Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 24

ROAD RUNNING
Tougieda’s
Triumph
As she made the final turn at the 2018 Sanlam Cape Town
marathon, Tougieda Allie felt a sudden sense of relief and joy
that made her burst into tears as soon as she reached that blue-
carpeted finish line. A tough year followed by a tough race… but
she had made it through both. – BY PJ MOSES
Runs in the Family
T
he sight of that blue carpet at the finish of the
Cape Town Marathon was one of the sweetest
sights Tougieda Allie has ever seen in her
running career. “I could not hold back the emotions,
and when my feet touched that blue carpet, I felt
like I was running on clouds. It is hard to explain to
anybody else, but the past year has been very rough
for me and my family, with many personal obstacles
that made things increasingly difficult for me as a
mother, and that moment of personal triumph at the
end of a tough race just meant so much to me.”
Even though this veteran runner of many races,
including the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, has
many medals in her collection and many years of
running experience, it took all of her determination
and a strong will to get from the start to the finish of
this marathon. “Besides the personal issues weighing
on my mind in the lead-up to and during the race, I
also had to deal with a pain in my side that made it
hard to train for two weeks before the marathon. I
decided to self-medicate the pain, just in case I went
to the doctor and he gave me antibiotics that would
then mean that I could not run the race. I didn’t want
to take the chance, and just made sure that my head
and chest were in a good state. Whatever the pain
was, I could deal with that after the marathon.”
She thus took things slow and easy during the race,
just staying in front of the backmarkers, and even
though she would eventually run one of her slowest
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Tougieda admits that running was far from her mind
for much of her life, even though she stayed active
with regular hikes with her two kids and extended
family. However, she had one specific friend who kept
telling her to give running a try, and kept inviting her
to join the weekly training runs held by the Itheko
Athletic Club. Finally, in 2011, Tougieda decided to
try it, just to shut her friend up, because she says she
didn’t like being nagged about it all the time.
“I didn’t really like the idea of running, and I had
always thought that there was something wrong with
people who were runners, but after that first training
session with Itheko I was hooked, and decided
to go every week. Soon I ran my first race at the
Metropolitan 10km in Bellville. I didn’t know anything
about the route, and if I knew beforehand how hilly it
was, then maybe I would not have run it!”
These days her family has a rich running culture and
she has many relatives who are members of running
clubs all over Cape Town. “We love being part of the
running community and leading a healthy lifestyle.
My daughter and her kids also recently joined Itheko
AC, and it makes my heart burst with pride when I
see them enjoying the adventures we undertake as a
running family. I haven’t yet convinced my son to start
running, but I hope he joins us soon and brings his
family along to make our circle even bigger.”
Me-time and Medals
This mother and grandmother from Hanover Park
runs as much as she possibly can, and says the most
ISSUE 112 NOVEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
important thing that running gives her is what she
calls “Me-time,” which she relishes. “I find that I love
the feeling of being in my own head while I am running
and reflecting on my life and the choices before me.
I also make time to recite words from the Quran and
this calms me.”
There is still one medal that is missing from Tougieda’s
collection, one which she would dearly love to get
her hands on. “The Comrades Marathon is always
on my mind as a runner, and I always say that I have
actually done a full Comrades, just over two years.
The first time I decided to bail at about 57km because
I was seeing stars, the second time I went through
halfway when the wheels came off. Being a Muslim, I
have had to put the race on the back-burner because
it fell inside the window of our fast, but I am hoping
to go back in 2020 to tackle the race again. That is
the biggest tick I want on my bucket list, and I am
determined to successfully complete that race, no
matter what!”
A smiling
Tougieda, as
fellow runners
normally see
her
marathon times, she wasn’t worried about that. “It
was more important to me this time to concentrate on
finishing, and in the end everything went according
to plan. I finished with ten minutes to spare before
the cut-off.” Then, with the job done, she let all that
emotion come tumbling out.