THE RUNNING MANN
pork sausages and one rasher of bacon. The burger
itself was served on an English muffin instead of the
traditional bun and the customary burger garnish of
lettuce, tomato and gherkin was replaced by heavy
lashings of coleslaw and a few carrot sticks. However,
the biggest surprise was that the burger itself was
a piece of steak. After phoning to confirm that they
had not given me someone else’s order and being
reassured that the odd concoction I was looking at
was indeed a Mega Burger, I tucked in and enjoyed
my Valentine’s dinner immensely!
Road to Hell
With a 60km drive to the start on what I’d been told
was bad road, I got up early, had one cup of tea
and planned to eat my pre-race sandwiches on the
drive. In the Free State, the condition of the roads
are generally shocking, and instead of distance
markers, every five kilometres there was a sign saying,
“Warning: Potholes next 5km.” It was a harrowing
drive in the dark – two hands held tightly on the
steering wheel, eyes wide open, teeth gritted and
bowels clenched.
If you think running in the Free State is boring, you’ve
probably never actually run in the Free State. I’ve
thoroughly enjoyed every race I’ve done here, and
the routes are usually packed with plenty of natural
beauty. The Bielie Mielie was no exception, with plenty
of sights and scenery. And if you think running in the
Free State is flat, you’ve probably also never actually
run in the Free State. Although Welkom is a bit of a
pancake, my experience has been that everywhere
else is crumpets with lots of toppings. This particular
route had no flat sections. It was constant undulations
the whole way, with a total elevation gain of 620m.
Under the sponsorship of VKB Landbou (as well as
Total, who inject some fuel into the marathon), the
race is very well organised by Limodo Events, which
enlists the help of Bethlehem Marathon Club. (This
is the same team that brings you the spectacular
Surrender Hill Marathon). I usually try to do some
research for the race report while running the race
itself, and as I approached the Bethlehem Marathon
Club table towards the end of the race, I thought I’d
better find out what “Bielie” actually means.
All the ladies at the table were hard at work handing
out water and Coke, and offering rubdowns, and thus I
didn’t want to disturb them from the important job they
were doing. The Bethlehem men, however, in keeping
with tradition, were all just sitting around drinking
beer and braaiing. Therefore, I asked these guys what
“Bielie Mielie” means. They told me it is a “Big Mielie.”
The guy sitting in the chair on the right combined his
description with an extensive hand gesture. His friends
just told him to “Stop exaggerating,” and that he
“Wished he had a Bielie Mielie.”
Fortunately, I had honed my driving skills over the
Christmas period by playing Super Mario Kart Deluxe
with my kids, and I made it to the start in one piece.
However, such was the immense concentration
required to get there that I only got a chance to eat my
first sandwich when I pulled into the parking lot of the
Reitz Bowls Club. I also made a mental note to use a
bite plate the next time I tackled the Free State roads,
to save the enamel on my teeth. Registration was
quick (R250 for a late entry) and I had time to help
myself to a complimentary cup of coffee, after which
my sphincter finally relaxed enough to complete the
morning routines, and then I joined the small group of
runners waiting at the start.
While the drive to get there was stressful, everything
else about running in the Free State is totally relaxed.
There was a definite, “Don’t rush us, we’re local” vibe
at the start. Most races are a total bunfight up front,
but, as you can see from the photo taken 60 seconds
before the gun fired, everyone is pretty chilled. This
was well before Coronavirus, but you are always
granted plenty of personal space in the Free State.
Scenic but Hilly
Although the town of Reitz is small in size, they are
big on mielies, and they have one of the largest maize
silos in the southern hemisphere. The out-and-back
route starts with a short circuit of the town, but it’s
not long before you pass the grain silos at the edge
of Reitz and head directly into the countryside along
a quiet regional road past mielie, sunflower and
livestock farms.
Perhaps the nastiest sting in the tail is at the
turnaround point itself. Post office towers earmark
the highest point in a district, and I figured that the
tower we were gradually approaching would be the
turnaround. No such luck – there was enough time
and space for the route to plummet us down a short
mineshaft on the other side… which, of course, we
had to trudge up again to begin the second half of the
marathon.
Hearty Support
Fortunately, the support tables along the route were
exceptional, and all had plenty of food along with the
regular cooldrinks, which were ice cold. My personal
favourite was the Mecca Hardware table, which had a
full-on sound system with an announcer who greeted
every runner on the way out as well as on the way back.
Exceptional support tables, with Mecca
Hardware standing out
The Meaning (of Life)
As a diligent researcher, I decided I’d better doublecheck
that they weren’t pulling my bielie mielie, so
I asked race director Desiree Opperman as well as
a couple of other ladies after the race what “Bielie”
actually means. All the ladies I spoke to told me it was
“just a made-up word,” created to rhyme with mielie.
I was now really confused and figured that either size
really doesn’t matter for Free State ladies, or they’ve
never seen a really big mielie in real life!
Desiree did in fact get back to me the following day
with a message confirming that “bielie” means “Big,
huge, enormous.” (I didn’t ask her how she found out,
though.) Meanwhile, SuperSport rugby commentator
Ockert van Schalkwyk gave me a thorough Afrikaans
grammar lesson on the correct usage of “bielie.” He
also told me that the opposite of “Bielie” is “Buksie.”
Now I know a few runners called Buks, but I don’t
know any of them well enough to ask how they
earned their nickname.
So, in short, if someone says “You’ve got a bielie mielie,”
that’s a compliment, but if someone says, “You are a
bielie mielie,” that’s an insult. Getting back to the race, I
actually think that the organisers missed out on a trick,
because if I had a race T-shirt that said, “Ask me about
my Bielie Mielie Marathon,” I’d wear it all the time!
The town of Reitz is small in size, but big on mielies
If I was in
charge of
race T-shirts,
they’d look
like this!
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