THE RUNNING MANN
C o l u m n
The route profile is pancake-flat – the only hills are the sporadic railway line crossings . However , I was slightly perturbed to see several “ High Risk Area ” signs , usually followed shortly afterward by a railway crossing , so I am not sure whether this was to warn us about the traffic ( which was calm and sedate , with most of the student population probably sleeping off their Friday night revelry ), or to notify us of the ‘ hill ’ that followed shortly thereafter . Potchefstroom is a sporting hub , so perhaps the warning was for English rugby players who like to make mountains out of molehills . ( Remember , this was the talk of the town during the Rugby World Cup .)
Apart from the fantastic sporting facilities within the town , Potchefstroom has also been a fortuitous base camp for aspirant World Cup winners . The victorious Australian team used the town as their base during the 2003 Cricket World Cup , and Spain earned their first ever World Cup Soccer trophy from Potch in 2010 . However , Potchefstroom has a rich marathon running history , too , that very few people know about . Ken McArthur emigrated to South Africa from Ireland in 1901 at the age of 20 . He ended up in Potchefstroom , and this was where he started taking athletics seriously . He ran his first marathon in 1908 and ended up winning the gold medal for South Africa in the marathon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm , Sweden .
Military Precision
The ‘ toughest ’ part of the LetsGo Potch route is the incursion into the military base . Here there is an incredibly gentle 4km pull as you recce round the army base . The climb from the lowest point ( 1345m ) to the highest point ( 1380m ) of the route would be almost imperceptible on a normal route profile , but in Potchefstroom it looks like a mountain range !
The only hills ( and apparent dangers ) are the sporadic railway line crossings
Whilst the inside of the army base was unspectacular ( and looked like it could use a fresh coat of paint ), the entrance provided some confusion . Instead of “ Keep out ” or “ Restricted ” notices , there were several eye-catching bright yellow and red ‘ motivational ’ signs whose meaning was rather cryptic . This ‘ casual observer ’ was most perturbed by the “ Kill the casual army ” message , but I reckoned that since we ’ d already lost the war on drugs , the war on corruption , and the war on poverty , I was probably safe . The sign attributes the motivational mantra to a Lieutenant Colonel L . Yam , who I assume is a bit of a neat freak , and based on the pictures I found on Google , does in fact look like a bit of a sweet potato .
The Meyerton Four enter the army base with military precision
Sidenote : Whilst the T-shirt manufacturers quickly capitalised on ‘ Kantgate ,’ I think that restaurants missed an opportunity to create a new side dish ( or ‘ kant kos ’) called a “ Tom Curry ”. This would be a rancid but otherwise insipid and flavourless concoction served in a mug that leaves a bad taste in the mouth and results in tempestuous stomach eruptions shortly after consumption . I would call it “ Storm in a teacup .” On a slightly more serious note , one has to wonder whether we ’ ve progressed or regressed as a society when a white Englishman from an elite public ( what we call private ) school background can label a black South African a racist without substantiation . The legendary British stiff upper lip appears to have gone completely flaccid . But now , let ’ s go back to Potch
Letsgo Potch Marathon route map and profile
Sidenote : Whilst the battle stats for the war on the casual army are currently unavailable ( so , dare I say , I have no idea who or what the ‘ casualties ’ are ), the stats from the Letsgo Potch Marathon read : Starters – 132 ; Finishers – 118 ; Casualties – 14 . This is a great growth from the inaugural run , which had 41 marathon finishers . There were just under 1000 entrants across all distances this year , and the organisers are hoping to grow this into a 5000-entrant event in future years .
A short while later there was signage to the mysterious “ School of Intelligence .” I am not sure if they ’ ve had any graduates , as a Google search for “ School of Intelligence Potchefstroom alumni ” produced zero results . I guess that ’ s a case of both shooting blanks and drawing blanks . Meanwhile , I would suggest that the best intelligence to apply when it comes to armies and fragile male egos is , “ Just stop fighting with each other .”
Potchefstroom is an educational city , and even has a School of Intelligence !
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