'Life can be hard sometimes' - Mthalane back from illness & depression with 8th place at City2City

At the beginning of 2024, promising ultra distance star Msawenkosi Mthalane made the move from the Entsika Running Club to the Hollywood Athletic Club and decided to tackle Comrades Marathon for the first time. It meant he had to change his calendar and scrap other races like the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon where he previously finished inside the top five. The decision backfired because even though he made a decent 6:02:29 to finish 50th overall, he failed to make an impact at The Ultimate Human Race. Reflecting on that decision, Mthalane admits that it was a mistake.

"I think my choice to run the Comrades Marathon was a bad one. It killed me. I had to sacrifice races like Two Oceans 56km Marathon and Prince Mangosuthu 52km where I had done well in the past. I thought I was ready to tackle the 90km of Comrades but it turned out to be a bad day," remarked Mthalane.

Mthalane who now runs for the Nedbank Running Club, is on the comeback trail after a challenging 2024 and beginning of 2025. Photo Credit: SMacPix.

Following that unpleasant Comrades debut, Mthalane struggled to find his feet again. He struggled with the health problems which affected him so seriously that he briefly considered leaving the sport. 

"Life can be hard sometimes. I had health issues big time. At some point, I had blocked ears when I was training. I tried to keep going but the problem kept going on. My health issues were so bad that I thought it would need a cultural solution. The way I was so down, it got to the point where I didn't want people to reach out to me. I nearly quit the sport. But I told myself that everything in life happens for the reason."

The light was provided when coach Mthandeni Nene convinced him to make a comeback in June this year. Thanks to Nene's intervention, the Nedbank Running Club gave him a lifeline after the Hollywood Athletics Club were forced to cut him loose as a result of his poor performances.

"I instructed Hollywood to cut ties because I was not racing as per contract. It was a good thing to do. I told myself that isn't the end of the road and then I sat down to restructure my life. I learnt to accept my losses," explains Mthalane who claimed fourth at the 2023 Totalsports Two Ocean Marathon in a time of 3:11:16, then roughly a month later he delivered a top performance on a hilly and challenging course in Northern KwaZulu-Natal to settle for a second position in 2:57:52 at the Prince Mangosuthu 52km race.

Mthalane celebrates a maiden top ten finish at the City2City Marathon. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"Then Nene came into my life and convinced me to get into competitive running again and I listened to him. At first, it was not easy to train hard because I had been out for a long time. But I managed to adapt to the train program. Starting afresh was a long process but it has been worth it. By God's grace, I have recovered and got the love for the sport again," 

With the problems behind him, Mthalane is on the comeback trail and underlined his return to form with an encouraging 2:55:31 to claim eight position at the City2City 50km ultra marathon on 28 September, for which he pocketed R12 000.

"I surprised myself. I never expected to perform like that especially after being out for so long. I'm happy to be back in the game as athletics is my first love. I don't want to rush the process as I'm building towards next year. My goal is to go back to Two Oceans and perform.”