LINDELANI Mbanjwa is intent on following in the footsteps of his role model and homeboy – the legendary Bongmusa Mthembu – by winning the Comrades Marathon in the not too distance future.
In a country where many a young runner have made similarly bold pronouncements only to disappear into oblivion faster than they came into the picture, the initial reaction is to laugh Mbanjwa off.
After all, to win the Ultimate Human Race is no child’s play. It is a feat achieved by a mere 11 black male South African runners in the close on 50 years since they were allowed to participate.
And with less than a handful of completed standard marathons to his name, surely Mbanjwa has a very long way to go before he can have his name mentioned alongside that of the three-time champion and 10-times gold medallist from his neck of the woods?
“I am a long distance runner,” Mbanjwa tells me “I prefer long distances. When I met coach Prodigal (Khumalo the former Comrades Marathon gold medallist who runs the Orcas Training Academy in Inanda, Durban), I was doing a lot of wrong things with my running because I did not know better. But even then I was capable of running 60km under five hours and he saw my potential.”
The two (Mbanjwa and Khumalo) met at Mthembu’s famed training long run between the champion’s home of Bulwer and Mpendle – both of which Mbanjwa calls home – and since then the 28-year-old has been in Khumalo’s care. And to say Mbanjwa’s potential has been evident would be putting it mildly.
The young man made his Comrades Marathon debut this year and ran an impressive 6:03:50 to finish and that may “set the pace” for over the standard marathon.
“I was in front from the start until 54km where the bunch came and caught up with me,” the young man says proudly of his novice run in the Ultimate Human Race.
As if intent on proving himself an ultra distance runner, he went and completed the torturously very long run – 103km - for the late Nelson Mandela’s race in an impressive time.
“I ran The Icons’ Journey and finished it in seven hours 54 minutes. That’s why I am not scared of moving to long distance. I will use the standard marathons as training and qualifiers for the ultras.”
Mbanjwa has since left Orcas Academy and was last week signed up by Hollywood Athletics Club on a one-year contract that he hopes will be the beginning of a change for the better in his life.
“Coach Prodigal uses Orcas to develop athletes and then sends them out to bigger clubs. I believe I am developed now, and signing with Hollywood is the best thing for me. For me, as a young person, I want this to be the change in my life. It is my job and this is the only hope I have that I can change my life – through sport,” said Mbanjwa.
“I am from Mpendle and this is something that started in school. When I ran, I used to watch the likes of Bongmusa Mthembu and later Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, and said, ‘I want to be like them one day’. In 2018, I ran Bongmusa’s training run from Bulwer to Mpendle and that’s where I met coach Prodigal.
“I joined his academy in 2020 and I learnt a lot from being in that camp. There were a lot who went before us and we got a lot of lessons from the experienced guys like Nkosikhona and coach himself because he also ran Comrades and did well.”
Now that he has signed up for an elite club, what are his goals.
“It’s a 12-month contract so I have to show them that I appreciate what they’ve given me and I can only do that by doing something special. First I obviously have to make sure I work hard if I am to change my life.
“The goal is to run the Two Oceans Marathon and do well there and then next year, I have to run a sub-six Comrades. Of course, the long-term goal for anyone who does long distances in South Africa is to win the Comrades, and I want to do it just like my hero and homeboy Bongmusa has done. My coach Prodigal has a gold medal from Comrades, so I am in good hands,” he chuckles.
For the immediate future, Mbanjwa will run the Hollywoodbets 10k next month as he is training for the Kaapsehoop Marathon out in Mpumalanga in November.
“I want to run my marathon PB there, I want a sub 2:20,” says the man who currently boasts a 2:25:07 Personal Best marathon time from the Durban International Marathon.
Do that and he could well be on his way to realising his Comrades Marathon dream, and how Hollywood Athletics Club would love that.
