The runners made the most of the luke-warm conditions before the Griqualand sun rose and turned the oven on . Whilst Kimberley is definitely not the most beautiful of cities or terrains to run around , there is a distinct charm to her marathons that ’ s difficult to explain without actually running in this old mining town . |
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I love running in Kimberley , but hate getting there . It ’ s usually a five-hour Seagate ( that ’ s a hard drive ) with plenty of trucks , roadworks and stop-start sections that make progress slow and tedious . And it ’ s hot … so while most of the country was heading into autumn this past March , no-one told Kimberley that summer was over , so the temperature gauge steadily rose from the mid-20s in Johannesburg to 34 ° C by the time I reached Kimberley in the late afternoon .
I was fortunate enough to be offered overnight accommodation courtesy of Kimberley Harriers Running Club , which hosts the Diamond Marathon . As a self-funded runner , this was highly appreciated , as was the air conditioner in my room at Bishop ’ s Lodge . After a cold shower , I made the short drive to registration and collected my race number from the friendly and efficient club members on duty . I also met Race Administrator Ria Janse van Vuuren and asked her , “ Is it going to be nice and cool like this tomorrow ?” Despite my deadpan face , she picked up the sarcasm in my voice and flat-batted me back with , “ Yes , exactly the same weather is in store for us tomorrow .”
Sporting Talk
The race starts and finishes on the St Patrick ’ s CBC school cricket field , and on the way back to my car from registration , I bumped into Ockie from the
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neighbouring Vodacom Kimberley Running Club , organisers of the Meerkat Marathon that I ran in Kimberley the previous year . He gestured to the field and asked me , “ What do you think the pitch will be doing tomorrow ?” I replied , “ I ’ m not sure , but I expect it will get slower and slower as the day progresses !”
The face you make when you ’ re faced with 42 hot and dusty kilometres around Kimberley
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More Familiar Faces
Over the first half of the race I got a bit of marathon running déjà vu … It was a case of same time , same place , same face , different race . The Diamond route shares a short section with the Meerkat Marathon , and the face was that of Louis Massyn . It had been a year since I ’ d had the privilege of running a few kilometres with Oom Louis , who was running “ only ” his 17th Diamond Marathon ( to go with his record 44 Two Oceans and 47 Comrades finishes ). During our
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Images : Martyn Mulder , Stuart Mann & Courtesy Kimberley Harriers |