Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 171 August 2024 | Page 26

ROAD RUNNING

Jenet ’ s speed saw her finish third in the 2023 Totalsports Women ’ s Race Durban

Front and centre , mxing it with the best at the 2024 Totalsports Women ’ s Race Durban

Thamsanqa Khuboni , who is also her coach , for nurturing her talent and career . “ I think making my way to the top was bit difficult for me . I come from a rural area with no proper facilities for the athletes to train , and when I started , my parents were not as supportive as they are at the moment , but my uncle was a great motivation ,” she explains .

“ He was very instrumental in my journey , and sacrificed a lot for me to be successful . He covered all the trips to Durban in order for me to compete in the races , like the SPAR Women ’ s races . Another thing is that when I started running , I represented a local club , Umzikhulu , that doesn ’ t have funding to help athletes , it was more of a development club willing to help kids shine into sport . So , the wonderful work my uncle did will not go unnoticed ,”

That initial work led to Mbhele announcing herself as one of the country ’ s leading distance runners in 2018 , when she claimed a maiden national title , winning the SA Half Marathon Championships in Gqeberha . Later , she was given the opportunity to wear national colours in the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships in Spain , and she says that trip still holds a special place close to her heart . “ It was a huge achievement for me to get a national call-up after winning the SA Half Marathon Championship , and I think when I got selected to represent the country , my parents started to see athletics with another eye .”

“ In our family , I was the first to travel out of the country , and they were happy for me . This is where they realised that I ’ m going somewhere with running . That year , things were moving quite well for me , and the form I was in was amazing , and that motivated me to push harder . You know , when you start to perform well , you must try to remain consistent in order to reach another level , so that was my plan going forward ,” she says .

Overcoming Challenges

Unfortunately , things took a turn in the wrong direction in 2019 for Mbhele as persistent hamstring problems stopped her progress , and then , while trying to make a comeback , COVID-19 derailed the process even more . However , still motivated to chase further glory on the roads , Mbhele captured a maiden SA Marathon Championship title in 2022 , with a gritty 2:43:07 in the Durban International Marathon , in just her second attempt at the distance . Later that year she also finished ninth in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in 2:41:36 .

“ In 2019 , I suffered a hamstring injury and battled even to jog . My coach advised me not to rush the process , that I must heal properly , but then as I was trying to recover , COVID came and put everything on standstill . I couldn ’ t train because we were advised to stay indoors , so it was frustrating for me ,” explains Mbhele . “ When things were back to normal , I took a decision to step into the marathon distance , and to my surprise , I managed to win the SA Marathon title after coming fourth in the Durban International Marathon . That motivated me to see if I ’ m destined to be a top long distance runner , and it was a good comeback for me after battling with all the injuries .”

Today , Mbhele says her big goal is to become the country ’ s first black woman to win Comrades . “ Things work perfectly when you plan accordingly . In my first Comrades , I set myself a goal to finish the race , so to be in a top 10 on debut was a huge achievement ! Then this year , I was in great shape and knew that top 10 is on the cards . The bigger goal for me remains to win the Comrades one day . That can happen in the next five years if I can continue to work hard . If I can achieve that , it would be huge !”