The 96th Comrades Marathon will be held between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, June 11, 2023. With help from the Department of Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation (ACSR), 147 North West Province people will participate. The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced this year's race's top 10 male runners. Six of the top 10 runners are from the North West province, which shows that the province dominates the race.
The North West has given South Africa some of its best artists in recent years, and over time, the Comrades have become their favourite place to hang out. This year, the silver province has top runners like Tete Dijana, Edward Mothibi, Dan Matshailwe, Joseph Manyedi, Onalenna Khonkhobe, and Gordon Lesetedi from Taung, who won 9th place in 2019 and 11th place in 2022.
Dijana, 34 and from Mahikeng, came in third at the Om Die Dam in 2020, second at the Nedbank Runified 50km Ultra in 2022, and first at the Comrades Marathon in 2022. Mothibi is also from Mahikeng and has done well in the Comrades Marathon. In 2018, Mothibi finished fourth in his first Ultimate Human Race. In 2019, he beat the defending champion and three-time winner Bongimusa Mthembu in a fierce fight to win the race. In 2022, he finished second.
Matshailwe is from Rustenburg and is 29 years old. He came in third place at the Comrades Marathon in 2022. Manyedi, who is 40 years old and from Taung, crossed the finish line of the Comrades Marathon for the first time in 2015 in 235th place. A year later, he was in 140th place. Manyedi won the Om Die Dam 50k and came in fifth at the Comrades. At the World 50km Championships in Brasov, he missed the top 10 and had to settle for 11th, the worst place in the race. Before the Covid Pandemic stopped racing in South Africa, Manyedi finished 9th at the Om Die Dam in 2020. A year later, he showed his promise by finishing 12th at the Nedbank Runfield 50km. Manyedi kept getting better in 2022. He finished in the top ten at the Runified 50km (9th) and then came in 7th at the Comrades Marathon.
Khonkhobe from Taung has yet to have an official marathon time with the world's trackers, but his 1:03:13 half-marathon time in 2022 showed everyone how fast this man is. Even though he doesn't have a win next to his name, he set the pace for the Nedbank team in the Comrades Marathon in 2022. The year before the Comrades, he came in sixth at the Two Oceans Marathon and second at the N12 Ultra 50km.
The MEC for ACSR, Kenetswe Mosenogi, says that the department has handled all the logistical needs of the 147 athletes from the North West who do not have private-sector funding. "We hope this will give the state an edge in the race and help it reach the top spots. Any long-distance runner's dream is to participate in a global race as important as this one,” she said.
She also said that the success of North West runners and the fact that they participate in such important events should encourage young athletes in a primarily rural province.
