Missing Comrades Marathon Runner Rescued Near Harbor

(The Post News)- 54-year-old Comrades runner, Moira Harding, who was reported missing by her family a few hours after she completed the marathon, on the 8th of June, was found and rescued by the paramedics early this morning in the vicinity of the National Sea Rescue (NSRI) unit in The Point, Durban.

Hailing from Durban and now calling Cape Town home, Harding ran the marathon representing the Fish Hoek Athletic Club. According to her brother-in-law, Sean Baldwin, Harding ran the marathon alongside her sister, Fiona, for the first 70 to 80 km until they split. Harding was believed to have completed the race at 16:52, approximately 20 minutes after her sister.

After she finished the marathon, Harding’s family expected to meet up with her at the Pinetown District Athletics Club tent. When a few hours passed, and Harding was still nowhere to be found, she was reported missing at the Durban Central Police Station. She was described as wearing black biker shorts, along with a black and white striped vest with her Comrades number in the middle.

After completing the race more than 15 hours earlier, Harding was found in the early hours of the 9th of June, approximately 7km from the People’s Park finish point. Paramedics spokesperson, Garrith Jamieson, reports that she was visibly disorientated and in critical condition, and as a result had to be rushed to the hospital by helicopter in order to receive “the urgent care that she requires”.

Harding’s family is reported to be awaiting her recovery at the hospital she was transported to, relieved that she was not harmed, as the area she was found in is considered to be a notoriously unsafe part of Durban, especially for a woman.