17/08/2026
Volunteer in the Spotlight: Luthando Ndzambo
Luthando is no stranger to the Gqeberha parkrun community. Since his first event in December 2017, he has amassed an impressive parkrun CV, with 99 runs under his belt, a further 14 volunteer credits and a course win at St Georges in 2024 (in an impressive time of 20:00). I had the opportunity to chat to Luthando on Saturday about the beginning of his fitness journey nearly 9 years ago.
“I started trying to lose weight and joined my sisters for 30-minute Tae Bo workouts. The first workout I joined, I couldn’t finish the first 10 minutes, but I kept going back. They were also doing parkrun, and I decided to take part. I finished in the top 5 on my first run and realized that I had some talent, so the following week I came back, and the week after that, and the week after that…I never would have imagined that I would be waking up on a day I’m not working to come run!”.
With this new running habit, Luthando watched the Comrades marathon for the first time in June 2018 and said to himself “Next year I’m there”. He ran his first marathon in Cape Town later that year; and successfully completed the 2019 up run, the first of 3 Comrades medals to date.
What’s next for Luthando?
Luthando plans to celebrate his 100th parkrun at Hobie Beach on the 12th of September, which also happens to be his birthday. A fitting celebration!
