Ryan Sandes - This will soon be the new home of the domain ...

time I was not embarrassed to run. I was a man
on a mission.” He completed a couple more half
marathons before a friend at gym, Zola Mafeje,
convinced him to join Johannesburg Harriers Athletic
Club. Sibu’s goal was to run the Soweto Marathon
and by the time he ran it in November last year,
he had already slimmed down to 97kg. His first
marathon was no walk in the park and the words
‘hitting the wall’ soon became a reality. “Things
went well up to the 36km mark, but then my body
suddenly just came to a stop. I had to walk and even
that was too much of an effort. My feet hurt and
I had blisters. I eventually finished the race in 4:18.
That’s when I realised I also needed proper
running shoes.”
By then Sibu’s humble pie book was nearly empty. “People
congratulated me on my weight loss. It inspired me because I had
the weight of an audience on my shoulders. I did not want to
disappoint them.” In February this year, he ran the Dischem Half
Marathon in Bedfordview in a time of 1:43. A couple of days later
while running in Meyersdal, a suburb south of Johannesburg, he
met up with a group of runners who meet every morning at 5:00
at the Virgin Active gym. “They saw me running and said I should
join them. The next morning I was there. It was so nice. For the
first time, I ran with people who knew different routes. Some of
the runners were faster than me, all were more experienced and
they talked about running all the time. It changed my life and my
running improved so much. Everyone just accepted me. At first we
just spoke about running, but later we shared other things too,”
says Sibu.
He never really gave Comrades much thought but after a couple
of weeks running with his newfound friends, it slowly started
becoming a dream. “Every time I ran with my new group, every
second sentence had to do with Comrades. That’s when I decided
to tackle it.” By then Sibu weighed 92kg, ideal for his frame
and height.
He qualified for Comrades in a time of 3:39 at his second 42.2km
ever, the Cape Gate Vaal Marathon. Shortly afterwards, he ran his
first ultra marathon, Om die Dam, which he describes as a learning
// Some of the runners were faster than me, all were
more experienced and they talked about running all the
time. It changed my life. //
curve. The race made him realise he is an impatient runner
who starts fast but fades in the latter part of the race. “After
Om die Dam, I ran the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and also had to
negotiate the last few kilometres. I thought that was the way it was
going to be at Comrades; run faster in the first half and negotiate
the second half. I had a finishing time in my mind but never said it
out loud. My goal was to finish in the single digits. 9:59:59 would
have been perfect!”
A LIFE CHANGING DAY
He felt prepared, but also very nervous on Comrades day. “People
always say you feel emotional after Comrades, but for me it was
the other way around. I was very emotional at the start. There were
so many people around me, but I felt so lonely. I looked left and
SIBU WITH HIS KIDS VUKANI AND NJABULO.
ahead of it. At the 30km mark
he joined a smaller group of
runners and did everything
they did. “I had no idea what I
was doing so I thought I might
as well join them. I was like a
student. When they walked,
I walked and when they ran
I ran.” Just after the halfway
mark, the sub-nine hour bus
passed them and Sibu decided
to take a chance and join them.
“There are so many things
about Comrades that I don’t
even remember because I was
too emotionally involved in
that race.”
right and it seemed as if
everyone around me knew
exactly what they were
doing, except me. I was
scared I would not finish and
disappoint myself as well as
my family and friends who
were there to support me,”
says Sibu.
He saw the sub-nine hour
bus at the start and decided
he just needed to stay
COMRADES 2009 - I DID IT!
At about the 70km mark, Sibu’s
energy was low and he started thinking of falling back, but at that
moment he heard someone screaming his name. It was his wife and
two boys, Njabulo (6) and Vukani (3), joined by friends cheering him
on. “No one will ever know how much energy that gave me.
I didn’t pull back and hung on to the bus.”
Shortly afterwards, he ran past a feeding station with speakers
announcing the tenth lady, Kashmira Parbhoo, had just made her
way into the stadium. Kashmira is one of Sibu’s running friends,
with whom he trains in the mornings. “When I heard Kashmira’s
name, I thought, it looks like this is our day! And as we started
getting closer to the stadium, I realised that a sub-nine hour was
on the cards for me. It was the most amazing feeling. When I ran
into the stadium, I saw my family and I beat my chest for my boys.
That day was so emotional not only because I finished the race, but
because I realised I had come a long way. For the first time, I saw
myself as a runner.”
OVERCOMING HARD TIMES
When one speaks to Sibu’s friends you quickly realise how much he
is loved and respected, not only for his sheer determination to lose
so much weight, but also because of the many hardships he has
endured in life.
11
At the age of 4, he was kidnapped in Soweto where he grew up,
but as his kidnappers fled with him in their car, they were involved
in a car accident and Sibu was rescued. In later life, he was involved
in a serious car accident and landed in hospital with a blood clot
in his brain. He could not read, write and had no feeling in his arm
and one part of his face. “Doctors thought it could also be a brain
tumour that I had before the accident. They wanted to operate, but
I refused and started seeing a homeopath. A couple of months later
it was gone,” says Sibu.
LOOKING AHEAD
He believes running has brought him closer to his family. “In the
past, I would get home late and not see my kids before they went
to bed. Now I can account for my time and I make sure I spend
quality time with them. My family also comes with me to races.
Races have become a family outing for us. We wake the kids and
they dress up. On the way to the race, my wife plays my favourite
music by Tracy Chapman. My family is proud of me and my eldest
boy has also started running a little bit now.”
Sibu could never go back to his old ways. He looks forward to his
morning runs and enjoys his healthy way of living. He is inspired by
people from his running group, especially Cindy Beeming and her
husband, Arthur, with whom he has a special bond. “They are just
such inspiring people with an amazing ability to make everyone
around them happy and feel good about themselves,” says Sibu.
He loves running because it is an undiscriminating sport. “All shapes
and sizes run. There is no such a thing as this one has a R10 000
bike and that one has a R3 000 bike. Runners are all equal in those
long kilometres on the road. It’s just you, your running shoes and
your fellow runners around you.”
Sibu would like to run many more Comrades and one day maybe
even compete in an Iron Man. “God has given me a lot of chances
in life. I have learnt how to live my life in the right way. This is one
chance I am not going to mess up.”
MICHELLE PIETERS
TWO OCEANS SLIM AND HAPPY SIBU AND HIS WIFE LIZZY. NJABULO AND HIS FRIEND KEAGAN FOSTER.
Image: Trevor Lamprecht