THE MEN’ S ULTRA
Nkosikhona Mhlakwana
PITBULL ON THE HUNT
Three, two, ONE? Is this the year that Nkosikhona‘ Pitbull’ Mhlakwana takes the only spot on the 56km podium that’ s eluded him thus far?
BY STEPHEN GRANGER
I
t was sports day at Copeville Primary School in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal. Younger pupils were preparing for the sprints on the track as the only distance event, a 4km fun run reserved for the Grade 7s, got underway.
At the gun, a small boy was seen moving up from the back of the field. Surely he was underage for the event? Somehow Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, still only in Grade 4, had found himself lining up for the distance run. But instead of dropping from exhaustion at halfway, the youngster defied all odds by racing to victory!
“ I was named the winner and I was applauded at the school assembly,” Mhlakwana recalls.“ From that time on, all eyes were on me. My mom became my biggest supporter and she told my brothers, Mpikeleli and Bantu, to carry my school bag so that I could run to school every day!”
“ That’ s how my love for running developed, and I never looked back. I dabbled in soccer for a few years, but that did nothing for me. With running, everything was possible.”
Fast forward 20 years and‘ The Pitbull’, as Mhlakwana is fondly known –“ once I grab something, I never let go” – is sharpening his preparation for his third tilt at the 56km Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon title. He’ s come close in his two outings in 2022 and 2023, but the top step on the podium has eluded him to date.
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