Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former champion Claude Moshiywa was particularly thrilled at the Comrades Marathon’s return this year, especially because it breaks a personal five-year absence from the race he won in 2013.
Back in 2013, Moshiywa was the man who broke the 21-year foreign dominance of the “up run” when he won in Pietermaritzburg.
Besides the three-year Covid-induced absence, Moshiywa had a hip problem sorted out after his 2017 race.
On top of dealing with the recovery, he had to negotiate national lockdown, which he said, like many people, was difficult.
“I’m excited because it’s been a while. My last Comrades was in 2017, so I’m looking forward to the 28th of August,” said Moshiywa.
“I had to do a hip operation in 2018, but I’m fine now and I’ve ran a few races.
“I’m confident that I’ll be in the top 10. During Covid lockdown, I bought a spinning bike and a treadmill, so I was working on them in my garage at home.
“It was a difficult time but it passed. I was fortunate that I was working on a full-time job but it was definitely hard.
“When they said we could run within a 5km radius, I can’t describe the feeling but it was very nice.
“I didn’t even count the 5kms; I probably passed it.”
‘It’s going to be special’
Moshiywa spoke to Sport24 at the Nedbank Runified 3.0, a virtual race that was especially designed to keep people active and competitive during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 48-year-old deemed this year’s Comrades “special” due to the lengthy absence but it could also be the most open, with any number of elite runners in contention for the men’s title.
“This one is going to be special because people have not been racing,” said Moshiywa.
“It’s likely to be a very fast Comrades, there’re a lot of new guys coming through and it’s going to be special.
“I’ve seen the guys running since the start of this year like (Nkosikhona) Mhlakwana, (Bong’musa) Mthembu, (Edward) Mothibi and others who are looking strong.
“But it’s an open race and you can’t really point to anyone that is going to win. It’s up to individuals on how they attack the race from the start.”
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