MBABANE – In the 1970s, a young Isaac Sihlongonyane could lace up and run for kilometres, encountering very few cars to disrupt his training.
Today, those same roads are clogged with traffic, and the man they once called ‘Steam Engine’ watches with a heavy heart. The quiet training routes that helped build Eswatini’s long-distance reputation are vanishing under the wheels of modernisation.
The long-distance veteran, however, remains convinced that Swati runners can still challenge for the top prizes that international athletes so often scoop at races such as the Imbube Marathon and the Mbabane Marathon.
“I’m speaking from experience,” he said. “Back in the 1970s, I once outpaced a group of Basotho runners at Malangwane Hill. We set off from The George Hotel in Manzini and finished at the Prince of Wales Sports Ground in Mbabane. I overtook them on the climb, even though they came from a mountainous kingdom.”
Sihlongonyane recalls how he and fellow Swati heroes, including Richard Mabuza, left the visitors gasping for air that day.
“We have runners who can break records that our generation never managed. What they need is proper preparation for the big races,” he stated.
He suggested that Athletics Eswatini (AE) could provide specialised training programmes for the country’s top performers, especially those who regularly earn seeded positions. The veteran also pointed to the disappearance of old training routes as towns have expanded.
“What worked for us was pure love of the sport and quiet roads. Today, how do you get quality miles if you live in Mbabane, Manzini or Matsapha, where traffic never stops?” he asked.
In those situations, he said, clubs become vital in ferrying athletes to quieter training venues. During his own career, the country’s roads were almost empty. The only time he experienced heavy traffic was in the United States, where athletes were regularly taken out of congested areas for focused sessions in quieter surroundings.
Before joining the Royal Eswatini Police Service in 1974, Sihlongonyane would put in early-morning runs before herding cattle. Even while training at the Matsapha Police College, he was able to clock up the kilometres freely on open roads.
At the latest Imbube Marathon on October 17, South African and East African runners once again dominated the podium. Siphamandla Nkosi claimed the men’s full marathon title, while Kenya’s Rosina Kiboino won the women’s race. Local 42km specialist Ntokozo Nkonyane had to settle for second place, with Gcinile Magongo taking third among the women.
