MY COMRADES STORY BY KATHRYN CHU

“I ran my first Comrades last year at the age of 51.

I had always heard about Comrades as The Ultimate Human Race and took up running during the pandemic. 18 months prior, I could barely run 5km and had to be picked up in an Uber after aborting an easy run with the club.

However, I still managed to run Comrades in 10 hours 18 minutes! I never thought a middle-aged novice runner like me could complete such a feat.

The entire race day experience was unforgettable. Lining up with thousands of runners, it was a snapshot of South African society - the racial, cultural and socioeconomic diversity of runners, all at the start line to achieve a common goal.

The crowd support was next level. I was offered refreshments of all sorts and ate countless wine gums, salty oranges and potatoes. I got massages, basically anything I asked from anyone.

The volunteers and supporters were just so accommodating. At any time that I was walking, mostly when going uphill, other runners would shout, ‘You can do it Kathryn. I see you!’

I shed many tears that day. I am from Cape Town and the running community here is amazing and I saw so many friends en-route and made new friends along the way.

South Africa is my adopted country having moved here in 2007 and this race makes me ‘Proudly South African’!

I cannot wait for Comrades 2024 to complete my Back2Back!

The winner of this month’s Mr Price Sport voucher is Kathryn Chu.