Tata's sights on Two Oceans following Soweto glory

Now that he has successfully ‘hunted’ his maiden ‘buffalo’, Ntsindiso ‘Tata’ Mphkathi is looking to slay yet another next year. Inspired by Zakhele Mkhize - the chairman of Entsika Consulting under whose ambit the Entsika Foundation which runs the athletic club falls – to for the big ones instead of ‘chasing after rabbits’, Tata has gone and captured the African Bank Soweto Marathon that he had been after for so long. “Now you’ve got the big one, Tata” Mkhize tells Mphakathi as we sit for our interview at a restaurant in Steyn City. “You know, a video of your finish has more than a 100 000 views. This is bigger than Mangosuthu whose video got just 34 views,” the boss chuckles in reference to the popular KZN ultra that Mphakathi has won on numerous occasions. Mphakathi agrees: “This one is really different. I am used to going to Mangosuthu and winning there but nothing would happen after. This one looks like it has a lot of stories. I see that when I do interviews it is different. The journalists are focused and they are asking me what really happened. They are keen to have me explain just how I did it.” A four-time top ten finisher before his win at the beginning of the month, Mphakathi worked on his speed – training with faster athletes - and eventually managed to overcome the Ptuco bridge hill which had previously been his Achilles heel at about the 35km mark of the race.

The Soweto Marathon eventually conquered, and he has now set his sights on the next big race. “You see, now everyone can speak about Tata. Now I can say what kind of athlete I am. I know now that I am good on hard courses because most of the races I run are generally won via slow times - but I win them in fast times. Now I can say that I am a specialist in tough races. This is where I am good.” With that realisation, the man who also has victories at the Harry Gwala Marathon in addition to a top four placing at the very difficult Mandela Day Marathon believes the 56km Two Oceans Marathon is his for the taking. “Going forward, Two Oceans is going to be one of my favourites. What is important is for an athlete to know what you are good at. You can’t be good in all courses. There will be courses where you realise you can see yourself and I think hard courses is where I can achieve more. I think Two Oceans is a tough course race. I have only run it once, but I think I can win it. “To prepare for ultras won’t be that hard for me – yes it will be tough because you have to plan for it and focus on it. But what I can say about Two Oceans is that it one of the races that might favour Tata. I know (from the experience of running it) that the first half at around 28km and then at about 45km, it is a little harder. But if I can have enough time to prepare, it won’t be hard.” He knows that he is at a club where he will be provided with all the support he needs to be able to achieve his goal. “When I joined Entsika late 2019, I found very different support from the previous clubs that I ran for. When I got here I was treated like those who had been at the club for long, I never felt like I was new. Previously I used to end my training in the first week of December and be lazy throughout and only get back to it in the new year. But here the coach (Hendrick Ramaala) got me to be in camp until December 20 and I was back training early in January and in February I ran a 2:18 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Marathon. I knew I had made the right choice of club.” And being contented, Tata found it easy to perform and after the Covid-induced country lockdown in 2020, he had that splendid run at the Nedbank Runified Breaking Barriers 50km elites-only race in Gqeberha where he finished in third place but still ran a 2:42:16 that was under the previous world record for the distance. He had yet another fantastic run in Entsika colours in last year’s Soweto Marathon when he finished in fourth place, having looked good for the win only to fail once again at the Putco Bridge hill. There was no failing this year though as Tata’s perseverance, hard work and determination saw him capture his buffalo to Mkhize’s great delight: “It was unbelievable. I was watching the race from the Presidential suite at the FNB and when went past the Entsika water point at 38km I knew it was in the bag and I started going down to the pitch to wait for him at the finish. The good thing with him is that he has the experience of winning, so I knew he would not let this one slip away.” Now that he has got the one he has been gunning for, it is on to the next one for Tata. But he also has ambitions of holding on to the title of African Bank Soweto Marathon champion next year. It only makes sense that he does, right?

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