Sipho Thwala, our Ultra-Marathon running Barman

15/06/2020

At a time when it is all too easy to get bogged down in ones own problems it sometimes does a whole lot of good to look up and at others staring down bigger things with fortitude and grace. So Sunday was an uplifting day tinged with sadness for me.

During this lockdown, Sipho our ultra-marathon running barman of 32 years (he has a permanent number for the Comrades Marathon) got an infection in his foot. By the time he had it seen to, it sadly needed to be amputated. He was discharged from hospital and returned home last week.

The annual Comrades Marathon was due to be run this last weekend but had been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. His running mates and club members decided that this Sunday they would pay homage to an inspiring veteran and so did their run (social distancing and present rules in mind) with Sipho”s homestead as a stop on route.

Feeling the need to be a part of this effort but not being a runner (being on the slightly rounder side) I took a drive on a freezing Sunday morning to share a cup of tea over an open fire with the man himself and his family. Later he greeted the runners in and there were boerewors rolls and juice for all.

The runners, the youngest being two little boys in full colours running with their mom to other veteran runners were greeted along the way by a community all shouting their support for the effort to honor one of their own.

Sipho is in good spirits and vowing that he will be participating in the next comrades marathon!

We are raising funds to help Sipho to get the right prosthesis to allow him to run again. Any support would be appreciated. Please click here if you would like to donate online.