The cool , misty conditions at the start were ideal for fast times .
Just R90 for a “ was en blaas .”
With a fourth marathon in four weekends , my body felt like it was getting back into decent shape ( after my long lay-off due to injury for most of last year ), and I managed to overtake the 4h35 bus in the last few kilometres , which are a pleasant saunter through the suburbs . However , whilst the race organisers did not sneak in any last hills , they did manage to torment me by running us past several famous Afrikaans schools in the last kilometre .
For fear of getting shouted at by an Afrikaans teacher , I decided not to stop outside Grey College ( which has
Once the mist lifts , it ’ s all sunny skies and braaivleis on the streets of Bloem .
produced 46 Springbok rugby players , second only to the 54 of Paul Roos in Stellenbosch ), and ended the race with what was probably my fastest kilometre split of the race . ( I think that ingrained fear of teachers was kicking in again .)
SIGNING OUT
Ná my tweede marathon in Bloemfontein is ek selfversekerd genoeg om ’ n hele paragraaf in Afrikaans te skryf . ( Waar was ‘ Google translate ’ waneer ek by die skool was ?). As ek a bietjie meer marathons in Bloem hardloop , sal ek dalk selfs sielkundig sterk genoeg wees om met Meneer Bester of Mejuffrou Shaw ( sy is die een wat het die lessenaar gekopstamp ) in aanraking te kom , maar ek dink ek sal hartkloppings hê as ek sien hulle ondersteen langs die pad tydens ‘ n marathon .
And in the unlikely event that this did happen , I would impress my former teachers with another ‘ klop klop grap ’: Klop klop . Wie is daar ? Jason Jason wie ? Jason die moeilikheid as jy ‘ n marathon te vinnig begin !
I still think that running a marathon is a much more attractive and less painful proposition than sitting through a double Afrikaans lesson , but in celebration of my newfound embracing of Afrikaans culture , I might follow tonight ’ s beer with a ‘ kloppers and coke .’ In fact , I might even make it a double !
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 .
The 4h35 bus was in good spirits when I passed them near the finish .
Ek teken uit van die Kloppers Marathon !
Images : Stuart Mann
22 ISSUE 167 | www . modernathlete . co . za