DLS staff members take the long road running – Comrades Marathon 2023

The Department of Library Services (DLS) would like to congratulate their fellow staff members Audrey Lenoge (Faculty Library Manager: Law) and Tlou Mathiba (UPSpace Administrator) who both completed the Comrades Marathon on 11 June 2023.

As many may know, the Comrades marathon is a tough and physically draining race that gives athletes only 12 hours to complete a 90km distance from Durban to Pietermaritzburg or vice versa. This year, our brave fellow staff members completed the “down run”, running from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. I asked Tlou to share a few words about their journey with us and this is what he had to say:

Tlou: “I went for my second comrade marathon which happened to be another “down run”, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on 11 June 2023. I was happy I went for a back-to-back race, which meant that I beat my previous time of 10:20:36. My new personal record and best time is 9:56:03. I was immensely proud of this time as despite an ankle and heel injury, I managed to push through. I approached this year with caution and the experience I got last year certainly came in handy. It is always emotional to cross the start and finish line, you need all the support you can get to conquer the Comrades Marathon and luckily, I had plenty of support from my family and friends. I am very excited that I ran back-to-back and got my best overall performance. My wish is to retire running the Comrades Marathon after I finally complete the “up-run” from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.”

Tlou Mathiba after completing the Comrades Marathon.

We are immensely proud of both staff members for their fantastic achievements and would like to congratulate Tlou for achieving his record-best time. Audrey so kindly chose to let the spotlight fall on Tlou this time, due to this special achievement and decided to share her Comrades story at a later stage.

Well done runners! Keep moving forward!