A sponsorship by New Balance is helping Nobukhosi to do so well . |
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Images : SMacPix & Courtesy Entsika , New Balance , Nobuhle Tshuma |
This success is all down to putting in the hard work . My life has been like this from a young age : If I want something , I just tell myself to go get it , because noone is going to fight your battles . All these wonderful performances I ’ ve put in this year are a result of that ,” says Nobukhosi . “ I know many are surprised with the way I ’ m performing this year , but I know my capabilities , so it doesn ’ t come as a shock to me . And in Comrades , I knew for sure that top 10 was possible , when I looked at the amount of training I did , and I delivered . So , this is the beginning , as I have bigger goals I need to chase . Sometimes I feel tired and my body doesn ’ t want the training , but I end up going . It ’ s because I know what I want in life , because I ’ ve got lots of goals , and to reach them I must put more effort into what I do .”
One of those goals that running has allowed Nobukhosi and Givemore to achieve is looking after their young family . “ Shelter is very important for us , as we have three kids , so we decided to save the race winnings to buy ourselves a house . We moved into it in July this year , plus we managed to get a new car . After Givemore won Two Oceans , he was given a car to use for a year , but when they took it back a year later , we were forced to buy a car for ourselves ,” she says . “ This is the testament that athletes can live through athletics , even it not a well-paying sport . The stories of athletes struggling after they were well known are not nice , and we plan to avoid being in that situation . It is all about proper planning , and knowing exactly what you want in life .”
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Overcoming Tragedy
Born in Bulawayo , Zimbabwe , Nobukhosi was initially raised by her grandmother after her mother relocated to South Africa to find work and try to make a better life for her family . “ My mother was working here in South Africa as a domestic worker , so I stayed with my Grandmother back in Zimbabwe , and the only time my mother and I got to spend together was during the school holidays ,” she recalls . Then , at the age of 11 , Nobukhosi also moved to South Africa , but everything changed when her mother fell ill a year later . “ In 2005 , my mother brought me here to stay with
The N12 Ultra Marathon has proven a happy race for Nobukhosi .
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Nobukhosi wins the 2024 Wally Hayward Marathon
her , in order to get a better education , but by then she was sick , and her situation didn ’ t get better . The following year , she passed away ,” says Nobukhosi quietly . Fortunately , their neighbour at that time , Swazi Gama , took the young girl in , and contributed greatly to her childhood development . “ She treated me like her own child , and raised me to be the person I am today . I ’ ll be forever indebted to her , because she acted a mother ’ s role in difficult period in my life . I have no words to describe the wonderful work she did . Besides raising me , she also taught me how to do hairstyles , as she had a salon . Today , I ’ m a hairstylist because of the skills I learnt from her .”
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Similarly , Nobukhosi found herself getting into running thanks to the people around her . In 2013 , she was struggling with her weight and decided to tackle the problem by exercising at the Tembisa High School sports field , and one thing led to another until eventually she was running ultra-marathons and launching a career as an elite runner . “ It is actually funny how I ended up being a runner , because I never planned to become a runner in my life . I just wanted to maintain my weight , so I started to go to the stadium to do rounds of the field with the other ladies !” says Nobukhosi .
“ One day , the late Action Ramabeu pulled me aside and said , ‘ Do you realise that you are strong and could make a good runner ?’ From there , I started to become more serious with my training , and for the long runs ,
Training with and gaining more confidence from Gerda Steyn .
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I joined the training group of Johannes Kekana , who was living about three to four kilometres away from where I was staying . ( Ed ’ s note : Kekana was part of the South African marathon team at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin , Germany .) At first , it was frustrating , because the results were not coming the way I expected , but one day Elvis Khoza , who is Ryan Mphahlele ’ s coach , advised me to join Hendrick Ramaala ’ s group if I wanted to take my career to another level , and I decided to listen to his advice ,” says Nobukhosi .
Nobukhosi is still chasing goals … including a Comrades win !
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