The elite women’s line-up for the Comrades Marathon has taken a knock, with two-time gold medallist Jenna Challenor announcing her withdrawal from next month’s race.

After battling to shake off multiple battles with illness over the last year, Challenor confirmed on social media that she would not be competing in the 2023 ‘down’ run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban on 11 June.

Memorable performance

The 41-year-old mother of three was involved in a dramatic finish at last year’s 89km Comrades Marathon, with Challenor crawling to the line after her legs gave in to cramps in the closing stages of the race. She held on to take fourth place, delivering one of the best results of her career.

Two weeks later she fell ill with a double blow, however, picking up glandular fever and the Coxsackie B virus, and she claimed she “felt like death” when she tried to race again later in the season.

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Challenor tried returning to training a couple of times this year, but she was unable to get her body to respond and both times she was knocked back down.

She also lost feeling in one of her hands – a condition which doctors seem unable to explain and will apparently take up to a year to heal through physiotherapy.

Focus on recovery

“Sadly every time I push myself, I crash and suffer the consequences. They hurt more than I can explain and are not worth it,” Challenor said in a statement.

“For this reason I have chosen to step away and not race until the body is healthy. As we all know, running or racing Comrades requires all of you, and I just don’t have this yet.”

Challenor, who represented South Africa in the marathon at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, insisted she would keep fighting to get back to her best.

For now, however, she was focussed on recovering sufficiently before she could race again.

“To say this has been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in all my life is an understatement,” she said, “but I can promise you now I’m not done yet. I will be back and stronger for this. Watch this space.”

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