Having run one Comrades Marathon back in 2019, finishing in a time of 6:25:03 for a 50th place finish, Tete Dijana accomplished a goal of finishing the ultimate human race. He vowed to return the following year and do better, but Covid19 cancelled the next 2 years of events. With the event back next weekend, Dijana returns a much different athlete.
The man who hails from Mahikeng in the North West province worked as a security guard, and off 2 hours of sleep put on his Nike trainers daily to realize his Comrades dream. In January of this year, Dijana joined the Nedbank running club. “I had to make a change in my life, and I knew all the top runners ran for Nedbank,” said Dijana.
With support from the club and its partners such as Nike, FutureLife, Bavaria, Biogen and Thirsti, the move paid dividends for the tiny Dijana who ran the race of his life to finish 2nd at the Nedbank Breaking Barriers 50km finishing 1 position ahead of reigning Comrades champion and teammate Edward Mothibi.
“It was a dream race for me because I was running with my heroes like Mothibi and Stephen Mokoka who are my role models and we also all come from the same place.” After this years 50km success, Dijana was welcomed into the Nedbank RC Comrades training camp led by coach Dave Adams who guided Mothibi to Comrades victory back in 2019.
“Don’t let that 6:25 Comrades finish time fool you,” said Adams on Dijana’s Comrades record. “He is most definitely a much different athlete now than in 2019 and according to the training we have done and what we have seen at our high altitude training camp in Dullstroom, he has a definite chance of finishing in the top 10 and getting a Comrades gold medal.”
Dijana may be new to the running scene but given his performance earlier this year and his dedication and drive, Dijana is a name you may well be hearing a lot of come 28 August 2022.