Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 110, September 2018 | Page 18

ROAD RUNNING
Eugene and his
wife Rozetta
No
Giving
Up!
Running in yellow (again)
at Comrades 2018
– BY PJ MOSES
W
hen Eugene earned his ninth Comrades
medal in 2012, he thought his permanent
number was surely in the bag, but six
years later that 10 th medal is still eluding him. “I
thought when I got my first medal that I would just
do Comrades eleven times and then move on to
something else, but it seems that fate has other
ideas,” he says ruefully. “I’ve now had 16 Comrades
starts, but still only nine finishes – it is frustrating, but I
won’t quit until I achieve my goal.”
Eugene’s last successful
Comrades finish in 2012
Eugene’s long fascination with Comrades was born
from watching it on his neighbour’s TV when he was
young. “We had to pay fifty cents to watch it because
they were the only ones with a television in our street.
I was enthralled by the idea of the race and the way
it played out.” Thus the Comrades seed was planted,
but it would take years to grow, and in between
Eugene finished school and then studied teaching,
while also being very involved with struggle politics
and anti-apartheid activism. Running very much took
a backseat.
“By the time I started teaching in 1987, the only
involvement I had in sport was as a technical official
for the school athletics. I only started running eleven
years later in 1998, when I helped to get Bonteheuwel
Athletic Club off the ground.” He explains that one of
the main reasons they started the club was to keep
the kids in their community active after school, and
throughout the year. “It is very important, especially
in the poorer communities, to encourage individual
sport, which gives the kids a sense of self-worth and
improves their quality of life with every step they take.
Unfortunately, it is hard to keep the kids interested in
running, because team sports like soccer and rugby
often take precedence in terms of opportunities that
can in turn open doors for them to study further, or
even follow a career in those fields.”
Bitten Again by the Bug
Even though he joined the club with the main goal
of encouraging others to run, Eugene soon found
himself drawn to the sport. Within the first two weeks
of starting to run, he had completed a 5km, a 30km
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ISSUE 110 SEPTEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
He was not only the first runner to represent
Bonteheuwel AC at Comrades in 1999, he was the
only member in the race. “It became very lonely
without any support from clubmates, so I decided
to change clubs and joined Easterns AC in 2003.
After a few years there I drifted a bit, but then I joined
Brackenfell AC and stayed with them for a good
10 years from 2007 to 2017. Recently I decided
it was time for a new home, and I moved over to
the Carbineers, where I found a home filled with
likeminded individuals who are encouraging and
supportive of this next phase in my running journey.”
He admits he has never been the most disciplined
when it comes to following a training programme, and
thus depends heavily on his ability to not let the pain
or discomfort of the long run get to him. “My mental
strength is what has kept me going through many
ultras when other faster athletes had long given up
and called it quits. Running long distances is therapy
for me. It makes me forget about the everyday worries
and is a great way to relieve stress.”
On a related note, Eugene thinks that newbie runners
often make things too complicated and should rather
focus on a more simplistic approach to the sport.
“To run, you just need a proper pair of shoes and the
right mindset to get you through races. Clubs need
to teach their newer members that running alone is to
your benefit as a runner, and builds the character that
is needed when things are not going your way. Also,
running must not become an obligation, but instead
you have to love it, because if you don’t then you’ll
lose your passion for it. Try to always keep a healthy
balance between running and your life outside of
running.”
Interesting Adventures
Eugene’s 20-year running career has included quite
a few adventures along the way, from sleeping in a
police station with a giant teddy bear as a pillow the
night before a race, to boarding a bus to Durban for
the Comrades without a place to stay once there, but
finding a spot as the bus pulled out of Cape Town. “I
don’t believe that anything should stand in your way
when you want to do something, there is always a
way to achieve your goals. Just like running, you need
to keep going and never quit.”
Shamieg
His Comrades record lists nine successful finishes, and nearly as many DNFs, but
Eugene Lekay says that he will keep going back until he gets his Green Number.
In the meantime, he just wants to enjoy his running as much as he always has.
and a marathon... The bug had bitten him hard!
“After qualifying successfully for the Two Oceans
and Comrades ultra-marathons, I added the Hewat
100 Mile race to that potent mix. My second year of
running in 1999 was even busier, and the longer the
distance, the more it pulled me toward doing it.”