Local athlete Thembinkosi "Teabag" Mdyogolo competed in the Nedbank Soweto Marathon on 1 November.
Mdyogolo had received a sponsorship from the municipality’s Special Programmes Unit to travel to Johannesburg to compete at the event, which also covered his accomodation.
Local athlete Thembinkosi "Teabag" Mdyogolo competed in the Nedbank Soweto Marathon on 1 November.
Mdyogolo had received a sponsorship from the municipality’s Special Programmes Unit to travel to Johannesburg to compete at the event, which also covered his accomodation.
Last Thursday Mdyogolo met with Makana Mayor, Vumile Lwana to thank him, saying, "I hope the municipality will be able to help the next person who knocks on your door asking for assistance". Also attending the meeting was DA councillor Prof Julia Wells who said, "He has the potential to nurture young people." Mdyogolo also brought along two of his friends Joe Kiefer and Jacob Murphy, who are exchange students from Bellarmine University in Kentucky.
When asked about the overall race he said, "The weather was nice, not too hot like I expected because Gauteng is usually very hot, I enjoyed myself." He says an absolute highlight was running down Vilakazi Street, Orlando West where Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu used to live.
"If it was not a race, I would have gone in and if Mandela was still staying there I would have run very fast so that he would notice me," he said. 5 071 athletes took part in the marathon and Mdyogolo crossed teh finish line in 723rd place in 3:17:55 for the 42.2 km run. Men finishing in 3 hours 20 minutes and women by 3 hours 45 minutes all received silver medals.
Mdyogolo has been prescribed 10 weeks of rest by his doctor for a groin injury, stating that he had to bring something home to make Makana proud, "which is why I decided to decrease the pace when I experienced severe pain during the race. I didn’t allow myself to pull out," he concluded. The person who claimed first place is 27 year-old Tshidiso Bosiu from Gauteng Striders, with a time of 2:18:10.
