Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 60, July 2014 | Page 4

Ma Editor’s letter

True
Comrades Spirit
E

arly on the Saturday morning at the Comrade Marathon Expo, my colleague Charlie Bainbridge phoned to ask
if I could use my contacts to help a runner in need. She had heard the Expo announcer say that a runner had been
mugged and needed help. Typical of Charlie, she was one of the first to respond, taking him a jacket from our lucky
draw prizes.
Sipho Dlamini, a 45-year-old nine-time Comrades finisher from Germiston Callies in Johannesburg, had been
thrown to the ground and held at knifepoint by three men the night before, and robbed of his bag containing his
running shoes and kit, ChampionChip and other belongings. I happened to be chatting to Tamara at the adidas stand
when Charlie called, so I asked her if adidas would be able to help. She immediately phoned Gugu, the adidas head
of PR, who said go for it, and I brought Sipho over from the announcer’s booth to be kitted out, with adidas even
doing a foot analysis before giving him shoes, socks, tights, short and long tops, jacket and cap. He just could not
stop saying thank you!
I was worried that he would be disqualified for running in a T-shirt instead of club colours, though, so I went to
enquire at Runner Information and found out he would be disqualified, but that problem was solved when some
of his clubmates found him and told me they had a spare club vest. I then
told Sipho to join the queues to register and replace his ChampionChip,
and wished him luck as we parted ways. Meanwhile, the announcer
was thanking Modern Athlete and adidas over the PA system, and
this had an amazing effect on others: Coca-Cola offered to pay for
Sipho’s replacement ChampionChip, Energade presented him with
a hamper of goodies, and Liezel of Conker Exhibitions, organisers of the Expo,
fast-tracked Sipho through the long queues. I also saw the announcer give him
some cash. And for the rest of the day, people came to our Modern Athlete stand to say thank you for helping him.

Makes me proud to be
part of the South African
running community.

A few days