There was water everywhere … except where it counted
Mixed Emotions
The bad omens continued when I arrived on a dark and stormy Durban evening and realised that there was no record of the rental car that I thought I ’ d booked . A long and expensive Uber ride later ( but kudos to my driver , who got me to Kloof in one piece despite the torrid conditions ), I arrived at the residence of Campbell the Great .* He had offered me his favourite son ’ s room for the night , which for the cost of a couple of Easter eggs was much better value than the hotels I ’ d found within walking distance of the start . (* The origins of the title , and the derivations thereof , can be found in my report of the 2018 Umgeni Water Marathon .)
The rain continued unabated overnight , and on the drive to the start , but the weather gods eventually turned the taps off for the start of the race . Having had a late start at the Best of the Best Marathon in February due to traffic issues , the good thing about hanging with the locals is access to local knowledge – in this case in the form of back routes to open parking bays and the location of a “ secret toilet .”
A 5:30am start with the impressive Moses Madhida Stadium as backdrop
Running Dry
Having run past the lagoon , Umgeni River estuary and Indian Ocean , in between constantly dodging large puddles , there was water everywhere … except where it counted . Each water table we passed looked like it had been looted and not restocked after the July riots . Actually , that ’ s a lie – to be looted , you actually have to have stock to loot , but these water tables looked as empty as the Manchester United trophy cabinet !
As we progressed through the first lap , it became increasingly clear that it was unlikely that we ’ d get water at any of the tables . Cape Town is very big on the # CarryYourOwn movement to reduce plastic use , and I joked with some Chatsworth runners that no-one told me about Durban ’ s version , # CarryYourOwnStraw , so that you can suck up some delicious puddle water ! ( I received reports of runners actually filling up their bottles with puddle water .)
Other than the chatty Chatsworth runners , everyone else was surprisingly quiet . Apparently , this race has a perennial water problem , so I guess it ’ s a case of fool me once , shame on you ; fool me twice , shame on me ; fool me thrice and go full on Trappist monk and run a marathon in complete silence without water ! There were a few other out-of-town runners and most of the other in-race conversation I had was with them . All of those I chatted with had come down a week early for a family Easter holiday and were making a down-payment on their Easter eggs with a marathon . However , with zero chance to consume any calories during the race , they were probably making a much bigger down-payment than they originally planned .
They take their rules and regulations seriously at the Durban City Marathon , with no ‘ feeding the running wildlife ’
With 1500 half and 1300 full marathoners , there was a good buzz at the start , and we set off at 5:30am in the dark to the backdrop of the impressive Moses Madhida Stadium . The first few kilometres were run in darkness as we headed north towards the Umgeni River , before looping around and heading back south along the promenade .
Running along the promenade towards the lights of downtown Durban was enjoyable , and there was no chance of overheating as sporadic bouts of drizzle showered down . You can usually expect a spectacular ocean sunrise at Durban races , but as the morning progressed , the heavy cloud cover meant that all we got was 50 shades of grey – and if your safe word during a marathon is “ water ” you were out of luck .
Finally Found a Drink
I did run into a bit of luck at the 19k mark . The early bird may get the worm , but the slower runner gets some water at the Durban City Marathon ! As I was going through the Illovo table towards the end of the first lap , a Coca-Cola truck pulled up and a few crates of water were offloaded . I gratefully slugged down
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