THE RUNNING
MANN
By Stuart Mann
MY MOST EXPENSIVE RACE
With the South African marathon running scene pretty much on Comrades hiatus from 1 May until the end of July , I had to look further afield to find marathons to keep my “ marathon-a-week ” training programme going . Luckily one of our neighbours obliged with the Diacore Gaborone Marathon on 13 May .
South Africa is marathon running bedonnered ( crazy ) and we have hundreds of local marathons to choose from , but when we travel to run , we tend to go run marathon majors overseas and seem to neglect the opportunities on our doorstep . Hence , at the time of writing I had run 188 marathons , of which 159 had been in Africa , but none had been outside the confines of South Africa ’ s borders . That is no longer the case .
The drive from Johannesburg to Gaborone is about 4.5 hours , but you need to factor in a border crossing , which will add another 30 to 60 minutes to your journey . Fortunately , the Batswana are the friendliest people you ’ ll find and we were warmly welcomed . I was travelling with my friend Julian Karp and they were even too polite to question or comment on his choice of Polly Shorts !
Images : Courtesy Stuart Mann
Gaborone is just a short drive from the border post , but progress into town is slow , as there are antisynchronised traffic lights every few hundred metres . We eventually arrived at the Peermont Grand Palm Resort , where the race starts and finishes , and as our race numbers were handed over , we were proudly told that if we ran under 2:08 we would take home 1 million Pula ( about R1.3 million ). I reassured the young gentleman that their money was safe , because I would be lucky to crack 2:08 on the first lap !
Most enjoyable Run
It ’ s a pleasure staying so close to the start – no traffic , no toilet queues and no time pressure – and by the time we made it down to the start area , a large crowd had already gathered around the elegant fountains . There was a buzz of activity , complete with thousands of flailing arms and legs . It appears that the warmup technique of choice in Botswana is a ferocious aerobics routine .
Gaborone is about 1000m above sea level and incredibly flat – the only elevation you do are a couple of bridge crossings , and the local runners told me that if they want to do any hill training , they have to drive out of town or find a long flight of stairs ! The city streets are also remarkably clean . I can ’ t remember seeing litter anywhere , and instead of the graffiti you see in most cities , the paintwork here is the light blue , black and white of the Botswana national flag .
The pluses of this race are that it ’ s really well organised , an easy route and the event itself is a cultural extravaganza with stage performances and fun family activities . The marathon is also a great excuse to explore Botswana ’ s world famous wildlife parks ( discounted runner rates are available ). The downside is that it ’ s a double-lapper and some stretches can get monotonous – I would have loved to have seen a bit more of the city . The support tables are frequent , but they could probably do a bit more to add to the atmosphere one expects from a capital city marathon . In summary , I would definitely recommend this marathon , but would probably not return to run it every year . Actually , that is a moot point , because I am not allowed to ever run this race again …
The Expensive Part !
It costs R700 to run the marathon , and you ’ ll earn one million Pula for finishing the race in under 128 minutes , but arrive home 16 hours into Mother ’ s Day and you ’ ll pay for the rest of your life ! In my defence , I did get my permission slip signed early in the year when I was doing my marathon planning , but my wife will argue that I failed to disclose that the Gaborone Marathon was to be held on Mothers ’ Day . I was found guilty without leave to appeal , and my plea bargain has resulted in me waiving the right to ever run a marathon on Mother ’ s Day weekend again . I also received a lifetime suspended sentence , which basically means that the , “ Like the time you ran a marathon on Mother ’ s Day ” trump card will be brought up in awkward situations for the rest of my life .
And lest I should ever forget , my wife booked out my calendar for next year ’ s Mother ’ s Day a year in advance . I ’ ve been married long enough to know that the suggestion of a romantic trip to Botswana is right out of the question , but at least I can console myself that there are 51 other weekends in the year on which to run marathons !
ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Stuart ’ s lifetime goal is to attract a beer sponsor with his running blogs , but he will settle for a travel sponsor so that he can run more marathons and share their stories . Read his full blogs at http :// runningmann . co . za , and follow him @ runningmann100 .
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