THE hilly and winding trail routes near Mhlakulo village in Eastern Cape, South Africa are challenging for even the most elite runners. In some parts, reaching the summit requires crawling up the rugged gravel paths on tiptoe.
Ntombesintu Mfunzi, a 39-year-old ultramarathon runner, is one of the top female runners in the country and she lives and trains in this expansive region.
Mfunzi grew up in Ntsimbakazi – a village about 130km (80 miles) from Mhlakulo – where local races are rare.
In 2013, she was invited to compete in the Mirtha Payisa Run for Diabetes. She won the half-marathon and successfully defended her title in 2015 after the 2014 event was cancelled.
But it was in 2016, when she returned with a hat-trick of titles in sight, that her life changed.
The night before the race, Mfunzi was lured into a bush, beaten with a hammer and brutally raped. The rapist
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