Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 15

ROAD RUNNING
Marukgwane makes another valid point about the
importance of reading: “You can be a doctor or a
scientist, but if you cannot articulate, express yourself
or communicate properly, then that does have an
impact on you as a professional.” And he should
know. As an Advocate of the High Court of South
Africa, currently contracted to the Gauteng Provincial
Legislature as a constitutional and legal adviser, his
ability to communicate, interpret and analyse is vital.
And those skills are honed by reading.
“Books were what formed
me. I grew up without
television, so I stuck my
nose into books. They
allowed me to travel in
my mind to places that
I hadn’t been, nor seen.
Reading opened my eyes
to what can be,”
M
any a spectator at a number of recent big
races in South Africa must have done a
double-take, possibly after rubbing their eyes
vigorously and pinching themselves to make sure their
eyes weren’t playing tricks on them. Because up the
road, or down the finish straight, came Marukgwane
Tshiamo Moremogolo, a 39-year-old advocate from
Pretoria and member of the Fat Cats Running Club,
happily walking the final kays of the race while
engrossed in a book. Not exactly a common sight in
road running events!
At the 2018 Comrades he read I Remember Nelson
Mandela, edited by Vilma Naidoo and Sahm Venter,
then tucked into We are the Ones We Need: The
War on Black Professions in Corporate SA, by Sihle
Bolani, at the 2019 Loskop Marathon 50km. Next on
his ‘To Run-Read’ list was The Zulus of New York, by
Zakes Mda, at this year’s Two Oceans Marathon, and
most recently Marukgwane was turning the pages of
Dikeledi, by Sabata-mpho Mokae, as he crossed the
finish line of the Wally Hayward Marathon.
Desire to Grow Literacy
So, having decided to run for literacy, Marukgwane
did some research on reading trends around the
world, particularly in South Africa, only to discover
some startling and disconcerting trends. “According
to UNESCO, languages are dying. This is because
nations have stopped reading, especially reading to
their children, and reading in their mother tongue.
This is why it is so important that we drive home the
message that people need to read. Your heritage is
important. You learn and remember through reading,
and you teach your children by reading to them.”
“Books were what formed me. I grew up without
television, so I stuck my nose into books. They
allowed me to travel in my mind to places that I
hadn’t been, nor seen. Reading opened my eyes to
what can be,” says Marukgwane. “Through reading
I was able to understand more and broaden my
horizons, because every book is an education. The
books I read as a child that made the biggest impact
on me were Elvis Presley’s biography, a book about
Napoleon, the French general, and Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens. These books taught me that
the world is my oyster, no matter what physical or
financial challenges one has. They were my escape
mechanism, and they healed me.”
Reading on the Run
When Marukgwane lines up in Durban on 9 June for
this year’s Comrades Marathon, he will be running
with Sabata-mpho Mokae’s Moletlo wa Manong
(Feast of the Vulture), which is a Setswana novel
based on modern-day political corruption. “I will start
to read from the 44km mark. I haven’t trained to run
and read, so when I am tired and I walk, I read. It
makes the time go by easier, and also helps me to
forget my aches and pains on the road.”
Marukgwane openly admits that his mind is not
completely on the reading when he is walking. “You
do have to kind of look where you are going. It is
easier at bigger races, where you have road closures,
but you still need to have some eye on where you are
going, so I make a point of sitting down after the race
and rereading the book, to totally absorb the content.
I absorb probably around 25% of the book while
running, so if I am going to be doing a book review,
which I always do, then I need to read the book with
my full attention.”
So why is he reading books during long distance
running events? Marukgwane started running five
years ago, and during his 2016 Comrades he says he
realised that the race was a catalyst for many to raise
awareness or funds for various causes. For him, that
cause was literacy. “Only 40% of South African’s have
access to leisure books, and less than 30% have read
a book that was not either work or curriculum-related.
To me, who grew up with books, that is heartbreaking.
The Spirit of Comrades is all about running for causes,
so that is when I decided to #Run4Books. I figured
that I will be able to highlight the importance and fun
you can get from reading and from literacy in general,
and help to collect books for schools.”
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