Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 16

ROAD RUNNING
Town Marathon in September, with the race having
contacted him and made him an official race
ambassador. “They will make one of the water points
a book drop-off point. So, while the Cape Town
Marathon will miss this year’s deadline of book drop
off, the books received there will be an integral part of
the next campaign.”
Overwhelming Response
The Reading Runner, as he is has quickly become
known, says he has been overwhelmed by the
positive response to his campaign. Various schools
around the country have approached him about
the possibility of also receiving books, and he has
featured on a host of radio shows, appeared on
television, and has been interviewed by a number of
publications. While he treasures this exposure, which
gives his campaign huge impetus, he says it is the
response from NGO’s, as well as the public at large,
that has really overwhelmed him.
Going forward Marukgwane is also going to identify
out-of-town races to run, where he will identify a
school (or schools) that need assistance with books,
and these will then become beneficiaries of the
#Run4Books Campaign. “This year we looked at
primary schools, so next year we will probably look at
two high schools. You know, reading doesn’t stop just
because you leave primary school.”
The initial target Marukgwane set was to gather 400
books (200 each) for two schools, the Makgatho
Primary School in Pretoria and the Bula Tsela Primary
School in Sebokeng in the Vaal area. However, from
the massive response he has received, Marukgwane
believes that there will be a lot more books delivered
to the two schools in National Book Week (2-8
September). “I do not know yet how many books we
will be able to drop off, but I can guarantee you, it will
be way more than what we initially anticipated.”
Furthermore, such is the impact his campaign has
made, that FunDza Literary Trust will be donating a
book for every kilometre of the Comrades Marathon
that Marukgwane covers. And the Trust will go a step
further. “They will sit with us and train us how to read
to kids, so once we have handed over the books in
September, we will be spending an hour a month with
the kids and reading to them. We are not just going to
dump the books and leave them there, but will make
sure that literacy becomes an important part of the
curriculum going forward.”
Also, Marukgwane and his friends plan to help build
and maintain a library at these schools. “When the
kids wait for their parents, or taxi’s, to go home, we
want them to have a safe and secure place to do so,
and what better place than a library? So that is also
something we want to do.”
Building for the Future
While the focus around the campaign has been the
Comrades Marathon, the #Run4Books initiative
will not come to an end after the big ultra in June.
Marukgwane will be lining up at the Sanlam Cape
Welcomed
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16
ISSUE 119 JUNE 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Back home, Marukgwane gives a lot of the credit for
the success of the campaign to his wife. “She is my
biggest supporter and gets stuck in when I choose a
race to run. Obviously, we knew that the Two Oceans
would give us big publicity, so she booked all the
flights, made the travel arrangements had T-shirts
printed. She even surprised me at the 44km mark. I
was only going to start reading in the last 2km, but
there she was with the book at 44km and handed it
to me. So I read and ran the last 14km with the book.
Without her, this campaign would not happen.”
Looking ahead, the Running Reader turns 40 in
November and thus is eyeing the Soweto Marathon as
part of his celebrations, where he intends to once again
be running with a book in hand. “I will need to discuss
this with the ‘President of the Household,’ though,
because when I come home from work, I am no longer
a lawyer. The President takes control,” Marukgwane
admits with a chuckle. “It is a milestone, so we need to
discuss if I have a celebration the day before Soweto,
on the day of the race, or after the race. But I will
definitely be teeing up on the Friday for a golf day.”
“We have NGO’s from abroad contacting us and
saying they have books available, then asking where
they can send them to. Mothers from Pretoria East
have messaged me and asked where they can deliver
books, too. I always expected my friends to come to
the party, and they have, but the response from total
strangers has been heart-warming.”