The morning started early, very early. Alarm set for 03:50, and that for a race only
20 min drive from my home. We try to
look enthusiastic at that hour, not an easy feat. O yeah, we, I conned my little wife into
joining me on these adventures about a year ago. She still refuses the 21 kilometres and
progressed up to 10 kilometres now. That
was how this would play out today, I do the half marathon and she, the 10 kilometre. The dog does not share our optimism, she just
do not understand why we have to start moving with lights on and all, at this
ungodly hour. Fortunately, she stays
home.
The race was the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon and the venue
FNB Stadium. My start time was 06:30,
and my wife’s start was at 07:00. After
what felt like forever, we are in the car and on the way to the stadium. As we leave the house, the checking start, do
you have your race number, do you have your wallet, do you have your running
shirt with the licence number. The
answer is always yes, however, for effect, I stop the car, go look in back and
report in the affirmative. These little
rituals keep the love growing.
Finding a parking spot is not a problem if you go early
enough. It does come with a bit of
cunning and the running community is efficient in their selective following of traffic
rules. I mean, one lane in each
direction is not really important if everyone needs to go to the same specific
point. Also, traffic lights just allow
others to get the good spots, so they get ignored too when the starting point
come into view.
All this done, we are at the race venue, fully equipped,
thanks to the prior examination I passed with flying colours. Physical preparation is very important,
however, that happens over weeks and months prior. On race day, the expectation at least is, you
are strong and fit for whatever you are attempting.
This morning was a particularly boring pre-event with not
much to do. Courtesy of the organisers
who advised that roads leading to the event will be shut off early, and they
had half the world enrol for the event.
That explains the early rise for a local race with a fairly late
start. We were seeded for this event and
had to find the seeding pens to get admitted in good time.
The morning was cool, but sunny and with a moderate
wind. Final preparations completed, we
made our way to the seeding pens. Then
the big wait, like a lamb waiting his turn to be slaughtered. It is about the same, at that stage of the
morning I was blissfully unaware of the level of torture awaiting me. Normally these big city races are nice and
flat; this allows elite athletes to chase excellent times and world records. Now that I have the benefit of hindsight, I
did not think this through. Johannesburg
is about 1750 metres above sea level, and records are always set at or near sea
level. Still thinking my preparation was
flawless to set an excellent time, well for me; I waited it out. By this time, my wife went in search for her own
herding pen.
Eventually the marathon race was set off, and the half
marathon herd, about 8000 strong, moved to the start position. The gun fires, and we are off. Running is very simple, we all learnt how to
do it very early in our lives. The one
foot goes in front of the other and repeat.
If you do this at a more aggressively pace than your previous attempt,
the time is faster; that is the science behind it, there is nothing else. This leaves me loads of time to think of all
sorts of anything whilst my body endures the torture. You are only occasionally required to pay
attention, these are for picking up water at the water points, when route split
off, or when there are a load of slow runners blocking your way. All of this result in running being a very
relaxing event for me.
Running events of this scale are very well organised. Between water points there are 3 kilometres,
enough distance to start feeling very sorry for yourself and doubt the next
water point will still have something for you.
Apart from that, following the instructions of the marshals and dodging
the odd idiot in a car ignoring the marshals, are good enough. Expecting limited interference from natural
disaster and meteor strikes, I aimed to be home and dry in about 105 to 110
minutes.
I made an interesting observation in the past 14 months since
I started running; the organisers are extremely sadistic people. They will find some sort of hill in the
distance, skilfully guide the runners there, and then make them run up and down
the same hill all day long for their entertainment. The downhill bits are not that bad, I still
carry some extra weight, which is extremely efficient as a gravity assist on
those parts. It is the uphill bits where
the gravity pack has to be carried along, that kills me. The organisers for this race did not
disappoint.
The first one and a half kilometres were gentle uphill, good
for a start, always good to get that bit over.
Thereafter, we took a sharp turn to the left, the road sign said
Diepkloof. I ran the Diepkloof half
marathon a fortnight earlier, and that was an up and down affair of note; this memory
raised my level of concern a bit. It was
the next about 10 kilometres which raised concern to a state of panic. We were going downhill big-time. I am intelligent enough to know where I
parked my car; we had to get back there, so there had to be an uphill in the
future. When it started, we had a 9
kilometre climb. That gravity pack I
described earlier, was fully in play, and this was torture. With 3 kilometres to go, I found myself
looking for that meteor strike that would stop this pain.
It did not happen, and I finished the race in just over 108
minutes. I got myself a nice medal for
my effort and was re-united with my wife, who was sporting her own medal and
clocking a time of 61 minutes for the day.
We shared our stories of the race, the things we thought of whilst
running and the things and people we saw on the way.
Why do I do this?
Well, doing no exercise is a sure way of growing ever slower and fatter
by the day. That experiment has been
performed by myself in past years, and the outcome is extremely repeatable. Running, for me, is one of the most efficient
methods of exercise, it keeps me healthy and work away stress. All those things the doctor tells us to do to
live longer. Apart from this, it is very
relaxing to get out of bed every morning and go for a quick 7 to 8 kilometre
run, it just starts the day right.
The races; I attempt a half marathon at least once a month
when in good health, I find it a good test of strength. For some other weekends a 10 kilometre race
is a good training opportunity. The event
organisation assist that I can push a bit more than the morning runs. There are also the people, the aged advanced
are most inspirational to me. Today
there was a guy, 78 years of age, gunning for the same time as me. I would love to be that guy, at that age.
I also have all that time to think in a relaxed environment,
and I collect a medal; Mutley would be proud.
Sunday, 4 November 2018
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