Dijana vs Wiersma: The battle for Comrades Marathon glory

THERE was a moment during the elite athletes’ pre race media conference of the Comrades Marathon at a beachfront hotel yesterday when Pie Wiersma and Tete Dijana exchanged glances and a smile flickered across both men’s faces.

- MATSHELANE MAMABOLO

The smiles were fleeting though, coming as they did immediately after Dijana had declared himself not being under any pressure but loudly saying’ they have pressure’. He looked at Wiersma when he said that and the Dutchman clearly knew his adversary was playing mind games.

For a significant part of the press conference, the two Nedbank Running Club athletes had not really looked at each other - although Dijana intermittently smiled when Wiersma spoke about his readiness and ‘being in the best shape’ of his life.

Given the tough nature and the unpredictability of The Ultimate Human Race, it would be folly to think Sunday's 98th running of the world famous ultra marathon between the KwaZulu-Natal cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban would be a two-horse race. Far from it, for there are a few athletes capable of pulling off a victory.

But there can be no denying that Dijana and Wiersma are going to be the main protagonists given what happened two years ago in the last Down Run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban when Wiersma introduced himself to Comrades with a run so compellingly good he scared the living daylights out of holder and defending champion Dijnana.