Test Comrades

• The Comrades Marathon returned after a two-year break on Sunday, reminding of its relevance as a South African sporting spectacle. 

Both winners - Tete Dijana and Alexandra Morozova - had emotional journeys to the finish line. 

11 700 of the 13 200 starters finished the race.

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They call it the 'Ultimate Human Race', and it surely is, but Sunday's 2022 Comrades Marathon was also the ultimate reminder of exactly why this gruelling event is accepted as one of the most uniquely South African dates on our sporting calendar.

From 05:30 outside the Pietermaritzburg City Hall through to 17:30 at Moses Mabhida Stadium, South Africa showed off its finest, vibrant qualities of togetherness in uniting behind a common cause.

Comrades had not taken place since the up-run of 2019 when Edward Mothibi won in 05:31:33. The 2020 and 2021 editions were lost, like so many other things, to Covid-19. The logistical magnitude of this great race made it so.

For some of the 13 200 that lined up and braved the midlands winter, with Chariots of Fire blaring through the loudspeakers, this race was run in memory of those lost to the pandemic.

For others, it was about taking back the time stolen.

For men's winner Tete Dijana, who produced a tactical and technical masterclass to come home in 05:30:35, it was reward for a leap of faith taken late in life.

Now 34 years old, Dijana left his job as a security guard at North-West University earlier this year, taking unpaid leave to join the Nedbank Running Club team at a training camp in Dullstroom.

It was a gamble that paid off.