Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 68, March 2015 | Page 5

Ma Editor’s letter

Legendary!

I

get to write a lot of interesting articles each month
and as I often write, I really enjoy what I do, but this
year I am taking particular pleasure in writing about
or featuring articles on the incredible runners who run as
Pacesetters for us in the Comrades Marathon (and other
events). Last month we featured long-time sub-9:00 bus
driver Johan van Tonder in the mag, and this month it is the
turn of the legendary Comrades sub-12:00 Pacesetter Vlam
Pieterse – you’ll find the article on page 12.

Images: Lauren van der Vyver

I first met Vlam a number of years ago when I tracked him
down in Hartbeespoortdam and invited him to get involved
in our official pacesetting programme at Comrades, since
we had heard so much about him from countless runners, all
singing his praises as their guardian angel, the guy with the
incredible sense of humour and even more incredible pacing
sense who got them home in time to qualify for that coveted
medal. He had already been running as an unofficial pacer
for a number of years, and we knew he was just the man we
were looking for – and hundreds if not thousands of runners
can attest to that!
I can recall standing on the finish line of the Comrades,
watching on the stadium big screen, as Vlam and his fellow
drivers entered the stadium with probably a thousand
runners tightly packed in a bus right behind them, all
singing and waving their hands as they filled the entire
final grass section of the finish. It was there that I coined
the phrase “Goosebumps the size of golfballs,” and it is
something that I will never, ever forget.
What I have always loved about the Pacesetters I have
worked with over the years is that they are all volunteers
who want to give back to their fellow runners and to the

sport, with no expectation or desire for compensation,
and normally they sacrifice their own race to help others
by running much slower than they are actually capable of
going, in order to shepherd their bus passengers home. And
they do it with patience, humour, a giving attitude and a cando spirit. Nothing is too much for these guys and girls, and
their greatest satisfaction is bringing that bus home on time
and sharing the moment