Life goals : Buy a retirement home on a marathon route and watch the runners go by whilst sipping coffee .
Q : What language do Afrikaans doctors speak ? A : Hospi-taal
SPEAKING OF SPEEDSTERS
All the race distances at the Kloppers event – there are also half marathon , 10km and 5km options – start in the appropriately named Zola Budd Way , just outside the Bloemfontein Achilles clubhouse . There is a staggered start , with the marathon runners setting off at 5:30am and the half marathoners starting their chase 15 minutes later . This meant that it wasn ’ t long before the speedsters started blasting past us “ value for money ” runners .
I was taking care not to get violently rear ended in The cool , misty morning conditions and flat the mist when there was a sudden screech of braking route make the Kloppers Marathon an ideal takkies . It turned out to be Paralympian Louzanne
PB route . Coetzee and her guide Claus Kempen , who ’ d slammed on their brakes for a quick chat . It ’ s always nice to meet people on the road that you ’ ve only read about – check out these Modern Athlete articles from January 2018 and November 2019 .
Born blind , Louzanne competes in the T11 class , represented South Africa at the last two Paralympics , and has several World Records to her credit . She and Claus will be heading to Paris later this year , and hopefully Louzanne will be adding a gold medal to the silver and bronze she ’ s previously collected at the Paralympics .
HUMOROUS INTENTIONS
When I travel around the country ( or world ) to run marathons , I try to immerse myself in the local culture . I am therefore pleased to say that after 17 hours in Bloem , I returned home at least 15 % more Afrikaans than when I left . ( Admittedly , I am coming off a low base .) Ironically , the sign below was the only English I saw during my stay – and it inspired my first ever “ pa grap .”
Paralympian Louzanne Coetzee and her guide Claus Kempen slowed for a quick chat during their half marathon .
In fact , even several weeks after the lactic acid from Kloppers had long left my legs , I still had an elevated level of Afrikaans skill . I was going to ask the internet for a good “ klop klop ” ( knock knock ) joke , as this seemed obligatory for the Kloppers Marathon , but I actually managed to come up with my own one . Disclaimer : It ’ s is a bit rude , very dated , and not everyone finds it in good taste , but here goes anyway :
Klop klop . Wie is daar ? Vakansie Vakansie wie ? Vakansie Cronje and all the other match fixers .
Whilst English in Bloemfontein is as rare as the steaks in “ Carcass & Cleaver ,” I did also manage to spot a veritable needle in a haystack ( or should that be a contact lens in a bathtub ) with a Greek road name towards the end of the race … at which point I was looking hard for reasons to stop running and take a quick photo break !
BLOEM CULTURE
When the sun comes out in Bloemfontein , it doesn ’ t mess around , and the second half of the race was a lot hotter than the first . Of course , along with the first ray of sunshine , out come the braais , and I told the gentleman in the photo below that I was concerned that the braai was way too small for a big guy like him . He assured me that “’ n Boer maak ‘ n plan ” ( and I then saw that he already had a first batch of boerewors ready for consumption in the tray alongside ).
With an entry fee of just R250 , marathon running is good value for money in the Free State , but you can really score if you combine your run with a haircut . Even with my rapidly diminishing ‘ thread count ,’ I was tempted to try a ‘ was and blaas ’ for R90 before driving home .
This sign inspired my first ever “ pa grap .”
Eureka ! I found a Greek sign , which warranted a quick photo break .
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