'I wanna step up in distance' - Junior track star George Kusche to race 2025 Totalsports Two Oceans 56km

As one of the emerging road running stars of 2024, George Kusche is ready to take it to up a notch this season. After taking some time off from running, the Nedbank Running Club top runner spent most of last season reintroducing himself to the South African athletics community following his return from the United States where he competed with distinction on the track in particular. Armed with a 3:58.54 mile run at the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships, Kusche competed in his first full SA road running season and produced a maiden sub 29 minute 10km when he ran 28:56 for eleventh place at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K in April.

Kusche enjoyed a good 10km season in 2024 during which he broke 29 minutes at both the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K and the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K. Photo Credit: SMacPix.

"I did stop running. I thought it would be nice to sleep but you miss it a lot," he laughed. "So I started training again, but I had picked up a lot of weight so it was a long process to get fit again. I didn't run in 2023 so just the fact that I am running again is good," he said reflecting on his 2024 road running season. "I was training really well at the start of the year then in July and August I had some setbacks but then in September I started running again," he told #TheTopRunner.

Those setbacks though, turned out to be the growing pains of adjusting to his new life back in the land of his birth which involves balancing running with a full-time job. But thanks to the experience he gained while training and racing track and cross country on the American college circuit, Kusche found that he was adequately prepared to face the pressures that this new balancing act demanded of him.

Kusche makes history in January 2021, when he became the first University of Nebraska-Lincoln runner to win the Big 10 individual title over the 8km with a time of 24:01.2. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"It helped me a lot because I'm coaching myself. So having that system, means that I know what to do because I also work full time so I can’t devote all my time to running. Having that experience to know which workouts I should do and how much I should run helps me a lot," explained Kusche who is a data scientist by profession and fits in his training sessions in the morning and evening before and after work.

With the sweet taste of the intoxicating South African road running circuit still lingering, it wasn’t long before the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool product who ran 1:47 over 800m at the 2016 Athletics South Africa Senior Track and Field Championships before leaving for the US, attempted his first marathon. Confident after a positive first half marathon outing when he ran 1:05:33 for third place at the Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon last April and an encouraging 31:06 at the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km three weeks after returning from injury, the 26-year-old lined up at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in October and came away with a solid 2:20:12 on debut. And that has left him upbeat about taking on his first ultra marathon.

Having represented South Africa at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, Kusche was already an accomplished middle distance athlete who also ran for his province Athletics Gauteng North at the SA Champs before departing for the US in 2018. Photo Credit: BackTrack Athletics Club.

"I wanna step up in distance and do a few marathons and then I’m looking into the Two Oceans as well - the full one. If you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards so I might as well give it my best shot. I like the road races. I like the local scene. It's vibrant. I feel like I'm on the right track again and I'm gonna train and see if I can race well in 2025. I’m looking forward to see what I can do."