Comrades ultra-marathon, a symbol of hope in South Africa

After dropping off children at school, South African minibus driver "Roro" Mokgele Ramathe parks up and strips down to his training kit underneath.

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Sporting a short goatee and a jovial smile, the 42-year-old, popularly known as Roro is ready to hit the streets of Soweto again, training for one of the world's oldest ultra-distance races, the Comrades Marathon.

Ramathe fixes his watch and sets off, as women in dressing gowns and young men look on in awe.

For Ramathe, this is the second consecutive year he has taken on the challenge, running 90 kilometres through the steep green hills of KwaZulu-Natal province, in the southeast of the country.

"It is very emotional," he said of the moment he returned home brandishing a finisher's medal last year.

Part of the attraction is that you do not need money or special equipment to cross the finishing line, he said. "You just need to be disciplined."

And for him, it has been a life-altering race. As a result, he said, he was a "better husband, better father, better community leader.

"It changed me."

'Never say die'

The gruelling 90-kilometre (56-mile) race was first run in 1921.

Dubbed the Ultimate Human Race, the Comrades Marathon was launched to honour South African soldiers killed in the WWI.

It was only in 1975 that black runners and women were allowed to take part. At the time apartheid South Africa was banned from international competition, including the Olympics. The aim was to alter the country's image.

In 1989, railway worker Tshabalala Sam Tshabalala became the first black man to win the race, towards the end of the apartheid era.

His victory was a huge boost for those opposed to