09/10/2026
We're a little behind schedule, but we're proud to announce September’s Magnolian of the Month, Shingi Chimuti.
Shingi found Magnolia during a difficult transition to Pretoria and discovered much more than a running club. Years later, there have been Comrades medals, tough lessons, kids, lockdown laps and plenty of self-belief.
“I found I always came back to running and likewise running always came back to me.”
Congratulations, Shingi.
We’re glad you’re one of us. 🧡
Here's Shingi's story
I would say that I have been passionate about movement pretty much all my life. I do have an admission to make about which form of movement was my first love, but we know there is a category of unmentionables for us runners, so I will park that bike!
A memory that stands out was a time in Grade 2 when I participated in interhouse athletics and I ran the 100 meters. In that moment I discovered the thrill of having your mates shout your name, the sense of achievement that comes with exerting oneself and I guess it was at that point that 8-year-old me became hooked on adrenaline and endorphins. From there I participated in all sorts of sports throughout school, but I found I always came back to running and likewise running always came back to me.
Sometime later, my late dad went through a big gym phase and some of his friends from his gym needed helpers to assist at Two Oceans. And so, a family tradition was born where him and I had our own little intersection in Newlands and would marshal at the race each year before heading home. In those days Two Oceans took place over Easter, so we would make a pitstop for hot cross buns on the way home to watch the rest of the race – even though a lot has changed since then, those two things are still synonymous and connected in my memory. I was in awe of the runners, and I was just happy to participate from the sidelines and to be part of the race in this way. Never did it occur to me at the time, that one day I could and would tackle the same race.
Fast forward a couple of years later to 2008 when I moved to Johannesburg for a new job. This turned out to be a very difficult transition for me for many reasons and after six months and several nervous breakdowns, I quit and took on another job at a consulting company that had offices in Pretoria and Cape Town. The plan was to spend six months completing a project in the Pretoria office and then transfer back home to Cape Town. Occasionally I would see runners pacing (cannot emphasise that bit enough) along Bronkhorst street, where our offices were. It turns out there was a running club just down the road and they would have time trials some afternoons and run past the office. It did however take some time before I gathered the courage to join in – but when I eventually did, it was one of the best decisions. I found a warm and welcoming group of people, and I can say without a doubt that joining Magnolia was one of the things that helped me through that difficult life transition. Back then we had a slow Saturday group led by one of the senior club members and I mainly ran with that group. This new routine helped me tremendously because I could manage my stress, loneliness and anxiety that comes with being in a new city. Some of the people from that group have moved on to other things but we’ve remained in touch and good friends.
As it turns out, I never moved back to Cape Town and have been a member of Magnolia since, though I have taken breaks here and there when I’ve had kids.
Then came the lockdown, when the police minister said that runners should stay off the road and should run around their houses. At the time, and I think like many people, I did not realise that these were draconian tendencies wrapped in sarcasm and I took the suggestion quite literally. In fact, it opened a possibility I did not know existed and soon I was running loops around my house. This was just after the birth of my son. I was desperately unfit and it was amazing that I could run around the house and check in on my kids every 53 metres! But it wasn’t long before boredom and dizziness set in and I needed to move on to the road. Fortunately, lockdown restrictions were easing, and it wasn’t long after that, that I found myself again back at Magnolia.
Even though I had been running for a long time, Comrades was something that just seemed out of reach for me and seemed like something that was meant for other people, even though deep down I knew it was a challenge I wanted to tackle myself. I am very fortunate to have received a lot of positive encouragement and guidance from my club and completed my first Comrades in 2022. In his book, the Winged Messenger, Bruce Fordyce says that you are going to find yourself at 60km and this rang true from me. But for me, coming out of Fields Hill, I knew that I was not coming back for my back-to-back medal though. When I crossed that line in 2022, I found I had uncovered the power of my mind and knew straight away that I needed to put my newfound self-belief to use to tackle other goals which, up until that point had been too scary for me to even contemplate. I took two-year break to tick off these life goals and am grateful for everything including running and my running family that led me to that. Ticking off those life goals, has also on its own unlocked a deeper self-belief and allowed me to grow in my personal and professional life and so it’s really been a virtuous cycle.
Sometimes however, that growth comes in unexpected ways. Last year for instance, when I returned to Comrades, I did not have a good race and DNF’d at 70kms. But even that experience provided me with lots of insight into myself, how my mind works, fear and so on. It might not have been the data point I wanted, but a data point nonetheless! What I learned from last years’ experience was that sometimes, in order to learn what works, I have to deal with what doesn’t work – so although I was somewhat disappointed, there was still a lot of value from the experience and I had a clearer idea of what I needed to change in my mindset, training, fuelling etc.
Looking forward, I am excited to see where the road leads, setting new running and life goals, making new friends and seeing our amazing Magnolia community go from strength to strength.
