ROAD RUNNING
achieved my original target of R400,000 after all !” In the end I was able to raise R402,260 , whereas I would have been happy with R100,000 . What year of craziness !”
Our Beloved Leader
While his fundraising achievements may have put him in the spotlight in the last few years , Dean has been a prominent and much-loved member of the KZN running community for many years . Besides running the Comrades a total of 28 times ( up to 2019 ), and serving as Chairman of Queensburgh Harriers from 2006 to 2017 , where he was fondly dubbed Our Beloved Chairman by the members , he is best known for the Beloved Long Runs he has been organising since 2008 .
These long training pack runs , which now take place all over KZN , started as club runs for Queensburgh members only , and when it came to choosing a name for them , the club felt it appropriate to go for Beloved Long Runs , in honour of Dean ’ s hard work . “ I would get up at 2am or 3am and go hide drinks and sweets in the bushes along the route , then go meet up for the run ,” recalls Dean . ( The hidden goodies would always include crème soda , because Dean really loves his crème soda !) Then , with his customary “ Hello , Hello ,” followed by a unique combination of whistling , click sounds and shaking knees , he would ‘ call the route ’ for the day , and off the group would go .
In 2014 , Dean and wife Des – “ My biggest long run supporter and go-to girl ,” says Dean – moved to
Calling the route for another Beloved Long Run
Gillits , but as a life member of Queensburgh , he stayed with the club and carried on organising the training runs . He started charging R10 per run to cover the costs of the drinks and snacks , and says he had a contact list of 20 to 30 guys in a database that he would mail the weekend ’ s plan to , and they would then send it to their friends .
Group Run Time
By the time Dean organised a big Hillcrest to Beachfront training run in January 2016 , he was being asked to organise more runs , “ So I decided to start organising runs all over the province , find volunteers for seconding tables , and create a webpage and Facebook page to promote the runs , while also upping the fee to R20 to cover the additional costs . That fee has now gone up to R30 per run , as things have become more expensive .”
When he was approached later in 2016 by several running clubs that wanted to be part of the runs , he grabbed the opportunity . “ We were taking up too much parking at shopping centres and garages , so in 2017 we started partnering with various clubs and running from their clubhouses . The clubs could then make their showers , clubhouse and bar available , which could bring in some money while also offering runners a safer running environment . A large percentage of our runners are women , who are attracted by the increased safety of our group runs .”
Today , those Queensburgh club runs have grown into multi-club runs that attract up to 250 runners each Saturday morning , who turn out to run up to up to 32km together , with water tables every three to four kays serving water , cold drinks and snacks . The routes are mostly out-and-back routes , so runners can turn wherever they want to , depending on their fitness and training goals , and all take place on Saturday mornings . “ I never clash with races on Sundays , because these runs rely on the clubs for support , and even on those weekends with really big races , I still get a good turn-out ,” says Dean .
In addition to the weekly runs , Dean also organises the ‘ Comrades in Three Days ’ on Easter Weekend , and helps organise the 56km Comrades Route Tester in early May , in conjunction with the long-standing Collegians and Hillcrest route tester runs . “ We ’ ve brought many more clubs on board to help with the water tables , and it has really grown in popularity . We had over 1000 runners in 2018 , so in 2019 we actually had two separate runs , as it simply got too big . So now we have 28 clubs on board , with 14 doing water stops on each run .”
Going the Distance
Dean has been running since he was 11 and did his first 5km fun run in La Lucia in 1979 . “ I was initially reluctant to participate , but instantly fell head over heels in love with the sport . After that I continued running every fun run I could find until I was finally old enough to join Queensburgh Harriers in 1984 . I ran my first marathon in 1986 , and my first Comrades in 1988 . I ’ ve done 28 now , and my big goal is to reach 40 .” ( Dean ’ s best time is 8:02:02 , run in 1992 )
That 40th medal is still some years off , so in the meantime Dean has set himself another Comrades goal , to do with fundraising . “ Given how much I have been able to raise thus far , I decided to try raise 500,000 for my 30th Comrades , which would have been in 2021 . However , with this year ’ s race cancelled , that plan has been delayed by a year , so I ’ m setting myself a target of R450,000 in 2021 , then R500,000 in 2022 . This will all be for the HACT , because they really need the funds now more than ever . I ’ m just glad I can help in my own small way .”
Dean with his biggest supporter , wife Des
To find out more about the Beloved Long Runs , go to www . belovedlongruns . co . za or www . facebook . com / groups / belovedlongruns .
Images : Action Photo SA & courtesy Dean Wight
22 ISSUE 134 OCTOBER 2020 / www . modernathlete . co . za