KwaMashu-born runner, Nate Ngcobo, beats paralysis odds in Comrades Marathon

News24

09-06-2025

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He was among the 22,000 who took to the streets of KZN this past weekend. He finished the 98th Comrades marathon in just under 8 hours.
From Pietermaritzburg to Durban, Nate Ngcobo paced himself through the 90 km.
Surprisingly, after completing the race before 2 pm on Sunday, Nate was still full of fun.
Joking around with Drum at the Omo marquee after the ultramarathon, he says that all he needed after his victory was ice cream.
'I had an ice cream when I got here, I needed the hydration. What's left is an ice bath or cold shower and rest.'
Despite it being his 7th Comrades Marathon, Nate is still as optimistic, competing with nobody but himself, like it's his first time, each time.
'I would wake up around 4 am to watch the Comrades Marathon when I was growing up but I didn't have any ambition to participate in it because I was fully focused on soccer.'
From a very young age, he was athletic and sporty in school.
'I have been in sports and athletics all my life, but how I got into running is that I had a terrible accident almost over two decades ago, which left me paralysed for months,' he tells Drum
The athletic DJ takes us back to the heartbreaking day.
'I was back home in KwaMashu, Entuzuma, it was drizzling a bit, and I was driving with my friend. The next thing I know, the car was rolling. The friend came out of the accident with no scratches, but it threw me out, and I bumped my head on the road, so I had to get an artificial bone in my spine for support.'
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A post shared by Thembinkosi Nate Ngcobo (@natejpy)
He was left heartbroken after he was told, upon being discharged from the hospital, that he would never be able to participate in contact sports, which included soccer. To recover, he invested in physiotherapy and ended up pivoting into running.
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'Here's how I discovered running: I went to the gym regularly and spent a lot of time on the treadmill. There were some guys who were playing squash at the gym's workshop, and they saw my running pace and saw something in me. Then they invited me to run with them outdoors and join their club. A year later, I fully recovered, and I participated in my first Oceans Marathon and Comrades Marathon.
What began as recovery became a purpose. Today, he runs with joy, strength, and gratitude. For Nate, running is not just therapy — it's his anti-aging drug.
Joining him at the marquee, Caster Semenya proudly commends the resilience of all the other runners at the marathon.
'Being at Comrades this year is a powerful reminder that greatness isn't just about winning - it's about showing up and staying the course. Resilience means pushing through, even when it hurts, keep playing on,' says Caster.