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