MANN the running mann by STUART MANN
With Two Oceans having moved away from its traditional Easter timeslot , a vacuum appeared on the marathon running calendar last year . Fortunately , this year two races stepped in to ensure that the Easter weekend is not ‘ all eggs and no legs .’ You could either run the 50km City to City ( back after a long absence ) in Gauteng on Easter Sunday , or the inaugural Festival of Running ( FoR ) Marathon in Gqeberha on Good Friday ( or if you are my good friend , Julian Karp , you could run both ).
I decided to turn Good Friday into a great Friday with a trip to the Eastern Cape . I was particularly interested in the FoR Marathon , as it was billed as the first 100 % plastic-free marathon in South Africa , and also had the novelty of an afternoon start . This allowed for a same day marathon sandwich with an 8am flight out of Joburg and an 8pm flight back home . ( Sidenote : The only other non-morning marathon in South Africa is the Ottosdal Nite Marathon .)
THE RUNNING
MANN the running mann by STUART MANN
Earning Your Easter Eggs
I ’ m a bit behind with writing up the race reports of some of my 2024 races – I ’ ve been rather busy writing investigative exposés about certain races in recent months – but here ’ s one from Easter Weekend , when I ran the new Festival of Running Marathon in Gqeberha , and put my 21st birthday present to some use . Marathon # 262 / Unique Marathon # 158 / 31 March 2024
He couldn ’ t choose between the Festival of Running or City to City Marathon , so Julian Karp ( right ) ran both
I originally thought that I would be flying solo , as Julian sent me a “ Pity to miss this , but the flights are too expensive ” message . A few days later , he sent me , “ I am getting FOMO on the Friday marathon – please forward your flight details and I will see what I can do .” This communication saga was concluded shortly thereafter with , “ I ’ ve booked my flights . You are a bad influence on me , Mr Mann .”
Bridget from Old Eds was also added to the touring party , as she was looking for a marathon to qualify for Comrades . Bridget is a good example of why you need to read the fine print before tagging along with any of Julian ’ s plans . The FoR Marathon is undoubtably one of the hilliest , nastiest , most brutal marathons out there . It ’ s a lovely marathon , but anyone trying to use it as a qualifier is insane . But we ’ ll get to the course profile later .
Very Rustic Setting
The start is about a 30-minute drive from the airport , and we arrived in good time to be amongst the first to register , under the shade of a tree at a municipal picnic spot . There was plenty of time for a late breakfast / early lunch at a quaint coffee shop across the road , as well as some photo ops with the local drinking brigade , who were very excited to photobomb our pre-race photo . ( They were also more than happy to share their Old Brown Sherry , but I declined their kind offer .)
I am normally a ‘ just in time ’ to the start line runner , but the 1pm start allowed the luxury of leisurely race preparation . If you were looking to ‘ lose weight while you wait ,’ or just wanted a quiet spot to sit and reflect on the marathon ahead , you could spend a few minutes in one of the ‘ mobile saunas .’ A session inside one of these plastic throne rooms in the heat of the midday sun is a special experience … although I ’ d recommend getting the job done before anyone else has a chance to work up a sweat ! With the race being completely plastic-free ( other than those prerace saunas ), instead of the traditional tape , some sand from the side of the road was repurposed for a start line . Luckily it was a still day in the Windy City , or we might have had trouble finding the start !
32 ISSUE 171 | www . modernathlete . co . za
The new race is hilly , but scenic !