Jerry Maseko is a 52 year old Comrades legend who will be running his 25th Comrades on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“Running is my medication and I get sick when I don’t do it.”<\/p>\n
In 1991 Jerry ran his first Comrades and he only ever missed one race since then.<\/p>\n
“I broke both my legs and was in a wheelchair for three months and two months on crutches. I recovered quickly and ran the Comrades the following year. Although my time wasn’t great, I still finished and that’s what it’s all about.”<\/p>\n
Jerry has won 17 silver medals which means he has run 17 Comrades below 7 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds.<\/p>\n
“This year my plan is to get another silver medal. My long term plan is to have 20 silver medals and then I want to continue running until I have run at least 30 Comrades. I’ll stop running until the day people stop drinking.”<\/p>\n
Being a Comrades legend, Jerry doesn’t have to pay for registration and he gets invited to run the Comrades.<\/p>\n
He has been part of Eskom AC since 2001. He doesn’t have a sponsor and he is his own coach.<\/p>\n
“My best time was 06:31 before my legs were broken and if I don’t run a silver medal this year, I at least want to run below eight hours.”<\/p>\n
Never has Jerry once not completed a race and when he did his first 42 km, he came last.<\/p>\n
“The sponsors, ambulances, fire brigade and police all escorted me. I was last but I finished. At the end I received a bag of oranges and a pair of shoes for my courage. After that, I never finished last ever again.”<\/p>\n
Before he goes to work, Jerry runs at least two hours and sometimes rests just once a day.<\/p>\n
On Thursday he had a 10 km run and he’ll only run again on Saturday before race day.<\/p>\n
“I’ll be driving to Pietermaritzburg and then my legs will be a bit stiff. So on Saturday I’ll run 5 km.”<\/p>\n
His secret is that he listens to his body and never changes anything on race day.<\/p>\n
Jerry eats four slices of bread with peanut butter before training or running and he’ll be sticking to his nutrition.<\/p>\n
“Don’t ever run on an empty stomach. I also drink at least a litre of fluids an hour before I run. When I’m on the road, I’ll take the potatoes or bananas but not to eat, just to snack. When I take Coke and water at the first station, I stick to it. When I take yellow Powerade at the first station, I stick to it. Don’t confuse your stomach on this tough day.”<\/p>\n
In 2012 Jerry was in a road accident and broke his hip but he still got a bronze medal at the Comrades.<\/p>\n
When Jerry isn’t running, he works for an insurance company and is also the vice president of Athletics Mpumalanga.<\/p>\n
“Since 1994 I’ve been part of the executive board. I want Mpumalanga to prosper and use the potential we have.”<\/p>\n
He is especially active in the development and training in rural areas.<\/p>\n
“We need to keep our people of the streets and rather introduce them to sport like running.”<\/p>\n
His main aim is to have locals running.<\/p>\n
His whole family loves sport and he teaches them especially four things:<\/p>\n
\u2022It’s important how you present yourself<\/p>\n
\u2022You need to be healthy<\/p>\n
\u2022You must be positive about yourself<\/p>\n
\u2022Do a lot and say less.<\/p>\n
And what will be going through his mind on Sunday?<\/p>\n
“I tell myself that it is not the end of the world. Although I am not first, I am not last. I know I started and I know I will finish.”<\/p>\n
Jerry is an amazing person and his positive spirit touches you. He is quite an inspiration to anyone who wants to live limitless.<\/p>\n
“Running inspires me and refreshes my mind. All in all, I just love my running.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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