The sun ’ s got your back during the Seshego Marathon
Since we were heading west , the rising sun ‘ had our backs ’ when it eventually rose an hour after the start at 6:30am . I can empathise with Polokwane and do not begrudge her late sunrises , because just like me , this city needs all the beauty sleep it can get . I do enjoy running in Polokwane , but it ’ s not a city that is going to win any prizes for prettiness .
With not much to focus on in the aesthetics department , I turned my attention ( and camera ) to the road signs , which proved to be more interesting than the surrounding scenery . Limpopo drivers are amongst the most reckless in the world , so seeing a “ High Accident Zone ” sign was no surprise . However , one shouldn ’ t take everything at face value in Limpopo , and there ’ s a good chance that this is a caution that it ’ s the smokers rather than the drunks that you ’ ve got to worry about on the R71 . Adding credence to this theory was that over the next rise we went from a crisp , crystal-clear morning into thick smog .
What better way to spend Worker ’ s Day than with an undulating 50km ?
After 22 kilometres heading dead west along the R71 , I was surprised to veer left onto the N1 freeway . This was a novel experience , as I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever run on the N1 before . ( Sidenote : You get to run on the N2 during the Die Vlakte Marathon , and on the N3 during Comrades .) I quite enjoyed having the wide expanse of the freeway to ourselves for nine kilometres . Unfortunately , the traffic police who were supposed to close off the last off-ramp apparently abandoned their posts , so the final three kilometres along the N1 were a little hairy , with cars flying by at 120km / h .
The drive from Johannesburg to Polokwane is an easy but expensive threehour trip , with frequent toll booths steadily emptying your wallet . Freeways are expensive , and the size of the tolls increases in proportion to the size of your chassis . I wondered how far south the route would take us on the N1 , but fortunately we turned off before the Nyl Plaza , or the sub-halala ‘ bus ’ would have been out a few hundred bucks !
Enjoying a ( mostly ) traffic-free trip along the N1
Country Roads …
Overall , the route is relatively flat , with a total altitude gain of just 374m . However , there is one long , slow-poison pull from 13 kilometres until just after the half marathon mark . This never-ending climb was a little soul-destroying in the mist , but if the sign prohibiting roadside mechanical work is anything to go by , you ’ d better not breakdown along this section of road . I was not sure whether bio-mechanical work is also prohibited , but I didn ’ t stop for a stretch and a quick planking session to find out .
With the road closure , there was no regular traffic on our side of the road , but the menacing sound of a prowling ambulance was never far away . Meat wagons often hover like vultures waiting for a weary runner to collapse , but in Polokwane they ’ re emblazoned with pictures of lions , and they appear to hunt in prides as they stalk the field , looking for the weakest of the herd !
Beware of prides of meat wagons hunting down the weakest of the herd
Luckily for the Sub- Halala Bus , we turned off before the Nyl Plaza
A Familiar Face
I had spotted the long bouncy locks of Julian Karp in the distance as we ran along the N1 . It took me a long time , but I finally managed to ‘ reel the Karp in ’ as we left the freeway and returned to the urban jungle . With a fairly small field of just over 300 runners , the second half of an ultra can be lonely , so I was glad to shoot the breeze with Julian over a good few kilometres . Julian is one of the most recognised sights and friendliest voices on South Africa ’ s roads – and if you want to improve your commuting options and conserve fuel during an ultra , I can recommend some ‘ Karpooling kilometres .’
29