THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
Sean Falconer
THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
A Momentous Month
In the several weeks since I wrote my last Ed ’ s Letter , two standout events happened in south Africa . ( At least , in my opinion .) The first was the General Election on 29 May , where we stood in the queue to make our mark and have our say in the direction we ’ d like to see our country going . I ’ m sure that all of us , no matter which way our political ideology leans , would like to see the country go up rather than down , and thus we hope that the government of national unity being formed at the time of writing will bring about positive change and development for the country .
The second big event was the Comrades Marathon on 9 June , which was an Up Run for the first time since 2019 . It was another incredible day of running endeavour , drama , heroics , triumph and heartbreak , and we saw Gerda Steyn rewrite the record books yet again as she claimed her third Comrades win , with a third record time as well , while Dutchman Piet Wiersma turned his narrow second place in 2023 into a glorious win in 2024 .
Once again , the Comrades captured the attention of a huge audience across the country and featured prominently in the news headlines of all media platforms .
René Kalmer
Ryan Sandes
Granted , a running event will never be on the same level as a national election in terms of importance and relevance to all citizens of the country , but there is no denying that the Comrades is one of the most watched or followed sporting events on the South African calendar . Even people with zero interest in running tune in to watch the broadcast ( or catch the highlights ) in order to see the drama of the race unfold , and to see the mad rush for the finish line just before the final 12-hour cut-off gun .
Statistically , the two events can hardly be compared to each other . The election saw just over 16 million South Africans make their mark , which is approximately 26 % of the country ’ s total population , while the Comrades field was much , much smaller – only around 0.003 % of the country ’ s population – and yet the race is such a massive part of our country ’ s sporting culture . This is partly due to the long history of the event , and the fact that it is televised live for 12 hours each year , but also because many , many South Africans know somebody who is running Comrades , as the race attracts entrants from every corner and every community of the country . Like general elections , the Comrades is a national institution !
Chatting to the Stars
In the last few weeks , I ’ ve done a few interviews for the mag , including two from a Comrades perspective . The first is with multipls SA Champion , three-time Olympian and former Modern Athlete brand ambassador René Kalmer , who ran her first Comrades this year . I ’ ve known René Kalmer for many years , and I have always enjoyed chatting to or interviewing her . She has a great sense of humour , to go with her incredible running record , and I laughed my head off during our chat as she described her dark patch around the 70km mark of the Comrades , when she was convinced she had forgotten her pants in a portaloo , and kept checking to make sure she was in fact wearing pants !
The second Comrades interview was with Gerda , but you ’ ll have to wait till the next edition of the mag to read it , as we could only grab a sit-down with her the day before I wrote this Ed ’ s Letter . No surprise that Gerda is in great demand for interviews at the moment , given her incredible Comrades run this year , on top of the other wins and records she has already posted this year , on top of previous years , on top of the fact that she is off the Olympics in late July . But as I say , you ’ ll have to wait another few weeks for that one .
Meanwhile , I also managed to get hold of trail running superstar Ryan Sandes for a chat for this edition , and for me , the standout thing about that chat was him talking about the big differences between the trail running circuit of today compared to when he first burst onto the scene in 2008 . It ’ s another fascinating read , and I think you ’ ll be quite surprised by his answer to the question , which is his standout race , run , record or FKT ? It ’ s really not what you would have expected .
Righto , tuck into the mag , top up on inspiration , and then lace up those running shoes and get those feet moving !
Sean Falconer
Image : Chris Hitchcock , Marathon Photos & courtesy UTCT
4 ISSUE 169 | www . modernathlete . co . za