ROAD RUNNING
First in was Shahieda Thungo( 11:52:33), followed by Lucas Seleka( 11:53:38), and then Derrick Rondganger carried the last bus home in 11:58:13.
POST-RACE FEEDBACK
Judging not only by the size of the buses but also the high-fiving and hugging at the finish as the bus drivers were swamped by appreciative passengers, the buses were once again hugely popular, but same as last year, there were also some very negative comments on social media after the race. Notably,‘ non-passengers’ complained about buses taking up the whole road, blocking the progress of other runners who then had to leave the road to pass a bus. Another complaint came from runners who were rudely, sometimes even painfully bumped out of the way as a crowd bus went past them.
All Aboard for Durban
Having received a fair amount of criticism about the official pacesetting buses in the 2017 Comrades Marathon, the 2018 Modern Athlete Comrades Marathon Pacesetters set out to try fixing these problems while once again helping thousands of runners achieve their Comrades goals. – BY SEAN FALCONER
Having run more buses in the 2017 Comrades than ever before, Modern Athlete tried something still more ambitious this year by adding a sub-7:30 bus for aspiring silver medallists. The thing to remember, however, is that Pacesetters are unpaid volunteers who sacrifice their own race to help others achieve their goals, but there are no guarantees in a 90km ultra, and even the most experienced runner can have a bad day in the office …
Well, that’ s what happened to the sub-7:30 Silver medal driver, Tshililo Ngwana, who had to hand over the flag late in the race to a co-driver when his wheels came off( he eventually finished in 7:36:23), and the co-driver only just missed the 7:30 cut-off gun by just three seconds. Still, there were passengers in the bus who made it home on time thanks to the help of these Pacers earlier in the race. Similarly, our two sub-9:00 Bill Rowan Pacers, Johan van Tonder and Joe Faber, were forced to slow down late in the race and tell their passengers to go on without them, but when Joe came home in 9:00:35 and Johan in 9:14:08, there were still grateful passengers waiting to thank them at the finish.
HOME ON TIME
After that, things were much more timely, starting with the 10:00 Safe Bronze buses lead by Linda Hlophe( 9:58:26) and Maropeng George Mojela( 9:59:12), who were followed in by Sbusiso Mlangeni and Siyabonga Khumalo bringing the 10:30 Safe Bronze bus home in 10:23:41. Next came the large, festive sub-11:00 Bronze buses led by Jeff Ramokoka( 10:57:00) and Madoko Ndhlovu( 10:57:21). Next up it was the 11:30 Safe Vic Clapham buses, brought in by Charl Whitaker( 11:22:36), British guest Pacer Gary Dixon( 11:26:37) and Gerald Pavel( 11:28:14).
They were followed home by 11:45 Pacer Claus Kempen, who crossed the line at 11:40:04 and was promptly raised on the shoulders of some of his appreciative passengers. And then it was time for the sub-12:00 Vic Clapham buses, and as has become the norm, they had many passengers on board.
For the record, Modern Athlete did ask the Pacesetters to try keep their buses to one side of the road, but passengers like to run up front in the bus, next to or near to the Pacesetter, and the buses tend to spread across the road as a result, in spite of their marshalling attempts.
This led to a number of runners calling for Pacing buses to be banned from the Comrades, and while Modern Athlete does not agree with that call, we are once again taking note of the complaints, and we will discuss it with the Comrades Marathon Association to try find ways to make the buses more‘ runner-friendly’ in the next race.
Modern Athlete would like to thank all of our Comrades Pacesetters for your incredible spirit and camaraderie! A special thank you also to Buks van Heerden, Mindlo Mdhluli and Rassie Pretorius for all your hard work in coordinating the 2018 Pacesetters.
CONGRATS, BUKS AND CAROLIEN
Jeff Ramokoka is surrounded by appreciative sub-11:00 bus passengers
Two faces missing from this year’ s Modern Athlete Pacesetting team on Comrades race day were Buks and Carolien van Heerden. Buks had once again done much of the pre-race work to prepare the Pacesetters, and even flew in for day two of the Expo, but Carolien was due to give birth on the morning of the race! Young Kriztiaan van Heerden duly entered this world at 8:28am, weighing in at a healthy 3.15kg, a true Comrades Baby! Huge congrats, Buks and Carolien!
IMAGES: Sean Falconer & Courtesy Buks van Heerden
14 ISSUE 108 JULY 2018 / www. modernathlete. co. za