‘This changes everything for me’ - Comrades Marathon winner on victory
The winner of the Comrades Marathon men’s race says his life will never be the same again.
Twenty-six-year-old Piet Wiersma from the Netherlands took the gold medal on Sunday after crossing the finish line in 5 hours, 24 minutes and 56 seconds.
More than 20,000 runners took part in the 49th edition of the gruelling race, which was an up-run this year.
Wiersma says he trained with a friend in Kenya for weeks to take part in the comrades.
"This is going to change everything for me. I decided beforehand if I was going to win this race, I would go back to Kenya for the long term and see how much I could accrue by becoming a full-time runner.
The race began outside Durban City Hall and ended at HollywoodBets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg.
Wiersma is the first international runner to win the race in eleven years.
South Africa's Gerda Steyn won her third consecutive women's Comrades Marathon.
She finished the race in 5 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds, breaking her own record.
The race also saw a great achievement for East Coast Radio's very own Rory Petzer.
"In 2019, I didn’t finish the up run; they haven’t had an up run since 2019. So, it’s been a long time since we got revenge on those big five, and yesterday, I got revenge on the big five. Superbly timed, superbly paced, even if I say so myself, in a time of 11:33:53."
KZN runner Steven Mkhize was happy he got to finish the race.
"I was really aiming for silver, but I did manage to get in."
Local Yenziwe Oliphant, however, was forced to pull out of the race due to an injury.
"I was looking forward to getting my fourth medal. I'm a little disappointed but I understand that an injury came back, and I decided to pull out before it gets worse."
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