Year after year, there’ s one familiar face waiting in the Comrades Marathon finish area – Nick Bester, celebrating the achievements of his Nedbank Running Club athletes.
While many know him as the club’ s manager, and some remember him as the 1991 Comrades champion, few know the extraordinary story behind the man known as Ysterman.
For more than three decades, Bester has remained one of South African endurance sport’ s most influential figures. Long before he was mentoring Comrades champions and Olympic athletes, he earned the nickname Ysterman for excelling across multiple endurance disciplines, winning the Comrades Marathon, Ironman events, duathlons and triathlons.
Yet despite all the medals and titles, the Comrades victory remains the one that still gives him goosebumps.
“ Yes, I won the Comrades in 1991, but I can just tell you it feels like just the other day. I can ' t believe that it ' s 35 years ago. I can just remember holding the baton in my right hand above my head and just accepting the crowds ' applause, and that I ' d achieved a long-term goal that I ' d worked very hard for.”
The race itself has changed dramatically since then.
“ When you look at the sport today, the difference between the Comrades Marathon and the years when we won is that it became much more professional.
“ When I won in 1991, I told the television crew and everybody who interviewed me that I would never run this race again if there was no prize money. They said there would never be prize money in the Comrades Marathon because everybody is the same.”
His comments caused plenty of controversy at the time.
“ It is a huge event. You can ' t expect people to run that distance, compete, give up their jobs, sacrifice for years and years to be able to win a Comrades Marathon and you don ' t pay them.”
Today, the Comrades boasts the biggest prize purse in ultramarathon running, with the men’ s and women’ s winners each pocketing R925,000 with extra bonuses for records and other incentives, something Bester believes has helped elevate the standard of the race to where it is today.
For a man who conquered many different sporting disciplines, it is telling that he still considers Comrades the toughest challenge of them all.
“ Mentally and physically, the Comrades is the hardest of them all,” he explains
“ The pain that you experience in a Comrades, you can ' t describe... especially on the down run. At the end of the race, you ' re shattered. You take months to recover from Comrades. Mentally also, you must be strong. After 60 kilometres, that ' s only your mind that ' s carrying you forward.”
That mental toughness didn ' t develop by chance.
Bester ' s childhood was marked by tragedy. At the age of seven, he was involved in the car accident that claimed his father ' s life. He was seriously injured himself, and still suffers the scars from that, while his mother and sister spent a long time recovering in hospital.
Later came military service with the Parabats, where he survived dangerous operations during the Border War. There was even a shark attack where he managed to rescue his friend out of the water. And years afterwards, he endured a brutal assault while training in the Magaliesberg.“ They broke my jaw, my cheekbone and my ribs. They tied my hands and feet together behind my back. I can ' t believe that I crawled down a mountain with my hands behind my back and my feet tied. I think my mental strength and also my physical strength got me down the mountain where they rescued me.”
Remarkably, he speaks about those experiences without bitterness.
“ I was never afraid. I was just calm.”
Today, Bester channels that resilience into developing athletes rather than chasing his own victories, although he’ s still a highly competitive mountain biker.
Over the years, he has helped guide countless Comrades gold medallists and champions. His eye for talent remains as sharp as ever. Before this year ' s Comrades, Bester correctly predicted that Nedbank would dominate the men ' s race, which was won by Nedbank’ s George Kusche in an up run record time of 5 hours 15 minutes 56 seconds.
FEATURE
“ We produced four men in the top five, and I predicted that. I know exactly who ' s going to be there. I know the people, I know how they train, I know the up runners, I know their build.”
His coaching philosophy is refreshingly simple. Talent matters, but mindset matters even more.“ The brain... your body is capable of everything that your brain wants you to do, but you must believe 100 per cent, 110 per cent.”
Equally important is accountability.
“ I don ' t want to work with athletes that always have excuses. Your position is your position. Accept it, learn from your mistakes and then try again the next time. My slogan in life is victory or death. You go flat out or you leave it.”
Despite his tough exterior, there is another side to Bester that few people see.
“ If I could choose, I would never want to be a sportsman or a Comrades winner or Iron Man winner. I would rather be a good singer or a guitarist or a drummer in a good band. That ' s my passion. I love Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. I would give all my victories to rather be a musician than a sportsman,” he revealed.
Now in his mid-60s, retirement holds little appeal.
“ I can ' t see myself ever retiring. I just want to die one day and go away. I ' m not going to retire.” The reason has little to do with medals or personal ambition.
“ Well, at the moment... my legacy is what I ' m doing. I ' m helping a lot of people. If I stop doing what I ' m doing and don ' t get the sponsorship, there will be hundreds of people that don ' t get an income each year.
“ I ' m not only talking about the elite athletes. I ' m talking about our drivers, our coaches, our managers, committee members, people getting an entry fee, a pair of shoes and a vest to go and run a race and make money.
“ People must remember I ' m still here because I want to help others achieve an income in some way or another.”
For a man remembered as one of South Africa ' s toughest endurance athletes, that may ultimately prove to be Nick Bester ' s greatest victory. www. modernathlete. co. za 27