Sergeant Bethanie Mulaudzi from Head Office will be running the Comrades Marathon on Sunday 28 August 2022. She will be amongst approximately 16 000 runners from across the globe who will be running the 95th edition of the Comrades Marathon. She is one of only eighteen women from the SAPS, out of a total of 130 Police Officers who will be running the Comrades. To celebrate Women’s Month, we are bringing you these women’s stories of grit and determination.
Sergeant Mulaudzi who works at the Protection and Security Services has big ambitions for her maiden Comrades Marathon.
Although she admits she is nervous about running a gruelling 90 kilometres from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, she says she is looking forward to the experience. She has adequately prepared herself for what lies ahead, and recently completed her final long training run of 70 kilometres in preparation for the Comrades. She hopes muscle memory will come through for her on race day as she currently does not run anything more than 20 kilometres as she tapers down for race day so that 28 August finds her fresh and energetic.
Although she works a 12-hour-shift and is studying, she still makes time for her training. “If something is important to you, you will create time for it. Sometimes I just run around my residential area at night so that I don’t lose my fitness,” she enthuses.
Her journey to the Comrades Marathon starting line outside the Pietermaritzburg City Hall started off as a weight loss goal. “One morning on my morning run, I came across runners who told me because of my pace, I can do well at races,” says Sergeant Mulaudzi. She then started running 21.1 kilometre half-marathons. As they say, the rest is history as she now has her sights set on the “the ultimate human race”.
