Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 164 December 2023 | Seite 53

THE RUNNING MANN
C o l u m n
The Team Vitality trolley was crammed full of HealthyFood items
Speaking of Illovo , the company has sponsored the race for the last 30 years , and the Illovo team only narrowly lost out on the Best Table award this year . Illovo also fed the 2500 runners pancakes after the race … which is ironic , as the route profile is the complete opposite of ‘ as flat as pancake !’ You run up and down every hill in Westville except Cowies , which results in a total elevation gain of 333m over the 15km . To put this in perspective , this extrapolates to a marathon with an elevation gain of 940m , which would make it 1.5 times tougher than the Soweto Marathon !
BDE Attorneys held court as the top table of the day . For the prosecution , Illovo did their best to regain custody of the Best Table trophy . However , a combination of good décor , cuteness and naughtiness swayed the jury , with the verdict ruling in favour of BDE ’ s title defence – selected evidence is included in the photographs below left .
Other Things I noticed
The race is full of the Christmas spirit … and spirits . For those running without a club coolerbox , marshal Maxinne Moses was offering ‘ coffee with additives ’ along the way . It was your choice whether to fuel the rest of your race with tequila or Amarula . ( Sidenote : With this kind of support from the marshals and support tables , perhaps the most important race prep is ensuring that you line your stomach properly . Fortunately there was complimentary coffee – just regular coffee , thankfully – and Chelsea buns on offer before the start , which seemed to do the job .)
Some Vitality runners did their best to get on Discovery ’ s naughty list
Meanwhile , Illovo may have provided the honey , but The Cows ‘ brought the milkshake to the yard ’ with some enthusiastic udder shaking and marshalling ( or should that be mooshalling ?) along the route . In case you ’ re not familiar with them , the Cows participate in a variety of endurance events to raise money for CHOC ( The Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa ).
The Illovo refreshment table around the halfway mark was another that offered shooters . Here , I observed another Vitality member who would have made the Discovery Insure team proud with his safety technique . First of all , he was running well below the speed limit , and therefore did not lose any points for harsh braking . Furthermore , his smooth and cautious deceleration ensured that he could pick up his shot glass with practised ease , minimising the risk of spillage . He then checked his blind spot before safely consuming the Jägermeister !
Marshal Maxinne Moses keeps the Christmas spirits flowing
Shots fired at the BDE Attorneys ‘ water table ’
The CHOC Cows were mooshalling much of the route
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