"Someone must propose it"- CMA encourage nominations for Spirit of Comrades Awards amid growing calls for Mosehla to be honoured
- Nathi Kubyane
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Comrades Marathon Board member and seasoned sports administrator Brenda Marolen has responded to the call made by some of the South Africans for the CMA to officially honour the race’s oldest finisher. Now 84 years old, ntate Johannes Mosehla made history by completing the 2023 edition of The Ultimate Human race in 9:26:10 at 81 years old, to eclipse the record set by the great Wally Hayward who finished the race in under 11 hours back in 1989. Marolen says they can only act on official requests made by members of the running community.
“We’ll take those recommendations,” she told #TheTopRunner while speaking on the sidelines of the Limpopo Athletes Commission Indaba held at the Capricorn High School auditorium last month. “Someone must propose it then we can deliberate on it and take that forward.”
Ntate Mosehla who is from Ga-Mogashoa village on the outskirts of Jane Furse, Limpopo is a green number holder having completed 13 editions of the Comrades Marathon. Although she was unable to confirm any specifics, Marolen did admit that there have been talks about honouring the legendary runner who first competed as a track athlete half a century ago.
“This year we honoured him at our prize giving awards ceremony which happens on the Monday after the race. He was presented with a medal and a trophy for being the oldest finisher. I think conversations need to then start to say what more can we do for him. Are we looking for monetary recognition or what else? He has been recognised as the oldest finisher. So let’s put ideas forward,” she suggested.
One of those ideas is for the Polokwane Athletic Club runner to be recognised at the annual GEMS Spirit of Comrades Awards which celebrate stories of triumph over adversity that align with the spirit of endurance and resilience of the Comrades Marathon.
“We also have what we call the Spirit of Comrades Awards which usually take place in October. There the community is invited to nominate and motivate why certain people should get that award. It's such a prestigious award that its recipients get given a pure gold medal. We take any recommendations. If it makes sense to us and the public and the running community then definitely it’s a possibility for someone like that to be honoured with this award,” she explained.
Nominations for the Spirit of Comrades Awards are expected to open during the month of August, with the date for the awards ceremony yet to be confirmed.