Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 23

THE RUNNING MANN
Lowest point of the route at 18km when you cross the Buffalo River
photos and chats with fellow runners.
My Zulu vocabulary is limited to a couple of choice
swear words, so I enquired as to what the mayor was
waffling on about and was told it was “prize-giving.”
By the time I got in my car, the mayor still showed no
signs of abating, and there was no sign that prizes
would be awarded any time soon. I guess if you
did manage to score a share of the R400,000 prize
money, the Umzinyathi District Municipality made sure
you really earned it!
downhill that drops from around 1400m above sea
level to below 1100m. This lulls one into a false sense
of security, until you hit the bottom of the Buffalo
River valley. From that point onward it’s hard work,
with plenty of climbing as you bob up and down all
the way to Dundee. Making it harder was having a
song stuck in my head, with an off-key version of The
Imperial March playing in my brain for much of the
race: ‘Dun-Dun-Dun, Dun-Dundee, Dun-Dundee’ –
and it was playing on repeat!
The route follows the R68 until 6km to go, when you
hit the R33 intersection and turn left to Dundee. The
climb into Dundee had destroyed me three weeks
previously, so I was desperately hoping to avoid this
vicious stretch of road during the Prince Mangosuthu
Ultra. No such luck but, after imploding like the Death
Star in July, I am pleased to report that the Running
Mann struck back in August. Despite having 10km
further on my legs (and a lot more glycogen in my
bloodstream), it was a steady canter to the top of the
rise, where I took a moment to appreciate the view
(and pick up the pride I had lost at the same spot
three weeks previously).
bookended with the mayor once again on the
microphone. He is obviously something of an
endurance athlete himself, as he kept it going
throughout my normal post-race rehydration rituals,
For the record, the winners of the R100,000 first place
prizes were Mike Fokoroni and Loveness Madziva.
Hopefully, this race becomes a regular fixture on the
calendar and there will be a larger bunch of athletes
chasing down a win and a new course record in 2020.
However, the record to watch out for next year is that
of Mangosuthu Buthulezi’s longest speech. With this
year’s experience behind him, and the inspiration of
a larger crowd in front of him, I expect there’ll be no
stopping the Umzinyathi mayor at next year’s prize-
giving! So if they do add a First Mlungu category next
year, I think I’ll let Julian win it.
History Lesson: Mangosuthu Buthulezi
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthulezi is best known as the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, which he founded in
1975. Many thought this would be a position he would cling onto for life, but he recently stepped down from
the role. He served on the cabinet as Minister of Home Affairs in the Government of National Unity after the
first democratic elections and was acting president for a short period in 1998, when both President Mandela
and Deputy President Mbeki were out of the country.
The complex and sometimes controversial life of Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthulezi is impossible to condense into
a couple of paragraphs. However, a couple of items of trivia, which I find a lot more interesting than complex
political analysis, are that he played the role of his own great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo kaMpande, in the
film Zulu (1965), and is the Guinness World Record Holder for the longest ever legislative speech. That speech
was delivered over 11 days to the KwaZulu legislative assembly in 1993! I have not searched YouTube to see
whether you can watch the whole thing online.
Prince Mangosuthu would be proud of the lengthy
speech going on in the background
Left Speechless
I enjoyed the last few kilometres on the road
to redemption. My arrival at the finish line was
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This is a reworked version of one of Stuart’s blogs, which usually focus on his
adventures (and sometimes misadventures) while running marathons and ultra-marathons all over South
Africa, and occasionally in other countries. He recently fulfilled a lifetime goal of securing a shoe sponsorship
from The Sweatshop branch in Broadacres, thus allowing him to run more races and share their stories. You
can read his original blogs at http://runningmann.co.za, and follow him on social media @runningmann100.
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