Thate Msimango
Over 15,000 runners participated in the iconic Comrades Marathon on its return on Sunday, but it was a 34-year-old security guard, Tete Morena Dijana, who grabbed the top spot.
Dijana ran the 90 kilometre race in a time of 05:30:38, while defending champion Edward Mothibi came second with a time of 5:33:46.
Dan Moselakwe finished third with South Africans sweeping all three podium spots.
Dijana, a Nedbank running club member, was running just his second ever Comrades after coming 50th in the 2019 edition.
Speaking during the press conference after the race, Dijana said the feeling of being a champion had not sunk in yet.
“I feel great to be a champion and I don’t believe it is me who is the Comrades winner. I couldn’t believe it until I crossed the finish line.
“Anything can happen along the route so I had to be careful,” said an elated Dijana, who is a former security officer at the University of North-West University.
Dijana ran most of the race with his training partner Mothibi before taking a lead with less than 15km to the finish.
“At the camp, I used to tell him that if we could run together, the strategy would work well for us. I won’t leave my job. I’ll try to balance the work and to continue to run. Maybe I’ll have to get an advisor on how to use my money,” Dijana said, winning R260,000 for his victory.
In the women’s race, Alexandra Morozova of Russia won in a sensational time of 6:17:48 with Dominika Stelmach and Adele Broodrky finishing second and third respectively.
Morozova took race organisers to court on Friday as they tried to block her from running.
Speaking through a translator, Morozova expressed excitement to finally win the race.
“I’m happy to finally win the Comrades. It is a dream come true. After all I have been through, it is really good that I can finally be happy,” she said.
Image source: @dbntourism
