The driving force behind Comrades champ Dijana

Inspirational stories abound as to why runners choose to line up for the gruelling Comrades Marathon between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

There are those who run in memory of departed loved ones who used to do the race. There are those who run to deal with the pain brought about by the death of a close relative. There are those who run because they have been dared to by their friends or colleagues.

Others run the 90km race just to prove they can. After all, don’t they say that every South African should run the world-famous ultra marathon at least once in their life?

When it comes to the elites, the assumption is always that they run to win and make money. After all, running is their job.

Tete Dijana, the winner in 2022, is inspired by a dream. While he knows it is unlikely to happen, the Nedbank Running Club athlete lives for the day his mother will understand just how accomplished a runner he is.

Dijana’s mother, Julia Sizani, suffers from bipolar disorder and is unaware that her son wears not only the crown of Comrades Marathon king but that he is also the world 50km record holder. It is a situation that pains the athlete immensely.

“It makes me very sad that she does not know I am a champion because it is something I know she would have been very proud of. But I just tell her about it even if she does not get it. She lives in a home, but I visit her and I showed her the car that I bought after winning Comrades and she was very happy.

“She is my inspiration. Thoughts of her help fuel me on the road in races and I have not given up that someday she might be OK.”

On Sunday, when the rest of the elite men will try to take away his crown, the man from Signal Hill village out in Mahikeng in the North West will not be intimidated as he seeks to remain champion.

Besides the desire to make his mother proud, Dijana also has his two children, Moleboheng and Keaobaka. “They are my motivation. I want to do the best I can for them. I want to build them a future better than what I grew up in and I can only achieve that by doing well in races such as Comrades,” says the 35-year-old, whose father left when he was just eight years old.

Dijana knows he is going to be a marked man on Sunday, having experienced the pressure that comes with being Comrades champion when he ran the Nedbank Runified 50km earlier this year.

He broke his homeboy Stephen Mokoka’s world record, running a superfast 2:39:03 to win the 10-lap race in Gqeberha to improve on his second-place finish from the year before.

“I saw that people wanted to beat me as the Comrades champion. Everyone seemed to be looking at me and when I tried to make a move they followed. But I was fit and I managed to overcome them. Most importantly, I was mentally fit.”

It is his mental strength, more than his athletic ability, that Dijana believes is key to his success and he knows that will be the key on Sunday.

“You must know and believe in yourself to make it in this sport. You should know how to handle any pressure that comes your way,” he said.