Perhaps it is the psychological scarring I endured on the top floor of Rondebosch Boys High – I think they put the Afrikaans bloc there so that the other classes would not be disturbed by the screams – that has resulted in a subliminal avoidance of Bloemfontein marathons . To date I have just one to my credit in the City of Roses , the OFM Music Marathon ( which has not taken place since COVID ). Therefore , I decided to face my fears and take my running shoes into the domain where Englishmen fear to tread , by entering the Kloppers Marathon .

Incidentally , just in case anyone thinks that Kloppers is Bloemfontein ’ s answer to Hooters , the race is titled after a local family-owned department store which was founded in 1967 and has sponsored the race since its inception 33 editions ago .

That said , shortly after starting the race , I did notice that brand names in Bloem are different to those in the rest of the country . A striking example is that in Sandton we have “ Turn and Tender ,” whereas in Bloemfontein they have the “ Carcass and Cleaver .” I guess you need to know your target market .

All set for a 5:30am start .

buildings over the first 3km loop around the CBD , which include the First Raadsaal Museum , National Afrikaans Literary Museum , the Supreme Court of Appeal ( Bloemfontein being the judicial capital of South Africa ) and the Bloemfontein City Hall .

I did however manage to play a bit of ‘ red light , green light ’ after spotting a random tank at the turn-off to the Tempe army base . Sandor Lajos Varga did a bit of research and reported back that this is a Russian built T-34 / 85 that was captured by the South African Defence Force during the Angolan border war in the early 1980s . With the way the war in Ukraine is going , and our cozy relationship with Russian dictators , the Russians may well be asking for it back soon !

After spotting a random tank at the side of the road , I waited for the traffic lights to change … in case the organisers were playing “ Red Light , Green Light .”

In Sandton we have “ Turn and Tender ,” in Bloemfontein they have “ Carcass and Cleaver .”

The misty conditions meant that we missed the visual impact of the historic buildings during the first 3km loop around the CBD .

Speaking of getting cozy , the couple below were making the most of the cool conditions under the blanket of mist , and I envied their comfort , coffee and confectionary . I have now redefined my life goals to include buying a retirement home on a marathon route , so that my wife and I can watch the runners go by whilst sipping coffee ( and perhaps beer , if it ’ s towards the end of an ultra ). I was just glad there wasn ’ t a third chair , or I would probably still be there !

I only realised after this marathon ( thanks to Google translate ) that Klop means “ knock .” By deduction , this would mean that Kloppers translates to ‘ knockers ,’ and had I known that before running , I would have focussed on an entirely different aspect of the race … but we ’ ll have to make do with the pictures I took .

RUNNERS IN THE MIST

Misty conditions greeted the 350 marathon runners on race morning , and this would last for most of the first half of the race , which provided excellent conditions for running . The route is also very flat with just 299m total elevation gain over the single lap route making it an ideal PB course . The only downside with the mist was that we missed full visual impact of the historic

However , it ’ s probably a good thing that I didn ’ t sit down , since local runner Gareth Hinrichsen mentioned after the race that the comfortable couple were in fact his former school teachers . I took the opportunity to ask him , “ Were they strict ?” Or is that a rhetorical question for Afrikaans school teachers ?” It turns out , the wife was his Sub-B teacher , and he only has fond memories of her class , whilst the husband was “ a very passionate rugby coach and only time I remember him as being strict was next to the field , or drilling us in practice .” However , Gareth was probably a lot better behaved than I was at school , so it ’ s probably not a fair comparison to my experience of Afrikaans teachers .

Images : Stuart Mann