The Running Mann

9th August 202610th August 2026

Marathon Nonni: Suzanne Koonce, Comrades’ Oldest Female Finisher

Late in the afternoon on 14 June 2026 a Comrades record was broken that went largely unnoticed: As she crossed the finish line in 10:43:23 for her third medal, American runner Suzanne Koonce became the oldest female finisher in the history of the event.

At 74 years and 276 days, she broke the previous record set by Petra Myburgh in 2023. Before the 2026 event, Myburgh was the only lady older than 74 years to finish but was a few months younger than Koonce.

I am not one to let these kinds of achievements slip by unnoticed and insisted that Suzanne share her inspiration story with us…

Crossing the line to become the oldest female finisher at Comrades (courtesy ActionPhoto).

7th August 20267th August 2026

Athletics Free State General Manager bust cheating at Two Oceans (A rapist’s best friend)

Kagiso Moletsane is the general manager of Athletics Free State. It is alleged that he was appointed into this position irregularly by Steven Swarts. Steven Swarts is a convicted rapist. It is alleged that Moletsane has returned the favour by protecting his rapist friend from sanctions and providing him with coaching opportunities in the province. It doesn’t get much sicker and more sordid than this.

Oh, and Moletsane also cheated to get to the start line of this year’s Two Oceans ultra marathon.

6th August 20266th August 2026

Red Star Raceway Marathon (Racing on a one-stop strategy)

[Marathon #289 / Unique Marathon #178 / 11 October 2025]

The Red Star Marathon is 11-and-a-bit laps around the Red Star Raceway just outside Delmas alongside the N12 highway. The race was started in 2023 and I had successfully avoided running it for two years. However, there was just one marathon in the whole of South Africa on the second weekend of October which naturally led to Julian and I making the short 45-minute drive just across the Mpumalanga provincial border line to rev our motors.

3rd August 20263rd August 2026

Comrades Gains Freedom: What Now?

On 1 August, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) members delivered a clear message that they were tired of the parasitic meddling and interference from KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) and Athletics South Africa (ASA).

Almost 80% of voting members chose a “CMA first” over an ASA / KZNA “accommodative” approach when voting on the first resolution and over two-thirds (67%) validated the decision at the November 2025 AGM to disaffiliate with KZNA.

There are a lot of “What does this mean?” messages as well as plenty of fearmongering and misinformation from certain quarters. There are many things that we cannot know for certain but there are several highly probable outcomes. Below is my detailed analysis and predictions as to how this will all play out.

31st July 202631st July 2026

CMA SGM: My vote is not a secret

This is how I voted ahead of the SGM on 1 August and why I believe it’s in the best interests of the Comrades Marathon to secede (for now anyway).

The benefit to Comrades is clear and obvious. Withdrawing comes with little or no drawbacks.

30th July 202630th July 2026

Khonkhobe gets his prize money after illegal DQ (still waiting for promised apology from AGW)

Onnalenna Khonkhobe was illegally disqualified at the KHS Founders Half Marathon in Kimberly on 16 May and lost out on the first prize of R15,500. Khonkhobe had forgotten his ASA license number at home and therefore bought and ran in a temporary license. This is perfectly legal – in fact this is why temporary licenses were originally created and is explicitly allowed in the ASA rulebook.

28th July 202628th July 2026

Northridge Mall Marathon (Where the streets have strange names)

[Marathon #292 / Unique Marathon #179 / 15 November 2025]

There are two trends I’ve found when running Bloemfontein marathons:

I return home a lot more tweetalig than when I departed (and have tried to channel some of this bilingualism into this race report) .
Things don’t just happen in Bloemfontein, you have to make them happen (or, failing that, you have to be very observant to spot the cultural nuances and intricacies).

26th July 202626th July 2026

KZNA Blinks First in Comrades Chicken Run

KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) decided to play a game of chicken with the Comrades Marathon and, just before impact, KZNA have realized that they are riding a bicycle and Comrades is about to hit them with a bus.

A day after the final hearing on the urgent interdict that the Comrades Members Association (CMA) raised against KZNA’s “locals only” edict, KZNA finally appeared to acquiesce with a conciliatory press release headed “KZNA Supports the Comrades Marathon and Requests Urgent Independent Mediation”.

21st July 202621st July 2026

Why the Comrades Marathon will go ahead (with or without ASA)

There is a big difference between a rule and a law. A law is a formally enacted rule made by a government that is enforceable by the legal system. A rule is a guideline or requirement set by a particular organization, group, event or authority. A simple way to look at it is that all laws are rules, but not all rules are laws.

If there is ever a battle between a rule and a law, the law wins. Always.

20th July 202620th July 2026

🔍 KZNA Governance Under Steve Mkasi — Investigative Report

Report Compiled via Hermes Agent. Whilst every effort has been made to check facts, artificial intelligence sometimes makes errors that might not have been picked up in the report.

1. Executive Summary

Steve Mkasi was re-elected as President of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) on 14 June 2025 with 36 of 95 votes (37.9%) — a plurality in a 5-way split. 62% of voting clubs voted against him. His tenure has been marked by:

Three High Court defeats on a “locals only” CMA membership ruling
Approximately R500,000 in legal expenditure without council approval
An unpaid R386,000 costs order from 2015 against Phuma AC, the club he co-founded and controlled
Multiple threats to cancel the Comrades Marathon
A final High Court hearing scheduled for 22 July 2026 that could bankrupt KZNA
A physical altercation with an athlete on 13 July 2026
A documented pattern of workplace intimidation spanning two prior employers, including an assault charge, three misconduct charges, and a resignation ahead of a disciplinary hearing