The front row of a rugby scrum is a place of thunder, where tighthead props crouch low, shoulders braced like pillars of stone, ready to absorb the surge of eight opposing forwards. It is a battlefield measured in seconds and centimetres. Distance running lives in a different world. The road stretches for hours. The contest unfolds through patience, rhythm and quiet resolve. The two worlds seldom cross paths, but two former Springbok tighthead props have discovered that the journey from one arena to the other is not only possible... it can be transformative. When the 2026 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon powered by BYD unfolds, Marius Hurter( 55) and Eddie Andrews( 49) will stand among thousands of runners ready to test themselves on the legendary roads of the Cape Peninsula. Hurter will once again take on the 56km Ultra Marathon on Saturday 11 April, while Andrews returns the following day for his sixth start in the 21km Half Marathon. In their playing days both men weighed over 130kg while anchoring the Springbok scrum. Today their challenge is no longer the shove of the opposition pack. It is the quiet demand of endurance, as the road measures their resolve one stride at a time.
The Hurternator’ s Long Road
Hurter built his rugby reputation through raw power and relentless work in the front row,
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and that saw him affectionately known as the‘ Hurternator.’ In those years he tipped the scales at 132kg, whereas today he weighs just 103kg, after shedding around 30kg by training for and participating in endurance sports such as mountain biking and ultra marathon running.
His journey toward endurance actually began with lessons from home long before international rugby entered the picture – and those early lessons arrived in a form that still shapes his mindset.“ Being from a military household, I was used to exercise from a very young age,” explains Hurter.“ When I was about 15, I told my dad I wanted to be a paratrooper. He said,‘ You’ re too soft, man. You’ ll never be a paratrooper.’ But that afternoon, he came home with a two-metre pole and told me I had to jog around the block with it every morning before school, then do push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups.”
The discipline forged through that training regime became a mental engine that carried Hurter through his elite rugby career, which included 13 tests and five tour matches for the Springboks between 1995 and 1997, including two appearances in the country’ s winning 1995 World Cup campaign. At provincial level, he started his career with Western Transvaal before going on to represent both Northern Transvaal and Western Province. In 1998 he was also part of the Stormers Super Rugby campaign, before
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moving to the UK later that year to play for the Newcastle Falcons, where he helped them win the Angle-Welsh Cup twice before returning to SA and eventually calling time on his rugby career in 2006.
Tests of a Different Nature
Hurter’ s post-rugby résumé reads like a catalogue of endurance sport’ s most demanding tests. He has completed nine editions of the Absa Cape Epic, done nine Ironman triathlons, has three Two Oceans Ultra medals and one from the 2025 Comrades Marathon, and has also taken on the gruelling Ultra Trail Cape Town( UTCT) 100 Miler( 160km) race. The transformation from rugby prop to endurance athlete still brings a smile to Hurter’ s face.“ I must say, being a prop, I like a bit of suffering,” he laughs.
“ This stuff is hard on the body, but a lot of it comes down to mental toughness. Your physique is one thing, but it’ s this little thing between your ears that runs the whole operation.” As such, Hurter believes endurance events reveal hidden reserves of strength.“ My dad once told me that if you’ re tired, you’ ve only used one-third of your energy,” he says.“ There are still two-thirds somewhere. You’ ve got to go find it.”
For Hurter, the Two Oceans Ultra will carry special meaning this year. His eldest daughter
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Images: Action Photo SA, Two Oceans Marathon |