Tumi Matlou - The Tinkerbell with a Twist

In the early hours of the morning, whilst other people are lying snugly asleep in their beds, Tumi Matlou is already awake and lacing up her running shoes. It is 4 o’clock in the morning, and she makes her way to the track to fit in her first training session. By half past 7, she will be in the office at her full-time PR job at Revlon, where she is hard at work until closing time. Hereafter, she will be running her heart out back on track for another two hours. By eight-thirty, she’s in bed, asleep and ready to do it all again in the morning. Sound exhausting? Because to her, it’s just another normal day as a professional runner with a full-time job. Although she might be petite, make no mistake – this pixie packs a punch.

Tumi grew up in a small Afrikaans community called Mokopani, and when her family moved there, it was difficult for her father to find good schooling opportunities. Eventually, the school that he decided upon was Laerskool Krugerpark, which explains Tumi’s fluency in Afrikaans, Sotho and English. When she started school, she could not speak a word of Afrikaans, but within 10 weeks, she was able to hold a conversation. “It was quite traumatic as a six-year-old, but I’m glad that I could do my part in that sense… sometimes Afrikaans isn’t viewed as an important language, but I strive to show people that it’s not about colour; but rather about culture. We should learn to love it and appreciate it.”

Tumi started running in primary school when all of the students partook in different athletics events. It was soon discovered that she was a natural at running, and long-distance running in particular. During the end of her school career, it was put on the back burner in favour of academics, and it was not until the gap year that followed afterwards that running featured in Tumi’s life again. With very little training, Tumi entered a few local running races, and to her surprise, she succeeded in winning a succession of them. “That for me was quite a big thing, because I wasn’t putting in a lot of effort at that stage. When I got the opportunity to move to Joburg, I thought to myself, ‘ Let’s do this. Let’s get a coach and train twice a day and do this professionally.’”

Of course, both running and working full-time comes with its own specific set of challenges. When other people go out to parties on Friday nights, Tumi is fast asleep, catching up on the much-needed rest she needs to perform optimally. She admits that it is extremely difficult, because whilst other athletes can remain completely focused on themselves in order to train, she is working in a corporate environment. However, the difference between other people and this pixie, is her tenacious attitude. Her life motto is to live big and always be grateful. She maintains that once you have gratitude, you appreciate all of your blessings and the opportunities that you have to do what you love.

She looks at her dual careers as independence – the knowledge that she does not have to rely on sponsorships. “I’m grateful to be able to sustain myself. If I’m injured, I can still survive and take good care of my body, because I have a job. If you’re a full-time pro, your sponsors expect you to get back to work… and their work is running.”

Beyond this, Tumi has also been a vegetarian for the past seven years, and needs to do careful meal planning to make sure that she gets all of the supplements that she needs through her high-protein diet. She upholds the attitude that there is no reason that an Olympic-level athlete cannot also be a vegetarian or vegan.

Tumi recently participated in the Vienna City Half-Marathon and garnered a 8th place, running against world-class athletes. She currently has sponsorships from the likes of Toyota and Nevarest, and two weeks ago, she found out that she had received a prestigious invitation to participate in the Spar Women’s Race as one of the 20 elite South African female athletes that are racing.

Her message to young ladies’ all over South Africa rings out loud and clear… as women, we should never let our lives become a choice between what we want most concerning profession and passion. She shows us that nothing limits us from doing both. With hard work, and in Tumi’s case, speedwork, there is no race that we cannot win.