Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 26
THE RUNNING
MANN
By Stuart Mann
AVOIDING SHARKS ON THE SOUTH COAST
In his usual tongue-in-cheek way, The Running Mann describes his recent race experience at the Sapphire Coast Marathon
in KwaZulu-Natal, complete with heat, humidity, late trains, rugby celebrations and offers of hot coffee!
(Marathon #197 / Unique marathon #109)
Fortunately I had the Sapphire Coast
Marathon the next day to focus on. It
is run point to point from Scottburgh to
Amanzimtoti (25km south of Durban),
with race registration at the finish venue,
Hutchinson Park in ‘Toti.’ This year was
the 30th running of the marathon and the
13th year that the local, family-owned
engineering firm Goss & Balfe has sponsored
the race. It was also a record-breaking year
for entries. Last year there were just under
1,000 finishers in the full and half marathons
combined, and this increased to almost
3,000 in 2018. A 10km was added to the
menu this year, which boosted numbers by
an additional 300 runners. The figures would have been even higher had almost 10%
of the field not dropped out during the race, which must be one of the highest DNF
rates for a South African marathon.
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ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Waiting for the Train
From registration, it’s a 20-minute walk to the train station, because a feature of the
race is a train ride to the start. This does necessitate a very early wake-up, and the
race instructions explicitly warned us to be on the platform for a 5am departure, as
time waits for no man – and South African trains wait for even less. Unfortunately,
there are many things that are slowly disappearing from daily life in 21st century
South Africa, and reliable trains is one of them.
Sidenote: In a counter-intuitive move, some commuters in Cape Town actively
hasten the extinction by regularly firebombing late-running trains. I am not sure of
the logic – being late for work is frustrating, but since the trains are no longer steam
powered, burning the carriages is unlikely to make them go any faster.
In fact, it was a good thing we weren’t in Cape Town, as the Passenger Rail
Agency of South Africa (PRASA) decided to give us an authentic railway commuter
experience and the train arrived over half an hour late. This had a knock-on effect
for the race start, which as delayed until 6:30am, and with the sun rising early and
heating up quickly at the KZN coast, this was not ideal for the runners.
After completing the Two Countries Marathon in Musina earlier this year, my
definition of running in the heat has been irrevocably altered, and I now consider
temperatures in the high 20s to be light and breezy. However, running in 100%
humidity is not something I’m used to, and this led to much huffing and puffing on
the initial 8km loop around Scottburgh until my body regulated itself.
Sidenote: PRASA is responsible for the wellbeing of South Africa’s train network and
recently restocked its fleet via a R3.5 billion order for 70 new locomotives. Flouting
T
he best time for a Western Province rugby supporter to run a marathon in
KwaZulu-Natal is the day after Western Province beat the Sharks in a Currie Cup
Final… and when I boarded the flight to Durban at halftime, things were looking
promising, with the good guys leading 6-0. Unfortunately, the worst time for a Western
Province rugby supporter to run a marathon in KwaZulu-Natal is the day after Western
Province lose to the Sharks in a Currie Cup Final… and when I turned on my phone
shortly after landing, I was left with no doubt as to the result. For most of the year the
people of Durban are affable, kind-hearted and gentle-natured, but during rugby season
they become a bit more aggressive, and my phone battery steadily drained as a constant
influx of obnoxious messages bombarded my social media accounts.