Cosmo City cop conquers Comrades
COSMO CITY – Metro police officer and athlete Constable Sazi Khanyile explains the pain of the Comrades up run.
Constable Sazi Khanyile (33) from the Joburg Metro Police K9 Unit conquered the gruelling 87km Comrades Marathon up run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on 3 June when he stuck to his plan to avoid thinking about how other athletes competed.
In his final preparation for the marathon last month, Khanyile said his aim was to walk away with a silver medal in this year’s edition of the elite footrace after finishing with a Bill Rowan bronze medal last year.
READ: Local cop and comrades runner aims for silver
However, his wish for ‘silverware’ crumbled. Khanyile confessed that he underestimated the up run because he didn’t study it properly because he thought it was the same as the down run.
“The Comrades Marathon is a monster. I thought the up run was the same but my preparation was top notch, I didn’t struggle that much until after 65km where I started feeling cramps all over my body. I had to rely on my mental strength to take over in order to finish the race,” he recalled.
The officer finished in 08:54:00 this year.
“I received two medals this year. A Bill Rowan and the 2017 back-to-back medal which serves as a motivation for running both the up and down runs without a gap in between.”
The marathon saw runner Bongmusa Mthembu win the race for the second time in 05:35:34 and American athlete Camille Herron triumph in the women’s race.
Khanyile told Roodepoort Northsider that he has not given up on his ‘silverwear dream’ and plans on rectifying his mistakes by training with some of the top Comrades’ runners in Joburg.
“My mistake last year was that I rested for two months after running the Comrades and I accumulated fat. This year my plan is to maintain my Comrades fitness and train with other experienced runners for a better chance next year.”
Khanyile also praised the support he received from his colleagues who were watching from home. “My colleagues were very supportive, they sent screen shots of me and videos on television while I was running. Next year I’m going back again and I aim to run it for 10 years to receive a green number which becomes your permanent running code,” he concluded.
