THE RUNNING
MANN the running mann by STUART MANN
Run , Forest , Run !
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon recently announced that it is on the inside lane to become the first Abbott World Marathon Major in the southern hemisphere . I thought I ’ d take a ‘ pictorial ’ look back at the two Cape Town Marathons I ’ ve completed , in 2017 and 2019 , with a heavy focus on the latter , when I ran with a tree on my back as part of a moving forest !
I
met Siyabulela Sokomani during the 2017 Soweto Marathon , when I saw the odd sight of a bloke running a marathon with a tree strapped to his back . Siya is an environmentalist and green entrepreneur who has worked in the horticultural industry for more than 17 years . He founded Nguni Nursery , a plant production nursery in Cape Town that produces high-quality plants and tree saplings and makes them accessible and affordable to organisations that work on land restoration and greening projects , and to the horticultural industry as a whole .
Meeting the # TownshipFarmer in the Soweto Marathon
Two ’ s company , tree ’ s a crowd – and any more than that ’ s a forest !
Siya ’ s mission in life is to green the townships and create food and employment via urban farming , so he is passionate about growing trees and plants in large volumes to help scale up Africa ’ s restoration goals . He is also a co-founder of Township Farmers SA , a community organisation that creates small-scale organic farms and builds environmental awareness in disadvantaged areas . In Soweto he told me about the Township Farmers ’ Running Tree Campaign , which sees volunteers run marathons with trees strapped to their backs to raise awareness about environmental and climate change issues . The seed was planted and we kept in contact after the race , and when he asked if I ’ d run with the ‘ moving forest ’ at Cape Town 2019 , I jumped at the chance to run with the ultimate branch manager . ( I tried to think of a really good tree-related pun to include here … but I was completely stumped .)
Siya Sokomani ’ s mission is to green the townships and create food and employment
Images : Martin Mulder , Nolene Conrad & Courtesy Stuart Mann , Siya Sokomani
16 ISSUE 145 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021 | www . modernathlete . co . za