Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 109, Aug 2018 | Page 15

WALK
THIS
WAY
By Anel Oosthuizen
After he brought a huge unofficial sub-10:00 bus home at the 2005 Comrades,
he was invited to become an official Comrades Pacesetter for the first time in
2006, and for the next few years he was a regular sub-10:00 Pacer. In 2011,
however, he ran his 11th Comrades and it would be his last for five years,
partly due to injury, but mostly due to the tragic death of his sister Abigail in
a motorbike accident that December, which Madoko says hit him very hard.
“She always supported me in my running, and she and my wife were my
number one supporters. Coping with her loss, that took me three to four years.
Fortunately, I was eventually motivated to come back to running by my wife and
kids, and all my running friends who wanted me back on the road, so in 2015 I
started running seriously again. People kept asking me when I will be back at
Comrades, and in 2016 I ran it again.”
MY INNER CIRCLE
BACK ON PACE
Madoko went straight back to pacing at Comrades 2016 and brought his
unofficial sub-11:00 bus home in 10:54:21, and that saw him brought back
into the official Modern Athlete Comrades Pacesetter Programme in 2017.
Now specialising in a sub-11:00 finish, he led his passengers over the line in
10:58:29, and this year repeated the feat with a 10:57:21 finish. He says that
2017 run really stands out as a highlight, not just for the incredible spirit in the
group, but also thanks to one specific passenger in the bus.
I
have had dozens of conversations
and interviews where the comment
was made: “You have worked so
hard to accomplish this,” or “Your
efforts have made it all worthwhile.”
This got me thinking that many
people seem unaware of just how
involved one’s coach is, and how
involved one’s family and loved ones
are, to you achieving great results.
Yes, everybody knows they are
involved, somehow, but few really
know just how involved.
“I was standing at the start of the 2017 race when a runner called Johan
came up to me and said, ‘Madoko, you helped me run my first sub-nine in the
2008 Up Run