Anyone who has finished the Comrades Marathon will tell you what an incredible feat it is to make it to the finish line, and in Louis Massyn’s case his efforts are nothing short of super-human as successfully earned his 50th medal at the gruelling ultra marathon on Sunday.
The 74-year-old made his way over the finish line in 11 hours 53 minutes and 14 seconds in the 89.98km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Making it with just over six minutes before the 12-hour cut-off, Massyn is now the first person to complete the race 50 times.
He was assisted by much younger runners on either side of him as he was hunched over and battling to keep his balance, when he was caught on camera at the finish line.
Having entered his first Comrades in 1973, the only years he didn’t compete were in 2020 and 2021 when there was no race due to the Covid pandemic. He also missed out in 2022 when he did not make it to the start line due to a knee injury.
Emotional Massyn Reflects on Gruelling Ultra Marathon Experience
After the race, an emotional and exhausted Massyn told SuperSport: “That was absolutely more than tough today. Especially over the last 15 kilometres. For me to be the first athlete ever to finish this iconic, world’s greatest ultra marathon with huge support from Ryno, Eric and Hernus – they supported me all the way.
“It has been an awesome, awesome day out. The support along the way was absolutely fantastic. It was a gruelling, tough day out.”
Earlier, just a few minutes before Massyn achieved his historic feat, Johannes Maros Mosehla broke his own record as the oldest-ever finisher in race history at 83-year-old. The inspiring runner crossed the line in 11:47:27.
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
