OUT OF THE BOX out of the box by NORRIE WILLIAMSON
Major Marathons Point the Way
The Vienna Marathon kickstarted what could be an exciting , yet unsettling , two months in road running . The fact that seven major massparticipation international marathons will be held between now and mid- November offers amazing possibilities , if we care to listen and act .
The good news began with a mid-September ‘ family meeting ’ with President Cyril Ramaphosa that increased the outdoor gathering limit to 500 people . Although the politicians have yet to acknowledge the difference in types of gatherings , this at least began to make club events viable again , and many top-level older athletes hoped would lead to the return of the 50-plus age groups at the following week ’ s SA Cross Country Championships .
Few understood where ASA ’ s Science and Medical Committee had gathered advice that athletes aged 50-plus were declared vulnerable , as no other sport appeared to apply that restriction . Even stranger was that a high percentage of the officials , managers and organisers were not just over the 49 age limit , but were also less fit and more overweight than the athletes who had been banned due to being ‘ vulnerable ’. It ’ s well documented that 78 % of COVID deaths in the USA were overweight , which left one questioning the Science and Medical Committee ’ s understanding of the challenges .
The President also highlighted vaccination , saying that only 25 % of the population has been vaccinated , but that around 60 % of 60-plus have had the jab . That is just short of the 67 % target for the whole population , and was expected to remove these poorly conceived restrictions for older athletes that are based on age , rather than being
Vienna Marathon based on co-morbidity risk . This numeric relief may well have been a bit too late for the provinces and organisers to reinstate the older age group , but hopefully the powers that be will have at least listened to the protests , and there should be no repeat of such thinking .
Major Marathons Up and Running
The positive news coming out of the world of the major marathons in recent weeks is that the Vienna Marathon was successfully held , with 6000 marathoners and a further 20,000 other runners and walkers in the shorter distances , and the Berlin Marathon took to the road with 25,000-plus runners . In coming weeks , the Chicago , Boston , London , New York and Athens Marathons will all follow between now and mid- November , each with numbers exceeding 20,000 , and as high as 50,000 around the UK capital .
In South Africa , 10,000 runners are being catered for at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on 17 October , plus the trail runs the day before , with the organisers encouraged all the way and supported by the City of Cape Town , meaning we have at least one authority that seems to appreciate the benefits of bringing back participation sports for tourism , local economics and both short and long-term national health .
These may sound like major numbers , considering COVID pandemic fears , but the fact is that if correctly organised , they are less or little more than the numbers we see and interact with on a daily basis . A basic survey of frequented exercise and pedestrian areas , such as a main street or promenade in our major cities , shows that there are more walkers , runners , cyclists , etc per minute passing a particular point than you would get with over 650 runners in a single-start 10km race . The peak finishing time for a 10km race is the 15 minutes around 50 to 65 minutes , but in the main street and promenades this goes on for two to four hours . This would be equivalent to having say eight or more wave starts , which would give a total well over 5000 runners .
If the race distance was a marathon , then it equates to over 20,000 runners in wave starts . That is double the number that has been approved by the visionary City of Cape Town . In the next couple of weeks , the Mother City will also host the Cape Town Cycle Tour on 10 October , with additional benefit to its citizens . Watch this space for even more events from this forward-thinking municipality !
Meanwhile , the authorities in eThekwini , which proclaims to be the sporting capital of South Africa , cannot think wider than the 500 limit , and that speaks volumes about their lack of vision , and the reality that they continue to cause damage to the local economy , employment and tourism . Also , the worldwide return to mass participation and Cape cycle and run events getting the go-ahead , are set to leave the KwaZulu-Natal provincial eventing department red-faced with their insistence on taking a lackadaisical approach to what could contribute to economic recovery in their province .
Mass Participation is Low Risk
Unless highly trained and synchronised , it ’ s virtually impossible and impractical for runners to be closer than 1.5m spacing in free running . Therefore , once a race is started , there is exceptionally low risk of infection in outdoor participation events . As seen above , group starts of 500 will not even match the daily risk of people on a main street . Cycling and canoeing are even safer , as equipment enforces spacing .
If these sort of numbers per minute passing a specific point were a risk , where are the regular infection spikes from malls each weekend ? There people are
Images : Courtesy worldsmarathons . com
30 ISSUE 145 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021 | www . modernathlete . co . za