any sport.

He joined the Tzaneen Marathon Club in January 2016.

He started dreaming of running the Comrades after he reached his best time in a Soweto Marathon.

After 64km the Comrades got a lot harder for Oupa.

“From there on up until finishing it was like a dream gone wrong. I felt like an aircraft could hook me away because by than a kilometer started looking like 5km to me,” he said.

Everything is possible if you believe it

He kept motivated through and through when he saw all the people lining up on the side of the road to cheer them on the whole day.

When he crossed the finish line he thought to himself that nothing is impossible.

“Here I am at the finishing point, everything is possible if you believe it. Next year I will be crossing the same finishing line but with an improved time,” said the determined athlete.

His advice to runners that wants to participate in the Comrades is to train twice as hard as the marathon is not child’s play.

“Everyone can finish the race if you prepare mentally and physically, training is the best tool,” informed Oupa.

And his overall opinion?

About my experience I would say, at least once in everyone’s lifetime, one should run the Comrade because it’s not necessarily about winning the price, but to get fit, meet new people, make friends and get exposure to other things if you are a business person.