Just months after producing a record-breaking Comrades Marathon victory, George Kusche is back in KwaZulu-Natal, but the champion is not allowing a family break to interrupt preparations for his next challenge.<\/p>\n
Kusche, who shattered the men\u2019s Up Run record in June, is spending five days in KZN as part of his Comrades winner\u2019s prize, combining family time and exploring the province with training in the Drakensberg.<\/p>\n
The itinerary includes early-morning elite training sessions in the mountains, giving Kusche an opportunity to maintain his programme ahead of his next international assignment in Amsterdam in October.<\/p>\n
For the champion, however, returning to KZN has inevitably brought him back to the race that transformed his career.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ | \u2018I predicted it,\u2019 says Nene after Kusche\u2019s win<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very special because we drove from Durban up to Pietermaritzburg. So there were many memories and flashbacks that I got, driving that route and thinking about the race and the preparation and the emotions that went into the last couple of days before Comrades,\u201d Kusche said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt almost feels like I have a tie to this place because of the Comrades. So, in a way, it feels like I came home.\u201d<\/p>\n Kusche finished 12th on his Comrades debut in the 2025 Down Run before returning this year and producing a vastly different result.<\/p>\n One section of the route remains particularly significant \u2014 Inchanga, where Kusche made the decisive move that helped turn his second Comrades into a record-breaking victory.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I have to isolate a moment, that\u2019s the moment that changed my life and made me go on to win the race,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s also the reason I broke the record, because I made that decisive move at that time. So Inchanga is symbolic.\u201d<\/p>\n