Zinhle Sokhela still sauntering around Comrades House after ban

Despite being banned for life from being a Board member, Sokhela and her supporters on the Comrades Board appear to be using a loophole to keep her active in the affairs and operations of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA).

On Thursday 29 August, the Heritage and Traditions Committee met, apparently to deliberate and determine this year’s Spirit of Comrades award winners. Sokhela was previously part of the committee and was in attendance. It is unclear how members of the committee are chosen as Sokhela has never run Comrades and has only been involved with Comrades for a fairly short time.

8th July 201824th July 2018

Comrades 2018: #RealComradesChampion Post Mortem

I wrote a number of human interest runner stories in the build-up to this year’s Comrades. If you want to know how each one did, the epilogue to each story is below.

In the order that they were published: Continue reading “Comrades 2018: #RealComradesChampion Post Mortem”

14th June 201824th July 2018

Heroes Deserve Medals: The Tale of Xolani Luvuno (#15620)

Letter of the Law vs the Spirit of the Law: An Open Letter to the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA)

There were some great performances at Comrades 2018. Bongumusa Mthembu won his third Comrades and became the first South African since Bruce Fordyce (the undisputed the King of Comrades) to claim back to back victories. Likewise, in the women’s race, Ann Ashworth had the race of her life – she started as an outsider but dominated a strong field for a convincing victory.

These were great performances. However, the one that will be remembered is that of a runner who finished way down the field amongst the last of the bronze medallists. This was the year that a one-legged cancer survivor on crutches hopped the longest Comrades in 23 years. The year that a former convict gained redemption. The year that a recovering drug addict who lived under a bridge for several years redefined what is possible. On June 10, Xolani Luvuno astonished and inspired a nation – and the 2018 edition of Comrades will be remembered as Xolani’s year. Continue reading “Heroes Deserve Medals: The Tale of Xolani Luvuno (#15620)”