C o l u m n
THE RUNNING MANN
Mid Golf … where average golfers go to lose their balls .
THINKING LIKE A GEN Z
The end of this section includes some zigzagging around the Middelburg Golf Course , to make up distance . Now , having teenage daughters , I am up to date on most of the latest lingo . I recently saw someone asking on Twitter ( X ) whether anyone had ever heard Oxford ’ s 2023 word of the year , ‘ rizz ,’ used in real life . I have heard it plenty of times – it ’ s short for ‘ charisma ’ – and whilst my daughters have never used ‘ rizz ’ in a complimentary sense for my personality , my ‘ rizz ’ is to use their slang out of context , as often as possible , e . g . when I am enjoying a meal , I can say , “ This supper is full of rizz !”
Another word in the colloquial vernacular of the Gen Z teenager is ‘ mid ,’ which means average . For example , if someone asks me how I am enjoying my meal , and it is not that tasty , I can say , “ It ’ s mid .” Since Middelburg Golf Club ’ s website is ‘ www . midgolf . co . za ’, I wondered whether this is where average golfers go to lose their balls .
And there was some more good news … There are some beautiful avenues of trees in Middelburg , and with the late morning sun beating down over the final few kilometres , I was glad that the organisers had decided to take us home through the shady part of town before finishing back at the high school grounds .
The shady part of town was most welcome .
This part of the world is coal country , but the with continual loadshedding , the grids were quiet . According to our politicians , perpetual power outages are “ not the end of the world ,” so I guess we ’ ll just have to ‘ grid ’ and bear it . Whilst the grids may have been voltless , the good news for MMC marathoners was that there was plenty of opportunity to recharge one ’ s batteries at the support tables . They all gave enthusiastic support and every table had a good selection of food and drink . Plenty of time to recharge
at the support tables .
Gridlock in Middelburg ?
Branding issues in Middelburg !
TIME TO MANN UP
It has taken me a while to knock off this final January marathon and it provided a pleasant escape from the mass participation events in Gauteng held over the same weekend . I noted that there were a few other ‘ city slickers ’ who had also chosen the road less travelled . I enjoyed my run but my only concern with this race is that after finishing , I realised that I might have some branding issues in Middelburg . Mr Venter can have his centre , but it looks like I have some competition for being your Mann in the Middelburg .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Running Mann has run over 250 marathons and ultras around the world , and his mission is to run every marathon in South Africa , while his dream is to get a sponsorship from a beer company , so he can toast all his marathon finishes in style . If you ’ d like him to run your race , or talk at your event or club , email therunningmann @ gmail . com . You can follow all his adventures on his popular Running Mann blog .
Images : Stuart Mann
46 ISSUE 166 | www . modernathlete . co . za
The Running Mann finally got to explore the roads of Middelburg .