The Comrades Marathon is known as the “ultimate human race,” and Xolani Luvuno took it on with an incredible fighting spirit more akin to a superhuman.
The 33-year-old, who is missing his right leg, finished the 56-mile legendary marathon that’s held yearly in South Africa on crutches in 15 hours, 50 minutes. The race has a strict 12-hour cutoff time, but officials let Luvuno start his race a full five hours before the rest of the field was to start at 5:30 a.m.
“I wanted to make sure that I finish before cut-off time and my coach said to me don’t rush because the Comrades Marathon is not 42km, it’s a big race,” he said after crossing the finish line. “I want to say thank you to the supporters who cheered for me on the routes as well as the director of the Comrades Marathon for giving me this chance.”
Luvuno had his leg amputated after being diagnosed with bone cancer in 2009. According to News 24, he struggled with a drug addiction and was living underneath a bridge in Pretoria (S. Africa) before he met Hein Venter, a businessman with a big heart who wanted to help. It was Venter who introduced Luvuno to running, and he hasn’t looked back since.
More than a year ago, he ran the 42.2 km Wally Hayward Marathon on a prosthetic leg with crutches. Shortly after, he ran another long distance race using a running blade. He reportedly has his sights set on the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
And for those of you wondering — although Luvuno crossed the finish line at Comrades — he did not receive a finishers medal.
Not every runner receives one, for the record. Gold medals go to the first 10 runners to finish, silver (6 hrs to sub-7hrs, 30 min.), bronze-silver (7 hrs, 30 min to sub-9 hrs) and bronze (9 hrs. to sub-11 hrs.) medals are awarded to runners who finish in a certain time, and copper medals go to those who finish in the 11 hr to sub-12-hour range.
Technically, Luvuno’s did beat the cutoff. However, race officials say that because he started long before the rest of the field, he would not receive a copper medal.
This from Cheryl Winn, the Chairperson of the Comrades Marathon Association:
“Xolani Luvuno, having been given special permission to utilise the Comrades Marathon route and facilities in his admirable quest to conquer the distance, began his journey at 00:30 a full 5 hours ahead of the field, and completed the distance in a total time of 15 hours and 50 minutes. With all the hullaballoo about a medal, the obvious question which arises is which of the medal’s time criteria did he meet?
“The bottom line is that the Comrades Marathon Association applauds Xolani’s courageous and remarkable achievement and will in due course find some appropriate means to recognise it. CMA is totally committed to the inclusive participation of athletes with disabilities and we will apply our minds to the appropriate means of recognition.”
It’s a true shame he wasn’t immediately recognized for his achievement with some hardware, but hopefully the Comrades Marathon Association makes it up to him in a bigger and better way.
