MedicalParamedics and Emergency Medical Response

Pietermaritzburg paramedic training for Comrades Marathon, again

Scelo with his Two Oceans Marathon medal
Scelo with his Two Oceans Marathon medal

Scelo Thusi, one of our paramedics at KZN Emergency Medical Services, is based in Pietermaritzburg at the Greys base. He is a stride ahead of the rest of his colleagues, literally. In the last few weeks he has run the Buff Marathon in East London. He completed the 42km run in a time of 3h58m he has also recently completed the Two Oceans Marathon, despite suffering from cramps during the race.

Scelo started running in 2009, he used to play soccer but says he kept on sustaining injuries, which would see him side lined. After chatting to some of his work colleagues he decided to take up running. His first run was in 2009 in the “Postnet Maritzburg Marathon” where he ran the 21km event in 2 hours. From there he started entering more and bigger events. Then in 2013 he ran his first comrades marathon and finished it in a time of 10h20m. He ran the down run in 2014 and finished with a time of 11h15m. He is currently training to run this year’s race.

Scelo is a paramedic at KZN Emergency Medical Services. He started working for the department 10 years ago and is currently based at the Greys hospital base, which serves the Pietermaritzburg central and the surrounding areas. He is married and has a 16 year old daughter. He trains mostly on his off days, but even when he is working day shift, this doesn’t stop him from training. He wakes up at 04h30 and trains for an hour before going to work and has even been known to run to work in the mornings.

He says keeping fit helps him to stay healthy and helps him to deal with the stresses associated with being a paramedic. His desperate plea to his work colleagues is that they should start exercising, to improve their health.

For more information and sound clips or interviews please contact

Robert Mckenzie
Media Liaison Officer: Emergency Medical Services
KwaZulu – Natal Department of Health- South Africa

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Running / Jogging and Road Safety

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