ROAD RUNNING
Painting the Mother City Red
Painting the Mother City Absa red
The Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K is a true celebration of our Mother City ’ s culture and love for running . This year was my first time running the race , and let me tell you , I ’ m officially hooked . Here ’ s why I am planning to add this event to my race calendar every year from now on . – BY NICOLE HAYES
The author , Nicole Hayes , ready to run
In a previous lifetime , I was an international competitive ice-skater for over a decade , and setting my alarm for 3:30am most days of the week to be on the ice by 5am was normal … but having my alarm go off at 4:30am on a Sunday morning before a race is still followed by the debate between the “ I ’ d rather stay in bed ” thoughts and the “ but it will be worth it ” thoughts . Thankfully , on 15 May “ it will be worth it ” side won , and I was up and dressed , flask of coffee in hand , ready for the 30-minute drive into the city for the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K .
Founded in 2015 ( originally as a 12K ), this race has arguably become one of the “ must do ” events on Cape Town running calendar , so when the opportunity presented itself for me to run the race this year , I jumped at it . To think that this time two years ago , we were in level 5 ‘ hard lockdown ’ and confined to our homes , and with limited options for exercise , many of us took to our balconies or gardens for crazy looped runs … and let ’ s be honest , running in small circles is no fun at all !
One thing many of us really missed during the pandemic was social gatherings , and for us runners that meant not being able to attend events with our fellow runners , sharing the road or trail , and celebrating our mutual love for running . Ove the years , I ’ ve shared many a race with fellow runners and it ’ s usually on a steep uphill , or during a heavy downpour of rain , when the conversation turns to the age-old question : “ Why do we do this ?” But then we summit the climb or reach the finish line , high-five each other , and immediately sign up for the next one .
This phenomenon got me thinking … Perhaps the question of why we enter these races is far deeper than one thinks . Consider the Xhosa word , eyeyabantu , which means “ belonging ,” or “ for the
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