Bongmusa Mthembu celebrates one of his three Comrades Marathon victories. Picture: Gallo Images
Correctly predicting the winner of the Comrades Marathon is like finding a needle in a lucky packet from a field full of haystacks, but one athlete makes things a little bit easier: Bongmusa Mthembu.
Though anything can happen in an ultra-distance race, Mthembu has managed to turn his approach into a fine art, and his consistency is remarkable.
A two-time medallist at the 100km World Championships and a former winner of the 56km Two Oceans ultra-marathon in Cape Town, Mthembu is by no means a Comrades specialist, but it is in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal where his star has shone the brightest.
Since 2009, Mthembu has raked in eight gold medals at the annual 90km race, but his performance level is far more impressive than his list of top-10 finishes suggests.
In seven of those eight races, the 39-year-old athlete has finished among the top three, and his three victories make him the most prolific Comrades winner of his generation.
The only South African to win the race more than once since Bruce Fordyce secured a record ninth victory in 1990, Mthembu has cemented his place as an icon of the country’s most popular road running race.
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Of course, he won’t have it all his own way, with the field for Sunday’s ‘down’ run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban including the likes of 2019 ‘up’ run winner Edward Mothibi, as well as experienced former champions David Gatebe, Gift Kelehe, Ludwick Mamabolo and Claude Moshiywa.
There is also a strong foreign contingent standing in his way, featuring the likes of former gold medallists Justin Chesire of Kenya, Henri Ansio of Finland, Marko Mambo of Zimbabwe and Teboho Sello of Lesotho.
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And it’s asking a lot to expect one man to deliver yet again after producing sublime results year in and year out, but if anyone in the professional era has proved they have found the best way to tackle the gruelling Comrades Marathon, it’s Mthembu.
As always, this weekend’s race will be wide open, and any predictions are done wearing a blindfold, but if Mthembu is in shape he will no doubt be difficult to beat.
He has repeatedly shown he knows how to win the race, and he seems to have a better chance than anyone of doing it again.
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