Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 59, June 2014 | Page 17

Balancing Act

In Between Bulletins
– BY NICOLE DE VILLIERS

G

etting into radio was never ‘the plan’ for Mosibodi
Whitehead, given that he studied a B.Sc at varsity, but
when the 2010 Soccer World Cup came to SA and local
radio stations needed more hands, he found himself on the
air at Kaya FM. “It all happened by chance and I thought it
would be good for an extra buck,” he says, but four years
on he is still there, and loving every minute.
Similarly, going from being a soccer player at varsity to
becoming a Comrades Marathon runner was not part of
the original plan… “I had done no running since school,
but during my studies I often used to sit at our house
in Benoni, looking out the window, and see runners out
training, and on the day the Slow Mag Marathon was held,
I used to go out and cheer the runners on. So one day I
decided it is something that I should do, too.”

SERIOUS TRAINING

He started by doing a few short training runs and a week
later took part in his first 5km fun run, then started to train
harder and gradually went up to 10s and 21s. However, he
never even thought about doing Comrades until he went to
visit his sister in Trinidad in 2010 and had a layover in New
York. “I decided to do a race in the area and while sitting
on a bus, I was listening to the enthusiastic American
runners talking about ‘this race’ in South Africa called the
Comrades Marathon, and how amazing it was.”

That was when Mosibodi decided to make the
2011 ‘Big C’ his goal, which meant he had to
learn to juggle working hours with training. “It
was nice that I had more time in the mornings to
train, but in the evenings I would miss time trials,”
he says. “When I finally did my first Comrades,
I absolutely hated it! But just those last 10 steps
made it all worth it – the sense of achievement is
unbelievable – and that immediately had me planning
the following year’s race.” Now, with three consecutive
Comrades finishes to his name, Mosibodi’s goal for
Comrades 2014 is to run it under 10 hours.
“My training has gone relatively well. I did a marathon
in March as well as the Two Oceans, which was a lot
tougher than I had anticipated. One thing that really
keeps me going is my lovely wife Neiloe’s great cooking,
and also rather having fresh legs than over-trained
ones,” says Mosibodi. “Running has now become part
of my lifestyle and something that I balance my daily
activities with. I will be running forever!”

Tune into Kaya FM to listen to Mosibodi’s
Sports Show at 8-9pm on Mondays and
6-9pm on Fridays.

Running for Shoes

Mosibodi runs his races as part of Team #ShoesOnFeet for
the Put Foot Foundation, as part of the Old Mutual More Than
Yourself campaign, to raise money to pay for shoes for kids
without school shoes. “My friend and I were running a race in
Kempton Park and we saw some school children with no shoes
on, and he said to me, since I am on air, I should try and do
something about it. At the same time Old Mutual was running
their campaign and I got involved.”
To get involved, go to www.putfootfoundation.org.

Image: Jetline Action Photo

Kaya FM sports editor and presenter
Mosibodi Whitehead enjoys two
passions, radio work and running, and
this year he will be chasing his fourth
consecutive Comrades medal.

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