Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 32

THE RUNNING
MANN
By Stuart Mann
Lending Some Comrades a Hand
It’s the middle of October 2018 and entries have just opened for the 2019 Comrades Marathon. The entries are
disappearing at an unprecedented rate, and runners, particularly those from lower income groups, raise concerns that all
25,000 entries will be sold before they get paid at the end of the month and have the funds to enter. After seeing several
such social media posts, I decided to do a small good deed aligned with the spirit of Comrades. This is the story of what
happened…
W
hilst ultra-running tends to be a fairly elitist sport overseas, one of the
special features of South African ultra-running in general is that it’s a very
inclusive sport that crosses all socio-economic groups. Unfortunately, a
significant portion of the SA ultra-running community lives below the poverty line,
and this point was hammered home when I received the Comrades 2019 Media
Pack, and the breakdown of entrant’s occupations caught my eye. The ninth most
‘popular’ job is “Unemployed” (551 runners).
The Experiment
After seeing several anxious posts on social media from stressed-out runners who
were worried that all 25,000 entries would be gone by the time payday came, an
idea popped into my head during a morning training run: Why not help some fellow
runners and do a bit of a social experiment at the same time?
The idea was to provide an interest-free, trust-based loan to at least five Comrades
runners. I would pay for their entry fee in full and they would then pay me back
once they had the money. The risk exposure to me was R3,000 – the maximum
amount I would be out of pocket if all five took the money and ran (pun intended).
However, I very much doubted that would happen. In fact, I expected most would
pay me back on the simple assumption that ultra-runners are trustworthy and
honourable people.
The reward was feeling good about myself for helping others – and I also thought
it might make an interesting ‘good news’ story for my blog. I don’t pay for any
advertising on my blog or to promote my social media accounts, so I figured I
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ISSUE 121 AUGUST 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Therefore, the R600 Comrades entry fee might seem trivial to many of you reading
this article on your iPad whilst sipping a latte, but for many it is a significant
expense. On top of this, Comrades 2019 entries opened mid-month, which was a
huge problem for many runners in the lower income groups, who typically get paid
on the last day of the month, and do not have spare cash available for their entries
in the middle of the month.