Three excited stooges look forward to a return to marathon running .
Potties runner Lesiba Letaha about to leave me in solitude again .
photo below , we were clearly very excited about a return to marathon running , with yours truly about to line up for marathon # 242 , while King Julian would be tackling marathon # 820 and Tobie his marathon # 371 .
Race registration at the impressive Merensky School grounds followed the standard COVID protocols , and there were additional temperature ( but no sanity ) checks on race morning . I caught up with an excited Tracey at the start . In just five short weeks , she ’ d taken the “ I think it ’ s time I organised another marathon ” idea from conception to delivery , and had managed to enlist the full support and cooperation of the local Limpopo Athletics officials and the local traffic police for the cause .
On race morning , the tardy traffic police graciously allowed the runners 10 extra minutes to catch-up with their mates and savour the pre-race vibe , but as soon as they arrived , the starting gun fired , and it was back to business as usual . A surprisingly small field of just 40 runners got marathon running in South Africa going again , while there were a total of 228 entries across all the distances .
like the Magoeba Plunge – or the Tzaneen Tuffy , a race high on the list of toughest marathons I ’ ve ever run . However , “ relatively flat ” is a term that must be heard with caution , because in this part of the world , you can rise and fall between the Lowveld and the Highveld during a parkrun ! Well , on the 18th of September , I found out that the Warriors Wolfpack Marathon was indeed relatively flat … compared to the Plunge and the Tuffy … so still had more than enough hills !
With such a small field , there were lots of long , lonely sections . In fact , I saw only one runner the entire second half , 62-year-old marathon debutant Lesiba Letaha , with whom I had a very pleasant but brief conversation before he steamed off into the distance . I was concerned about getting my first ever last-placed finish , but in the end , I was not quite the runt of the litter at the Wolfpack Marathon , finishing 33rd out of 37 finishers . However , the four-hour drive back home was done with very stiff legs !
I am glad to say that muscle memory is in fact a thing , although I did experience mild bouts of dementia over the last 10 kilometres . Most people seem to use the “ rand per kilometre ” metric , but I am moving to a “ rand a minute ” cost plan . On this scale , I achieved fantastic value for money with my R300 entry fee costing slightly ( very slightly !) less than a rand a minute … which is much cheaper than MTN ’ s data charges !
I hope that Tzaneen can act as the catalyst for other race organisers , particularly those in small towns , to get road running back to pre-COVID levels . Personally , I am looking forward to getting myself back in decent shape with my standard marathon-a-week running diet – and a return to being able to run marathons faster than it takes to drive to Tzaneen .
Happy faces at the finish , from left to right : Rene Viljoen from the Warriors Academy , race organiser Tracey van den Dool , yours truly , Julian Karp and Tobie Reyneke .
Long , Lonely Road Home
The route starts with a 10-kilometre out-and-back along the R36 . Once back at the Merensky School , the remaining 32 kilometres are essentially a big loop around the Tzaneen Dam . Tracey had assured me that the route was relatively flat and nothing
The route is an out-and-back 10k followed by a big loop around the Tzaneen Dam . According to locals , it is “ relatively flat .”
About the Author
The Running Mann has run over 240 marathons and ultras , and his current mission is to run every marathon in South Africa . He recently fulfilled a lifetime goal of securing a shoe sponsorship from The Sweatshop Broadacres and Asics South Africa ( and a running kit sponsorship from Runderwear ), thus allowing him to run more races and share their stories . You can follow his adventures on Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and on his popular blog .
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