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Thuso Mbedu - The not-quite-redemption of South Africa's infamous ultra-marathon cheats
The voices you know, the stories you don’t.
Thuso Mbedu narrates the story of two brothers willing to do whatever they can to run out from the long shadow of poverty and the legacies of apartheid. In this story by Ryan Lenora Brown, initially published in Business Insider, we explore how Sergio & Arnold Moetseneng thought they could outrun their past. 23 years later, they are still known as the brothers who cheated South Africa's prestigious Comrades Ultramarathon. With the prize money being the equivalent of 70 years of their father's salary, they hatched a plan to win the race and elevate themselves out of generational and institutionalised poverty. The idea was simple. One brother would start the race, and halfway through, they'd swap clothes, and the other would finish it. The only problem was - they were caught.