Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 127, February 2020 | Page 14

ROAD RUNNING
She’s a firefighter, and a single mom, and now she’s hunting a top 10 finish at both
the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons. This is the inspirational story of Enie
Manzini, who fits in her running between working 11-hour shifts, racing to put out
blazes and tending to the injured. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
Enie in
paramedic gear
W
ith a ‘day job’ as a fully qualified firefighter
and paramedic working for the Ekurhuleni
Fire Department in Gauteng, Enie Manzini
is expected to take a physically demanding job and
all its emergencies in her stride. Firefighters need to
be supremely fit to be able to do their job, and they
don’t come much fitter than Enie. After all, in 2018
she finished 18 th woman in both the Two Oceans and
Comrades ultra-marathons, and in 2019 she was 19 th
in both races.
Having earned a coveted silver medal in that 2018
Comrades, finishing in 7:21:03 to dip under the
silver cut-off of 7 hours 30 minutes, Enie then ‘went
one better’ in the 2019 Comrades. Coming home in
7:10:51 in 19 th place saw her earn one of the new
Isavel Roche-Kelly medals, awarded to women who
finish outside the top 10 gold medal positions, but
within the silver cut-off. The Massmart athlete crossed
the line in 7:10:51, just over 15 minutes outside the
top 10 positions, and this has spurred her on to chase
a top 10 placing in this year’s ultras.
With this goal in mind, her racing and training plan
for 2020 is built around that. “In March I want to run
my PB for the half marathon, and I will try that at the
Vaal Half Marathon,” she says. The Vaal race has a
flat course, ideally suited for Enie to attempt to better
her 1:27 best for the distance. “From there I will shift
my attention to the Two Oceans in April, where I am
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ISSUE 127 FEBRUARY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
looking for a sub-four-hour finish,” she continues. A
sub-four would have snuck her into the top 10 in the
2019 edition of the Cape ultra, and Enie is confident
that she can do it, but the big target remains that top
10 in Durban on 14 June. “I want to break into the top
10 at Comrades, that is my dream.”
Choosing a Career
Enie has been working for the Ekurhuleni Fire
Department for well over 15 years, having first tried
a number of other career paths. After matriculating
in 1999 and with time on her hands, the sister of
her mothers’ boss suggested that she go work as
a vocational student at Eskom. With the money she
earned working for the power utility, Enie enrolled in a
correspondence course at the then Technikon South
Africa, studying administration, but she struggled
with the correspondence learning and decided to
discontinue her studies.
Instead she then enrolled in a six-week ambulance
paramedic course, and early in 2001, when she heard
that the Fire Department in Ekurhuleni were on a
recruitment drive, she enlisted. What followed in 2002
was six months of theoretical training and six months
of practical training, where she went out on calls with
the qualified firefighters, and in 2003 she was fully
employed by the Fire Department as a firefighter.
Since 2014, Enie has specialised as a paramedic.
It is by no means an easy life, as Enie juggles being
a single mom of two and works difficult hours. She
normally works two days on from 7am to 6pm, and
then two nights on from 6pm to 7am, but can get
home much later if called out for an emergency. Then
she has four days off, but this kind of ‘time zone’
shifting does still play havoc with the body. “My two
children are thankfully very independent and mature,
which does make it easier, but the shift work is hard,
both on the family and on my body,” says Enie.
Running Passion
Enie was a passionate runner in school, but upon
matriculating she hung up her running shoes. “I am
the youngest of four and when my parents separated,
I moved from Lydenburg to Johannesburg with my
mother. I discovered my passion for running at school,
Fighting
Fit & All
Fired Up
Hanging tough at
Comrades 2019