BACK IN LATE APRIL when Tsielo Tsanyane spoke to me about the prospects of being part of the HOKA UTMB Mon-Blanc week, it sounded like pie-in-the-sky stuff.
“I am going to compete internationally with those big lions at Mont-Blanc,” the 27-year-old trail running enthusiast beamed, “I would love to go there and challenge those guys running on those big mountains.”
Granted he had just run on a fairly big mountain, Tsanyane speaking to me shortly after he’d just reclaimed his title in the DRJ25 (Drakensberg Rock Jumper 25km) at the RMB Ultra-train Drakensberg (RMB UtD). He won the same race, albeit in a slightly different course, back in 2024 and the year after chose to compete in the35km distance and finished fifth.
But Mont-Blanc? How as a young man of such little means to go to race in Italy?
Tsanyane is a member of LIV2Run in Durban and has grown in leaps and bounds since joining the trail running development programme that is supported by RMB during the Covid-19 years. So much so that he is now not only their top athlete but also one of the coaches.
And along with another brilliant runner in 30-year-old Sinovoyu Ndlovu, he will showcase his talent at arguably the sport’s grandest event, albeit on the periphery of it. The duo will line up in Courmayeur, Italy, on August 25 for the ETC (Experience Trail Courmayeur) — a 15km race with 1,200m of elevation gain, run as part of HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc week.
Theirs is a short course by ultra standards, but not a soft one: at a 4-hour-30-minute cutoff and what trail runners call a “27km-effort” once the climbing is factored in, it’s a genuine test on terrain neither runner has seen before
Michael Edwards, RMB Sponsorship Marketing Lead is delighted that their efforts in helping grow the sport is bearing fruit: “RMB’s support for trail running is focused on growing the sport in South Africa and creating meaningful pathways for talented athletes, to compete, develop and access new opportunities.”
And they are doing exactly that for Tsanyane and Ndlovu whose dreams of being part of Mont-Blanc week were made possible by LIV2Run’s big supporter James Miller, a South African now based in London who has raised funds specifically to send two runners to race in Europe for the first time.
It is an achievement none of them would have dreamt of not so long ago when they joined LIV2Run post high school.
“I never thought I’d be something else,” says Ndlovu who arrived at LIV Village in Durban from Ndwedwe Mission straight after matric, describing a running talent nobody had the means to develop. “I didn’t get a chance, but now to get a chance to teach younger runners makes me feel very happy.”
She’s even happier to be overseas for the first time and the experience is sure to make the duo that much better as runners and mentors.
Tsanyane speaks of his growth as somewhat of a challenge, one he nevertheless gleefully accepts.
“It is very difficult to be a coach. Because now, I do not just run but I also have to lead by example and show the younger ones that we don’t just win by fitness but by mentality as well. Also, I am now a brother to many of these younger ones and they come to me for personal advice and sometimes even for financial help,” says the young man who does maintenance jobs – electrical and plumbing – at LIV Village.
The Mont-Blanc experience is sure to elevate his standing in the LIV2Run community even further and he intends to use the opportunity well.
“Of course, I am competitive and I am going there to challenge myself and the competition. But the most important thing about this trip is for me to go there and gain experience that will help make me a better runner, better person and a better mentor. LIV has changed my life and I want to contribute towards changing the lives of others for the better.”
And that’s exactly what founder Lindi Meyer had in mind when she formed LIV2Run ten years ago after seeing a trail of youngsters behind her while on a run. She made the club official in 2018 and says the results they have produced so far are only half the journey.
“We strive to provide our runners with access to opportunities and life skills training. We expose these athletes to travelling to races – really just opening their eyes, minds and hearts to bigger things, and causing hope to rise up so they can dream big dreams for their lives.”
Tsanyane and Ndlovu are living proof that those dreams can become a reality and their participation in the ETC on the periphery of Mont-Blanc week can only serve to inspire many others.
