Johannesburg - Johannesburg’s ’reading runner’, advocate Marukgwane Moremogolo, has died following a battle with cancer.
In April 2019, Moremogolo, who was also affectionately known as Maru, was pushed into the spotlight when he shocked spectators at the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and ran the race while reading Zakes Mda’s The Zulus of New York.
The Fat Cats Athletics Club runner ran while reading the book in breaks as part of a campaign to donate books in Atteridgeville and the Vaal area.
Fat Cats Athletics Club announced on Monday that their “dear brother and friend”, who was affectionately known as “Advocate Maru”, “The Future Mayor” and the “Reading Runner” had passed away.
“Maru unfortunately lost his battle to cancer in the early hours of this morning after being ill for a short time,” Fat Cats AC chairperson Vongani Mashile said in a statement.
Mashile said that Moremogolo joined the athletics club at the beginning of 2018 and had played a critical role in the club and the running community until his last days.
Mashile added that Moremogolo’s name was synonymous with the advocate’s love for literature and his advocacy for reading.
He was also once a member of the Fat Cats Book Club and Fat Cats Golf Club.
“Maru made reading fashionable while driving the mission of empowering children by making books accessible to them as they can benefit from reading literature and ultimately improving their level of literacy,” the chairperson said.
He added that Moremogolo’s passing should serve as a moment of reflection to everyone to explore how they can contribute to literacy and make sure the black child reads.
“Maru’s passing is a great loss to his family, all of us at Fat Cats, the running community as well as our communities at large. The Cats family will surely miss Maru’s intellect, humour, his passion for life and his unwavering love for running,” Mashile said.
@Chulu_M
The Star