Images: Courtesy René Kalmer

This parkrun is an out-and-back course and on my way back to the finish line I started to spot and count the running prams. I was a bit upset when I did not spot Andre and Karli in the top 10, and thought they had perhaps opted to stay in bed, having been‘ mentally prepared’ earlier that morning by Andre not to be too upset if they were not on the start line. Then to my surprise( or not), I spotted father and daughter with the 12-hour Modern Athlete Comrades Pacesetter at the back of the parkrun pack … singing, clapping and having a great time along the beachfront.

I was the leading lady, cruising at four minutes a kay till the final homestretch, when I was passed by a really well built blonde girl. It bothered me for the rest of the day …. not the fact that I was beaten, but the fact that I thought I knew most of the competitive female runners.( More about this mystery runner later …)

Out on the Road

Comrades Race day arrived, and this year we had been upgraded as official supporters and had the privilege of‘ running’ a water point for the KPMG team. Our point was set up just after Drummond, next to Arthur’ s seat, so we were up at 4am to get to the point before the first runners passed us. We especially picked this point on the route so I could see the front runners passing, whilst Andre could also see his 12-hour bus mates passing a few hours later … a win-win for both of us! As the leading

lady passed us at halfway, I realised the mysterious blonde parkrunner was Nina Zarina from Russia. She eventually finished in 22 nd place. Also, seeing the now legendary Xolani Luvuno passing us on his crutches at halfway is a memory I will treasure forever!

However, trust me, this kind of‘ running’ is also a long day at the office, and I have new respect for all the supporters that assist runners along the route. At our water point we had tables, a gazebo, water bottles, Vaseline, deep heat, plasters, ice, jelly babies, etc, etc, etc. It was quite a juggle to handle Karli whilst also handing out and assisting the passing runners. Luckily we were positioned on a big climb, so most of our slower runners were actually walking up the daunting hill, giving more time to get them the correct water bottle or special request. These requests ranged from water, ice, food, massaging, motivating and sunscreen, to rubbing Vaseline on all kinds of strange places.

Heading for the Finish

After the last runners had passed us, we rushed to the finish at Moses Mabhida Stadium. What an amazing venue, and an even more amazing atmosphere watching all the runners finishing the Ultimate Human Race, but seeing some runners only just miss the 12- hour cut-off by mere metres, or even centimetres, was a very emotional experience. It was, however, also great to see the happy faces, the camaraderie, the absolute joy and ecstasy of those finishing!

Monday morning and Caroline and I had another‘ running date’ where she updated me on all the

excitement of the women’ s race, as she did live commentary for TV this year. I believe it was the most competitive women’ s race in years, and a huge shout-out to Ann Ashworth and Bongmusa Mthembu for securing proudly South African victories in both the women’ s and men’ s races. The South Africans in general did exceptionally well with five women and seven men in the Top 10.

All in all, it was a great running weekend with lots of highlights, and for those whose race perhaps did not go according to plan, remember this saying and bounce back:“ The miracle isn’ t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

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