FIT, fierce and fired up for her future in athletics, Nomcebo Mthethwa (31) is not only health conscience, but passionate about the running track, too.
Raised in a home of athletic sport fanatics and a member of the uMhlathuze Athletics Club since 2007, Nomcebo is currently studying various fitness courses at College SA.
‘I just love sport! My dad was a boxer and my gran is a Comrades Marathon addict. We’re all really physically active,’ she said.
Nomcebo started with track running and slowly progressed to long distance races.
‘The first long distance I did was 19km in Heatonville many years ago. I started with local races but I have since competed everywhere.
‘I have ran more than 200 races and have more than 222 medals and trophies.
In 2013, Nomcebo competed in the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town and claimed 28th place and a silver medal. She has run the race seven times before.
Placed in the top three locally and the top 10 nationally, Nomcebo has received her provincial colours for cross country, placed sixth in the SA Champs and also awarded a gold medal. She said she has aspirations of building a sporting career.
By profession a teller at a local bank, Nomcebo graduated from the University of Zululand with a B.Com banking degree in 2001 and has been in the field for 10 years.
Originally from Mtubatuba and the eldest child of three, Nomcebo has always had a love for mathematics and accounting.
‘I used to think banking was incredibly prestigious,’ she chuckled.
In her spare time, Nomcebo enjoys working out at the gym.
‘It probably sounds sad, but I just love working out, training and keeping fit. It keeps me going. Even when I’m injured, I have to do some sort of exercise. My day feels incomplete without a workout,’ she said.
As her own greatest competitor, Nomcebo said she aims to do better than her previous times and distances. Despite challenges, Nomcebo stays headstrong in her belief that she will reach her dream of some day representing South Africa.
‘Athletics is my life but it is costly because I don’t have a sponsor. I fund all my sporting activities and I have faith in everything working out. I hope to be a coach and work towards youth development in the sporting sector,’ she said.
