Thathe Msimango caught up with Sphamandla Maduna. This remarkable Hollywood AC athlete is hoping to write his own piece of histroy and inspire the running community when he tackles his first Comrades this Sunday.
The Comrades Marathon is known for its incredible physical demands, it’s an epic 90km journey that tests your body and mind as you journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban or vice versa on the up run. Over the decades since the first running of the race, there have been wonderful human interest stories that have stolen people’s hearts. This year, it will be no different as Sphamandla Maduna is hoping to write his own piece of history and inspire the running community when tackling the Comrades for the first time.
His story is unique and fascinating. Maduna was born with Cerebral Palsy, a condition that affects movement and posture. It’s caused by damage that occurs to the developing brain, most often before birth. For Maduna, it took him two years to learn to walk. His left shoulder doesn’t function and relies on his right for the balance.
Despite those challenges, Maduna has managed to run under four hours at the Durban International Marathon clocking a 3:49:58 to qualify for the Comrades.
“It was the first time I ran under four hours in the marathon distance. I hear lots of people were doubting me when I said I want to run under four hours. In running, there are lot of doubters and those who are voicing too many opinions,” explains Maduna, who resides in Cato Ridge, one of the areas that the race passes.
“Last year, I was a volunteer for Comrades and seeing runners get emotional at the finish made me to sign up for the race. I then told myself I needed to run the race at least once in my life. I ended up putting in so much time in preparation for it. I had an opportunity to run Two Oceans Marathon, but I opted to skip it to be fully prepared for the Comrades. This is the first time running the race, so I don’t want to make any mistakes. The training must be balanced, and the approach must be calculated. Since I’m running the race for the first time, the bigger picture is to finish without setting any other targets,” he explained.
The 39-year-old who hails in Ixopo, South of KwaZulu-Natal started his running journey back in 2022 with the aim of getting his weight down. He could never have predicted take up the sport for good.
“I started running because I was getting bigger and I needed to challenge my weight. At first, I told myself I needed to just train at the local sports field (KwaXimba) to keep up,” explains Maduna.
“The time I started, I met a group of people who were running the same path with me. That made things easier as we started to run in a group. From there, we decided to form an Athletics Club to cater all other people with the desire to run. We ran for the club until we encountered problems with the day-to-day running. On the side, I was starting to attend races and make friendships. Athletics became the part of me and from there, I never went back,” he said.
He describes sport as something made him forget about the challenges and hardships he encountered when growing up.
“In the past, people used to laugh at me when I was passing. That used to stress me out big time. It caused my self-esteem to plummet. But since I took on athletics, I realised that there is nothing I cannot do. I’m a human with goals and dreams. It’s all up to me if I want to accomplish them or not. I think sport has been a reminder of how great I can be. These days, I have proven the naysayers wrong as most people said I won’t finish the race. But I did it and went to finish a marathon too. Now they are saying if I finish Comrades, I will die. Overall, all these have made me mentally strong, “said Maduna, who is coached by Nkosingiphile Ntuli.
