Joburg runner takes on “Double Comrades” challenge for a powerful cause
Joburg runner takes on “Double Comrades” challenge for a powerful cause
Joburg runner takes on “Double Comrades” challenge for a powerful cause
Gary Oberholzer
Joburg runner takes on “Double Comrades” challenge for a powerful cause
A Johannesburg ultra-runner is preparing to push his body and mind to the limit — by running the Comrades Marathon twice.
Donovan Shirley from the Pirates Running Club is taking on what he calls the “Get Back Up” challenge — a 185 kilometre journey aimed at proving that no matter how difficult life gets, there is always a way forward.
The 51-year-old will leave Pietermaritzburg at 5:30am on Saturday and run the Comrades route in reverse all the way to Durban.
After running through the day and night, he plans to join thousands of athletes at the official Comrades Marathon start line on Sunday morning — before turning around and running all the way back to Pietermaritzburg.
It’s the latest extraordinary test for the Joburg runner, who only discovered his passion for endurance running a few years ago.
While on holiday in Mozambique, Shirley realised he had forgotten his blood pressure medication and decided to go for a run to help manage his health. That decision sparked a journey that would eventually see him become one of South Africa’s top ultra-endurance athletes.
Earlier this year, Shirley set a new South African backyard ultra record, completing 43 consecutive laps and covering 288 kilometres in a last-person-standing format event.
But for Shirley, the Double Comrades is about far more than distance.
Through his “Get Back Up” campaign, he is raising funds and awareness for mental health support through the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) and Matthew and Me — a non-profit established after 16-year-old Joburg teenager Matthew Grant died by suicide last year.
The message behind every step is simple: everyone struggles, everyone falls — but with the right support, it’s possible to get back up again.
