‘I never gave up': Springs SAPS officer earns coveted Green Number at Comrades Marathon
Captain Sagathavan Pather, Constable Halalisani Dlomo, Sergeant Jabulani Nkwinka, and Sergeant Mmeselane Ramoshu represented the station on Sunday.
Pather was running his 15th Comrades Marathon and had already completed 10 races. This year, he was awarded the prestigious Green Number, given to runners who complete 10 Comrades Marathons.
Pather told the publication that he was happy with his achievement and that his team was there to share in the moment.
He said his running journey began in 1993, but he gave up and only returned in 2000. That year, he ran the Comrades but did not finish, which demotivated him. He made another attempt in 2010, but again failed to complete the race.
'My dad is the one who got my brothers and me into running. But because there were so many of us, he couldn't afford running shoes for all of us, so we ran barefoot. I always told myself that I would finish one day, and I never gave up on that dream of getting a medal,' he said.
Pather returned in 2011, determined to earn a medal — and that year, he completed his first Comrades Marathon, finishing in 11 hours and 43 minutes.
He said that getting the Green Number had been his goal since the day he returned in 2011. Despite the challenges and doubts he faced along the way, Pather said:
'Getting the Green Number is like reaching a new milestone. My aim was just to get one and be done. But the next day, I woke up saying, 'I need to get another Green Number,' because I've seen people older than me achieving them.'
Pather was the first officer in Springs to participate in the marathon in 2011, which led him to recruit other officers to follow suit.
He said that officers would often ask what he did to stay fit, and he would encourage them to run. Pather added that balancing work, training, and a social life is difficult, but discipline is key.
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'We were fortunate to have a management team that understood our love for running. When I asked for time to train, there was some hesitation, but in the end, we were lucky to get Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays off,' he said.
One of the officers recruited by Pather was Sergeant Ramoshu. Ramoshu joined the Comrades in 2022 and earned his first bronze medal. He said he became part of the team after he hung up his boots following many years of playing soccer.
'Soccer was my main sport, but at the age of 45, I realised the younger players were too fast for me. I stopped playing but noticed I was gaining weight. I started using our fitness facility, and that's when I was told there was a running club. I joined soon after,' said Ramoshu.
Ramoshu earned his first Bill Rowan medal (silver) on Sunday after finishing in his personal best time of eight hours, 56 minutes. He said that when he saw his time, he couldn't believe it because he hadn't expected to achieve that goal.
He added that Dlomo was beside him most of the way, but he had to pick up the pace to secure the medal.
'When I got the medal, I was so happy. It made me realise that my new goal is to earn only silver medals from now on,' said Ramoshu.
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