'I will just close my mouth and open my legs' - Tete Dijana buries ghosts of Comrades 2024 and looks to 2025
After a disappointing 2024, Tete Dijana is upbeat about 2025. The two-time Comrades Marathon champion has enjoyed a solid start to the year which included a gentle 1:14:04 at the Biogen 21K in January and 31:59 over 10km for second place at the Ottosdal Draf en Trap just over a week ago. The Nedbank Running Club top runner has all eyes on the season ahead following a sub par 2024 Comrades which saw him forced to settle for fourteenth position when he had started as one of the pre-race favourites.
"I don't have any pressure. I'm training for a marathon in March. I told myself that this year is going to be a quiet one for me. I'm gonna work hard and try to rectify what happened last year and forget about 2024 and focus on 2025," he said referring to the 97th edition of the world's oldest ultra marathon which saw disturbing videos of the champion’s struggles with cramp go viral on social media.Â
Dijana who spent Saturday motivating aspiring Comrades champions at the Nedbank Running Club Soweto's Awards on Saturday (1 February), is optimistic that the troubles he experienced during last year's Up Run are behind him. The holder of a 2:13:24 lifetime best set at the 2023 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Dijana ran with the lead bunch until Polly Shortts before struggling with the cramping that saw him labour to a disappointing 5:42:50 finish. The man who is coached by Dave Adams says they spent much of the second half of last season addressing the cramping issue, leaving him ready to take on the season ahead.
"I'm back on track because you saw at Soweto I was just testing and checking to see if I'm still cramping," he explained reflecting on his ninth place finish in 2:22:32 at the 2024 Africanbank Soweto Marathon. "So my physios told me that my muscles were damaged, so we were trying to repair the damage. So at Soweto I was checking to see whether we are on the right track. So nothing is wrong anymore. No more damage. So now I just have to work on my mind, be positive and get back on track."
Getting back on track will undoubtedly mean winning a third Comrades gold medal. And given that the 98th edition of the Ultimate Human Race on 8 June will be a Down Run where Dijana set the record two years ago, much will be expected of the former 50km record holder on the 90km journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. But Dijana is playing his cards close to his chest and refuses to be drawn into discussions about his target for the race.
"Let's see what 2025 has in store for us. I can't say much. I don't want to express my targets. You’ll just see what's gonna happen. I know what I'm gonna do. People get jealous when I say I'm gonna win. They don't want to hear the word win. I will just close my mouth and open my legs."
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