'My biggest dream is to represent SA' - Masilo dreams big after taking third SKYRUN title

In a thrilling display of endurance and determination, South African trail running sensation Mjongile Tonic Masilo cemented his status as a legendary trailer recording 8:07:08 to win the K-Way Skyrun 65km race on weekend. The race which is run on Witteburg mountains in the Eastern Cape near the Lesotho border is considered as one of the most gruelling ultra trail events in Southern African. Masilo though, he has managed to master. In his four starts, Masilo has won the race three times, while obtaining a second place finish on the other occasion. Speaking after his victory on Saturday within minutes of breaking Grobler Basson's course record of 8:02:11 set in 2022, he expressed delight at securing back to back titles even though his mission was to break his coach's record. 

"I'm happy to win another Skyrun title. It means a lot to me to come back and dominate the race once again. When I looked at the list of competitors before the race, I knew that I was going to win it. Most of the guys were running the race for the first time and lack experience," explains, the man, who hails from Rhodes in the Eastern Cape.

"Another thing, my training before the race was on point. For the first half of the race, I was well inside record pace. But in the second half, the weather conditions became a stumbling block as it was hot. It became relatively hard to keep up with the pace - that's where I lost the course record. In the end, I'm happy that I managed to win the race which was the main goal as next year I'm moving to 100km distance."

With the dominance he has shown over the years, one would think that the 34-year-old is a trail running veteran. But that couldn't be further from the truth because he only started the sport four years ago after being convinced to try it out by his former coach Hilton Dunn. "I started running trail in 2020. Before I was playing football from a very young age. Even though I was good, the area I'm from doesn't have many opportunities. Its quite hard to make it to the professional ranks. Then my former coach (Hilton Dunn), who used to play football with us, recommended I try trail running. From there, I started doing it. In my first Skyrun in 2021, I managed to break the course record (clocked 08:09:33) and I never looked back."

Yet even with all of his achievements which have inspired a generation of upcoming black trail runners, the man who took fourth place at this year's Addo Elephant trail 50k, is living hand to mouth.  "I'm unemployed at the moment and have to look after two children. The other one is my 11-year-old sister who was essentially orphaned when my mother passed away in 2017. Then second one is my child who is 12 years old," said emotional Masilo.

"I rely on running in order to provide for them. I don't have any sponsors myself so the little I get, I have to put back into entering races. Plus there's the high cost of travelling to the races, which is why I don't run many races outside my province. If I had a sponsor, it would have been different story. But I'm hoping one day, by God's grace things will go my way. My results and the work that I have been putting in will be seen by a good Samaritan one day," he said hopefully.

Masilo says he looks up to three time SKYRUN 100km Champion Simon Tshabalala and South African trail runner and North Face ambassador Mvuyisi Gcogco and has he dreams of competing on the international stage one day. "My biggest dream is to represent the country internationally one day. I have to win the Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT - taking place in George, Western Cape, where he was 12th this year). Then I'll be chosen to represent SA in France. Another thing I'm wishing for, is to run overseas races like Gcogco he has been doing since last year. To see him achieving all of that inspires me that one day I can reach the sky," he concluded.