Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 126, January 2020 | Page 18

THE RUNNING MANN
“you just have the stark,
charred remains of trees for
company whilst your mind sub-
consciously visualises your legs
going up in flames”
Golden Gate-crashing
a tour group at the
Brandwag Buttress
on offer. Of course, those who are more adventurous
can explore more of the 340km² via various hiking and
multi-stage trail runs available in the park.
enthusiasts called the “Wes Transvaal Ou Motor Klub.”
(I understand that the ‘Ou’ describes the 300 vintage
cars in their collection, not the members.) They go on
tour from Potchefstroom once a month and the Golden
Gate Highlands National Park was their October outing.
Dicing a Dinosaur
Hot New Favourite
At R300 to enter, this is one of the more expensive
marathons on the calendar, but this is a small price
to pay for the stunning scenery you get to experience
within the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
Support tables were also excellent all along the route,
with plenty of food available together with the normal
drinks.
Golden Gate is the only National Park in the Free
State. It was founded in 1963 and has been enlarged
over the years to cover an area of 340 km² (84,000
acres). The park takes its name from the golden glow
effect produced by the sun’s setting rays radiating off
the ancient sandstone cliffs. And as the sun set on
another marathon (and a golden glow radiated from
my perspiring face), I was glad we only covered 42
straight-line kilometres of the 340 square kilometres
For those who appreciate ancient artefacts, the park
is also famous for unearthing many fine fossil finds.
Perhaps the most notable of these was in 1978,
when the oldest dinosaur embryos ever found were
discovered in the park. They date from the Triassic
Period, 220 to 195 million years ago, when the world
was still a single continent. This was way before the
Jurassic Period, so if Hollywood wants to make a
Jurassic Park prequel, I would suggest that they set it
in Golden Gate.
This race has many upsides – and I’m not just talking
about the incessant hills. The only downside is that
the inaugural Golden Gate Marathon has left me with
a bit of a dilemma. Before there was a clear winner
for my favourite race in the Free State – Surrender Hill
Marathon – but now it’s difficult to pick between the
two. At the risk of mixing my precious metals, I guess
that the silver lining to Golden Gate is that there are
now two brilliantly ‘breautiful’ (that’s a combination of
brutal and beautiful) bucket list marathons to run in
the Free State highlands!
The impressively
hilly route profile
One of the many impressive
rock formations along the route
Speaking of dinosaurs, I’d travelled through to the
race with my friend Julian Karp. Not that he’s a
dinosaur, of course, but he did scuttle past me like a
velociraptor hunting the finish line just as I emerged
back onto the official course after an extended photo
shoot at the Brandwag Buttress with the tour group.
Looking back from the top of
the switchback section
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stuart’s blogs 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 Broadacres and Asics
South Africa (and a running kit sponsorship from Runderwear), 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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ISSUE 126 JANUARY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Julian’s approach to marathon running is like that of
the proverbial tortoise in Aesop’s fables (although
ironically, Julian is more famous for his hair). His
steady, determined, metronomic pace managed to
once again eclipse my more hare-brained approach of
frequent photo stops (and the occasional exploratory
detour).