Two runners who will be at the start of the Two Oceans Marathon on Saturday aim to raise funds and awareness for international NGO Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Lwazi Kama, 41, from Johannesburg, and Jeev Sahni, 33, from Mumbai, India, will both be lacing up for the organisation whose work resonates with them.
An information systems honours graduate from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Kama ran the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon last year and found himself drawn to the challenge it presented.
Seeking to test his limits continuously, he set his sights on this year’s Two Oceans Marathon.
His choice to support MSF was not incidental. Failing to secure a standard entry to the race, he turned to charity entries and was impressed with MSF’s work across the continent.
Training for the marathon was a mix between physical endurance and mental resilience. Kama started with a modest weekly average of 21km post-pandemic, before gradually building up his distance to 75km.
Kama said training with a group gave him a lot of confidence to test himself against faster runners.
He said he was excited about taking part in this year’s Two Oceans Marathon and pledging his support to a cause that makes a difference in Africa and worldwide.
“This is more than enough to motivate me during the race,” said Kama.
Born and bred in Mumbai, India, Sahni’s journey back to marathons after reconstructive surgery in 2021 mirrors his mental and physical determination.
“It was challenging, given that I only started running marathons again last year since I went under the knife for a full ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), MCL (medial collateral ligament) and LCL (lateral collateral ligament) reconstruction surgery in 2021. Life is different when running post an operation. The intrinsic motivation to continue stems from the mind, not the body,” he said.
Fueled by personal experiences and a deep-rooted commitment to mental health awareness, Sahni’s mission resonates with the MSF’s message of accessible care.
“I struggled with anxiety so severe it prevented me from fully integrating with society the way that I would’ve liked to. It was only when I was an adult did I understand how much power counselling and therapy had, to whisk away the limitations that I put onto myself,” said Sahni.
“My dedication to MSF and its mission to provide medical care where it’s most needed is fueled by the glaring gaps in mental health support for children worldwide,” he said.
