C o l u m n
THE RUNNING MANN
Enjoying the Mthatha Sights
Although you are running on a national road , the scenery is picturesque , with green valleys melting into distant mountain ranges . The landscape is broken by sporadic villages , with the characteristic rondavels dominating the architecture . The traffic is not bad on a Sunday morning , and there are plenty of traffic vehicles ‘ playing defence ’ for the runners . There was even a car that drove behind the sub-4:50 Comrades qualification bus almost the whole way . However , the traffic does get noticeably heavier as one enters Mthatha again .
The race is sponsored by one of the local businesses , Tyeks Security , and apparently so many other local businesses were lining up to help out on race day , that we ran with luxury of having water tables every two kilometres along the route , and over the last few kilometres they were spaced a kilometre apart . This suited me perfectly , since I was running table to table , and while I didn ’ t need much water with the cool weather , I did enjoy the frequent walk breaks .
The tables started with just the basic water sachets for the first 10km , then added Coke and Powerade , and by the end many were offering a large selection of fruit and other foods , like potatoes and sweets . However , one particular table caught my eye , that of Titi Funerals . Their slogan is “ Striving to render the best ,” but I wondered if there was a typo and “ best ” should have been “ breast ”. ( Sidenote : If this is the case , some alternate slogans would be , “ When you want to leave this world with a smile on your face .” and “ Putting the FUNbags back into FUNerals .”)
Fortunately , the Comrades qualification bus was just behind me , and not wanting to leap to Tom Curry-like conclusions with my Anglo-Saxon heritage , I decided to slow down and gain some local knowledge . I was told that Titi is a popular surname , but in isiXhosa , a ‘ titi ’ is also a baby ’ s bottle ( and was actually derived from the English word , with the same phonetics ). On that basis , it might be advisable to avoid potential future international incidents by informing the English rugby team that if a Springbok says , “ Suck on my titi ,” it might not mean what they think it means !
I had chatted to the 4:50 bus driver , Papic , earlier in the race , shortly after we crossed the Qunu River . He was holding a bamboo flagstick to advertise the details of his bus . I had taken the opportunity to visit the Nelson Mandela Museum before the race , and learnt that Madiba ’ s birth name , Rolihlahla , means “ pulling the branch of a tree .” The bus drivers held bamboo flagsticks as they pulled their passengers along … so perhaps we should call our stick-wielding pacesetters “ Rolihlahlas ” from now on . ( Sidenote : I highly recommended you spend a couple of hours in the museum if you visit Mthatha . It ’ s really well done and inspirational .)
The Sub-4:50 Comrades Bus … which I think we should rename a “ Rolihlahla ” from now on
The Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha is well worth a visit ( and entrance is free )
Hanging with the Cheetahs
I had also cashed in on my Vitality benefits for discounted accommodation close to the finish , at a place called Cycad Stay . As luck would have it , the proprietor is a Cheetahs AC club member , which meant there was no problem getting a late checkout so that I could shower and relax before my flight home . ( Sidenote : I would highly recommend this accommodation for those visiting in future ). Cheetahs is the largest running club in the area , and with all their members on race-day support duty , they did well to get 192 marathon , 270 half and 168 10km runners in just their second year of organising this event .
Images : Stuart Mann , Dean Venish
Green valleys and rondavels dominate the landscape
26 ISSUE 165 | www . modernathlete . co . za