"I'm not a contender" - Om Die Dam champion Pulusa to make Comrades debut
- Thathe Msimango
- 18 minutes ago
- 3 min read
In the past, a notable performance at the Om Die Dam 50km race has frequently been an indicator of potential success at the Comrades Marathon. For example after winning Om Die Dam for the first time in March 2019, Joseph Manyedi went to earn his first Comrades gold medal when he finished in fifth position on 9 June, 2019.
This year it Tebogo Pulusa who triumphed at the Trojan Om Die Dam Marathon on Saturday 21 March in a time of 2:53:06, suggesting that he is well-equipped to deliver a good performance in his debut at The Ultimate Human Race on Sunday, 14 June. Yet in spite of his recent strong performances, Pulusa does not think he is a contender to claim a gold medal at the almost 90km ultra marathon race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
"I don't think I'm among the contenders at Comrades Marathon this year. This will be the first time in my life that I run the race, so I'm going there to get an exposure," he told #TheTopRunner. "Its going to be the longest distance I have done in my career so I don't know what to expect on race day. The important thing is to have a great experience as I'm still learning how to run Comrades," explains Pulusa who works as a Plant Cleaner at Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine in eastern Limpopo close to the town of Steelpoort.
The 37-year-old who also runs in the colours of his employer The Dwarsrivier Mine AC, says his victory at the race run around the Hartebeespoort Dam was unexpected because he had entered the race as a training exercise. Ultimately, he narrowly defeated the Nedbank Running Club athlete's Aaron Moate by a minute, while experienced long-distance runner Peter Mothubi secured third place in 2:54:29 in the colours of Rustenburg's Impala Marathon Club.
"The plan was to use the race as the training run without putting myself into contention for the title. But then at 31km, I realised that most of the athletes that were in the chasing bunch were tired and struggling to keep up. I then decided to try and push to win the race as the leading athlete (Moate) wasn't too far away from me. The good thing I was fit and strong on the day which made it easy for me to cruise to the victory. I believe I'm in good shape as I have been training hard," he said.
His victory on Saturday marked his second triumph in less than a month, following his remarkable performance at the TRACN4 Elands Marathon in Mpumalanga on 28 February, where he recorded an impressive time of 2:13:03 to win by more than three minutes from Mothubi. Some suggest that the man who third position at the 2024 City2City 50km might be racing excessively in preparation for his Human Ultimate Race debut. His coach and cousin, Johannes Mogoane, explains that Pulusa's next focus is to participate in the Totalsport Two Oceans Marathon on April 11, followed by a six-week training camp in Dullstroom.
"We are not done yet. Comrades is far away and we want to do things in the right manner. The next focus now is for Tebogo to do Two Oceans Marathon as a training run. We are not going there to race. Afterwards, he is going to a six weeks training camp in Dullstroom to polish things up. We have to be cautious on how we prepare him as we are aiming for good results. He is one of the hardest working athletes and I'm positive he is going to perform at his best," he said.
For Pulusa who clocked 2:27:36 at the Soweto Marathon last November, his Comrades Marathon motivation stems from a desire is to replicate the success of runners from his province, notably former winner Ludwick Mamabolo and multiple gold medalist Rufus Photo.
"What the guys like Ludwick and Rufus have achieved is encouraging and motivation for most runners from Limpopo. Most athletes are dreaming to achieve the things they achieved. I look up to them too. I'm hoping one day I'll able to get close to achieving top results just like them, especially at Comrades," he concluded.
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