Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 40

ROAD RUNNING 30 Sounds Like ENOUGH With his 30 th consecutive Comrades Marathon medal as his goal, well known Katlehong runner Isaac Mabula is sure to have quite a following at this year’s race, but then he says it is time to retire. Well, sort of... – BY MANFRED SEIDLER P eople love to celebrate big milestones in their lives. The birth of a child, then the first day at school, starting high school, the driver’s licence, turning 21 and coming of age, the 30 th , etc. Similarly, milestones are also very much found within the running community: The first run, the first race, the first marathon, and so it goes on… and for many runners in South Africa, the first Comrades Marathon is a particularly big milestone. When not working as a process controller at Dairy Maid, Isaac is a familiar sight on the streets of Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, where he is often joined by younger runners and even the local kids as he heads out for training runs. He is often asked for running advice, which should come as no surprise given his impressive 39-year running career: Besides having already run 29 Comrades, he has completed the Loskop 50km 10 times, and he also has six medals from the Two Oceans Marathon and four at the Om Die Dam 50km, to go with many other marathons and shorter races. LONG TIME ON THE ROAD Isaac had dabbled with the sport at school, where he did some track, but it was only after school that he really got into running. In 1980, at age 22, he started running “seriously,” as he puts it, just to get fit. He began with jogging to work and back home again in the evenings, which eventually led to him joining a running group at work that trained over lunch time. He began racing, added some speed work to his programme, and proved a pretty 40 ISSUE 119 JUNE 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za There are even milestones within the Comrades itself. Besides your debut, there is the Back- to-Back Medal (and adding an Up Run to your Down Run, or vice versa), and the coveted Green Number that becomes your permanent number after 10 Comrades finishes. Some then go on to attain a Double Green Number after 20 successful runs, but only a select few make it to Triple Green. Even less do it in consecutive years, never missing a Comrades for 30 years in a row. Now that really is something worth celebrating, and thus the 2019 Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg is set to be extra special for 61-year-old Isaac Mabula, as he goes after that particular milestone.