Boxing SA chief earns Comrades green number

Boxing SA acting chief, Tsholofelo Lejaka is now officially a member of the Comrades Marathon family.

He says he was conferred a permanent number after completing his 10th marathon last weekend.

Lejaka finished the popular tough marathon in 11 hours and 21 minutes.

“I then received the green number,” he said. “It's like a black belt of running and it makes you a permanent member of the comrades family,” he told Sowetan yesterday.

“There's certain privileges [the highest honour] that you are now allowed to.”

Reacting to the marathon – which is widely regarded as one of the toughest ultra-marathons in the world– often referred to as “The Ultimate Human Race”, he said: “It is painful, I must confess and torturous the more you grow.”

Asked how it all began, Lejaka shared a touching story which led to him running.

“Despite being a son of a very intelligent man and high achiever who’s later prospects of greatness were derailed by alcoholism, around university days and early career days, I too had already been engulfed by heavy drinking, and I was well en route to be swallowed by a well that swallowed my father,” he said drawing a deep breath.

“For some reasons, around 2004 I decided to quit alcohol and change my wayward ways and embraced a different lifestyle.

“I embraced a new lifestyle of healthy and active living, so it was no surprise that in 2013 I lined up for my first Comrades Marathon.”

Lejaka added he had been running and completing this race back to back since then.

“It was only in 2024 that I took a gap year due to work pressure,” he said.

“This year, I went back to the road to finish what I started, and on June 8 2025, I was among the Green Number candidates. Its in the bag.”

The Comrades Marathon is an ultra marathon of about 88km, run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

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