Humorous Anecdotes, Observations & Accounts of Marathon Running & Agile Adventures.
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.
Continue reading “CMA SGM: My vote is not a secret”
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.
Continue reading “Khonkhobe gets his prize money after illegal DQ (still waiting for promised apology from AGW)”
There are two trends I’ve found when running Bloemfontein marathons:
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”.
Continue reading “KZNA Blinks First in Comrades Chicken Run”
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.
Continue reading “Why the Comrades Marathon will go ahead (with or without ASA)”
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.
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:
Here’s a second video of Steve Mkasi hunting down and getting ready to assault Best of the Best race director Sphephelo Ndlovu. The footage was taken shortly before the widely circulated video of Mkasi and Ndlovu rolling around on the street. Once again, the video quality is very poor. This is understandable because the cameraman is a 14-year-old kid whom Mkasi has just threatened, telling him, “If you take a video I’ll shoot you.”
The only thing that surprises me these days about South African athletics officials is that they continue to surprise me. The below video appears to be KZNA president Steve Mkasi in a street fight with a young Ama Ravens AC athlete and organiser of The Best of the Best Marathon, Sphephelo Ndlovu, on Saturday evening.
Earlier this week, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) received a cease-and-desist letter from KZNA courtesy of Deneys attorneys. This is not a cheap exercise and would cost KZNA an estimated R5,000 (excluding VAT). This is money that is being spent on frivolous legal ego trips rather than the athletes that KZNA are supposed to represent.
Steve Mkasi, president of KZNA, has already spent (most would say wasted) in the region of R500,000 on another seemingly fruitless legal venture when he tried to enact a “locals only” CMA Membership ruling as part of his apparent attempts to capture Comrades in 2024. Mkasi and KZNA have already been given three High Court smackdowns relating to this matter and the final hearing is due to be heard on 22 July and the ruling should follow shortly thereafter. It is quite likely that a costs order will be granted against KZNA which would possibly bankrupt them.
Continue reading “Steve Mkasi keeps shooting blanks (KZNA’s latest threat to “Cancel Comrades”)”
There were lots of great supporter signs along the Comrades route but the one below held by this young lady in the Kloof area was my favourite. In fact, it was the only sign I took a picture of during the race. I thanked her and departed with the profound, “Cool daughters run Comrades when they are older!”
