Enie Manzini + Comrades Marathon: Embracing Your Power
07/21/20 • 33 min
South African marathon and utlra-marathon runner, firefighter, and mother Enie Manzini has loved to run since childhood, and now she competes at the elite level of her sport. But she has had to overcome harsh challenges to get there. This is the story about how Manzini embraced her power and continues to rise to her potential.
South African firefighter and now single mother of two Enie discovered her love and talent for running at a young age and began running seriously in 2007. Not long after, Enie had the first child. Committed to excelling in her sport, she worked in her training around motherhood, household duties, and a demanding career.
And then Enie came face to face with the biggest hurdle of all: her home life turned violent. For a decade she would endure increasingly severe domestic abuse from her husband.
Enie shares her very personal and ultimately triumphant story of how her passion for running and desire to be a positive role model to her children were instrumental in her decision to end a destructive marriage. Enie has gone on to become one of South Africa’s best ultra-marathon runners. She is also a member of Team Massmart, South Africa’s first all-women’s elite long-distance running team.
Enie’s journey demonstrates how a deep belief in yourself and commitment to standing your ground and following your dreams can give you strength even in the darkest of times.
This episode is part of our first season, and the theme of this season is experiences in and around the Comrades Marathon, which is a 90-kilometer, or roughly 56-mile, road race that takes place each year in South Africa. It is the oldest and largest ultra-distance foot race in the world.
Recommended Resources
The recommendation for this episode is the blog Free to Run, which is part of the Free to Run organization. The organization works with females in conflict areas to involve them in outdoor activities, including running. To quote the website, their goal is to increase opportunities for women and girls to engage in public life, using sport as a tool of empowerment and education. The blog follows the work of Free to Run.
Learn more about Free to Run on their website: https://freetorun.org/
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Twitter: @WomenRunStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: [email protected]
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
South African marathon and utlra-marathon runner, firefighter, and mother Enie Manzini has loved to run since childhood, and now she competes at the elite level of her sport. But she has had to overcome harsh challenges to get there. This is the story about how Manzini embraced her power and continues to rise to her potential.
South African firefighter and now single mother of two Enie discovered her love and talent for running at a young age and began running seriously in 2007. Not long after, Enie had the first child. Committed to excelling in her sport, she worked in her training around motherhood, household duties, and a demanding career.
And then Enie came face to face with the biggest hurdle of all: her home life turned violent. For a decade she would endure increasingly severe domestic abuse from her husband.
Enie shares her very personal and ultimately triumphant story of how her passion for running and desire to be a positive role model to her children were instrumental in her decision to end a destructive marriage. Enie has gone on to become one of South Africa’s best ultra-marathon runners. She is also a member of Team Massmart, South Africa’s first all-women’s elite long-distance running team.
Enie’s journey demonstrates how a deep belief in yourself and commitment to standing your ground and following your dreams can give you strength even in the darkest of times.
This episode is part of our first season, and the theme of this season is experiences in and around the Comrades Marathon, which is a 90-kilometer, or roughly 56-mile, road race that takes place each year in South Africa. It is the oldest and largest ultra-distance foot race in the world.
Recommended Resources
The recommendation for this episode is the blog Free to Run, which is part of the Free to Run organization. The organization works with females in conflict areas to involve them in outdoor activities, including running. To quote the website, their goal is to increase opportunities for women and girls to engage in public life, using sport as a tool of empowerment and education. The blog follows the work of Free to Run.
Learn more about Free to Run on their website: https://freetorun.org/
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Twitter: @WomenRunStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: [email protected]
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
Renata Vosloo + Comrades: Becoming An Elite Runner
South African runner Renata had planned to run Comrades “just once” with the challenging goal of cracking the 7:30 finishing time barrier. This story is about how not meeting that goal her first time at Comrades led to her becoming an elite runner.
South African Renata Vosloo has loved running since she was young, and she had talent to run fast. For many years, half-marathons were her thing. But the pressure to run Comrades was so great, she decided, “Just once.”
This story is about how Renata’s plan to run Comrades “just once” and crack the challenging 7:30 finishing time barrier has led to her becoming an elite runner for Team Massmart and knocking on the door of a top 10 finish.
Renata’s journey takes a close look at the many factors that contribute to a runner getting to the next level of performance. And it touches on what running brings to our lives, regardless of what our time and event performance goals are.
This episode is part of our first season, and the theme of this season is experiences in and around the Comrades Marathon, which is a 90-kilometer, or roughly 56-mile, road race that takes place each year in South Africa. It is the oldest and largest ultra-distance foot race in the world.
Recommended Resources
This episode’s recommended resource is Trail Sisters. There’s a lot to this organization, and they say it best: their mission is to increase women’s participation and opportunity in trail running through inspiration, education, and empowerment.
The work they do makes trail running more accessible, welcoming, and enjoyable for women. You’ll find a lot of resources and information on their website, including articles, short films, ways to connect with local trail sisters, race reports, how to find a coach, and information about their grants and retreats, and more.
For more, visit the Trail Sisters website: trailsisters.net.
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Twitter: @WomenRunStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: [email protected]
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
Shirley Mosiakgabo + Comrades Marathon: Keep Moving Forward
In this episode, we tell the story of Botswana's Shirley Mosiakgabo, who started running 10ks as a way to lose weight after having her children and developed into an ultra runner. Shirley's story is a great testament that, if you have the desire and are consistent in your efforts and patient to let your abilities to develop, you can reach goals that previously appeared impossible or out of reach.
We follow Shirley story from the early days of discovering a joy for making running a regular part of her life through to her experiences running her first Comrades Marathon. As of 2019, Shirley had completed Comrades a total of five times, and she is the Botswana Ambassador for the race.
Where many people consider races like Comrades to be "crazy," Shirley shows us that, with time, dedication, and desire, completing ultras can also be a next step in a long-distance running journey.
Early on, Shirley discovered the great satisfaction of completing a hard thing. When the opportunities arose to continuing stretching that hard thing out longer, her curiosity and drive, as well as support from friends and family, inspired her to see if she could go that extra distance. Shirley followed that curiosity to what's often referred to at the Ultimate Human Race, Comrades.
This episode is part of our first season, and the theme of this season is experiences in and around the Comrades Marathon, which is a 90-kilometre, or roughly 56-mile, road race that takes place each year in South Africa. It is the oldest and largest ultra-distance foot race in the world.
Show Notes Recommended Resources
The recommendation for this episode is RunGrl. This organization's tagline is Making Room for the Black Woman Distance Runner, with goals of promoting wellness, creating community, and providing running information and inspiration, as well as raising up and celebrating the voices and images of black women in distance running.
On the website, there are loads of articles in the categories of running, health and wellness, and lifestyles, written by a variety of Black female contributors from across the US. The platform also features an initiative called The Relay which provides expert tips, tools, and insights from certified coaches, experts, and elite runners, including Olympian Marielle Hall, NCAA Division I runner Peyton Thomas, and RunGrl co-founders and certified running coaches Jasmine Nesi and Ashlee Green, among others.
You can find RunGrl at rungrl.co.
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Twitter: @WomenRunStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: [email protected]
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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