DIVISIONAL HEAD Richard Laskey richard @ modernathlete . co . za CONTENT MANAGER Roxanne Martin roxanne @ modernathlete . co . za

That ’ s how far back my working relationship goes with the ‘ Race Calendar Guru ,’ and I recall interviewing Tom for the first time that year , in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Durban a day or two before the massive 2000 Comrades Marathon , which Tom was due to run again for the first time since his car accident ( read the story on 16 ). It is therefore an absolute honour to do another story on him all these years later as he tries to make another comeback to the road , in between all the work he does on fixtures .

UNBELIEVABLE GROWTH

This got me thinking how much the race calendar has changed over the years , so I dug out the March 2000 magazine to compare the calendars of then and now . For starters , the 2000 calendar had 87 events listed – just about all road running , take note , because trail running barely existed as a sport back then – whereas this 2018 edition has 176 events !

So , when you do the maths , the March 2018 calendar shows a massive increase of 89 events over the March 2000 calendar , or a 102 % growth . In other words , the race calendar for running and running-related events in South Africa has literally doubled since 2000 ! ( And that ’ s not even counting the 43 track and field fixtures we added this month !)

QUANTITY AND QUALITY

I must add here that I think this massive increase in running events has not resulted in a noticeable drop in standards , which can so easily happen when a market is flooded by similar products . By all means , some races are smaller , or simple and informal , but most live up to the reputation of South African running having a very high standard of event organisation , and one of the best parts of this packed calendar is discovering a new route to explore and enjoy .

Of course , as you can imagine , compiling this calendar each month is a major job , because we take Tom ’ s listing of mostly road running events and add as many trail and other running-related fixtures to the list , in order to give you a full picture of all your racing options , but the effort is definitely worth it , because our Modern Athlete calendar consistently comes up as one of the most-read sections of the magazine , and most-visited on our digital platforms . So turn to the Race Calendar on page 44 and make some racing plans for this month , because you ’ ve never been so spoilt for choice !

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