WATCH: Louis Massyn (74) makes history as 1st person to finish 50 Comrades Marathons
‘Each and every muscle’ in his body is ‘quite sore’, he tells Lester Kiewit.
CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Louis Massyn from George, who completed his 50th Comrades Marathon on Sunday.
Listen below:
The 74-year-old crossed the finish line in 11 hours, 53 minutes, and 14 seconds in the 89.98 km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban — just over six minutes before the 12-hour cut-off.
Massyn ran his first Comrades in 1973. The only races he missed were in 2020 and 2021, when the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, when a knee injury kept him from starting.
This year’s finish marks his 50th Comrades — a record achievement.
This feat isn't the end as Massyn hopes to finish two more Comrades with the 100th edition of the race in 2027, which is his end goal.
Massyn says 'each and every muscle' in his body is 'quite sore'.
"I don't know how many muscles are in the body, but each and every muscle is quite sore."
- Louis Massyn
Massyn explains what went through his mind while finishing the last few hundred meters of the race.
"It was absolutely emotional moments... it was a dream come true. I always said, that's my goal... to finish 50 Comrades Marathons... I managed it very, very well."
- Louis Massyn
Massyn explains his 'unique' journey to the Comrades Marathon, which began with a pastor's inspiring sermon.
"It's actually quite unique... it started off with a sermon in the Anglican Church... where a Bishop of Bloemfontein physically compared the Comrades Marathon with a Bible text he used in his sermon and there I sat in the congregation and I said to myself, 'The next Comrades; I'm going to run'... and it happened to be the first race ever in my life I participated in... 1973 Comrades Marathon..."
- Louis Massyn
Kiewit also surprised Massyn by having this same pastor's daughter on the line, which Massyn describes as a 'hair-raising' moment.
The pastor's daughter went on to share some memorable anecdotes with Massyn about her dad's impact on him entering this race.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.