Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 76, November 2015 | Page 22

Ma

LIVING LEGEND

Finishing Comrades
2014 with his
daughters

LONG RUN

A water break done in Wietse Run

Specialist

He has 38 consecutive Comrades finishes to his name as well as 29 Two Oceans
medals, making him one of the most ‘decorated’ ultra runners in South Africa, and he is
also a former SA 50km Race Walking Champion, but Wietsche van der Westhuizen
prefers to be known for his popular long training runs on Saturday mornings and for
helping other runners achieve their endurance goals. – BY SEAN FALCONER

M

ost Friday afternoons you’ll find
Wiets (58) taking about three hours
off work at his security installation
business in the northern suburbs of
Cape Town to drive around fetching water,
Coke and ice for the next ‘Wietse Run’ 28km
training run. Then on Saturday mornings
he’s up at 4am to get everything ready for
the 5:30am start from Willowbridge Mall in
Tyger Valley, where he is normally joined by
around 200 runners, and up to 360 in peak
ultra season. The runners pay a voluntary R20
fee and can choose to do 6, 12, 20 or 28km,
there are three water tables and six cars to

support the runners, various businesses in
the mall support the runners with products,
and once a month there are even valuable
lucky draw prizes worth up to R5000. It’s an
incredible operation, which Wiets has been
running for close on a decade now.
“18 years ago we moved down to Cape Town
and I joined a group of guys from Bellville
Athletic Club doing a 28km training run along
the Big Mama route most Saturdays. They
used to put Coke and water out on the road,
hidden in the grass, and we did that for about
10 years,” says Wiets. “Then four of the main
guys stopped running and I decided to take

over. We made the seconding more formal,
with a car driving on the route to give us
drinks, usually driven by my wife Wilna – she’s
not a runner, but I can wake her up at 4am
and she’ll put on her tracksuit and be there
for me. What an incredible woman! Today we
have six cars, and the whole shopping centre is
involved, especially Dis-Chem and Pick n Pay.”
Doing this most Saturday mornings is quite
some undertaking, but Wiets says it is all
about giving back to his fellow athletes. “A
few years ago I realised there were
a lot of people battling to get
under five hours for the
marathon to qualify for
Oceans and Comrades, so I
helped them, and over the
years I have promised so many
guys to help them train for and
run the Comrades… that’s what
keeps me coming back, training
all these youngsters and getting
guys off the couch and running.
But what they don’t realise is
that they are actually helping me:
You won’t find me even doing a
5km run on my own, but I usually
have at least 20 youngsters running
with me in the week, and then
200-plus on the weekend.
That’s why I organise
these long runs… people
think I am helping them,
but they are actually helping me!”
he laughs

BUG BIT IN BEAUFORT

Pacesetting at the Vital Winelands
Marathon with Hilton Murray

22

ISSUE 76 NOVEMBER 2015 / www.modernathlete.co.za

Wiets grew up in Beaufort West,
where his father worked on the
railways, and one family friend from
Cape Town that visited quite often
was a good runner and race walker.
“When I was in standard four, he said
I should come join him on a run – I
didn’t realise he wanted to run about
15 to 20 kays, out of town to the
airfield and back!” However, the bug
bit and Wiets began doing athletics,
cross-country and race walking at
school. His father was transferred
to Johannesburg two years later,
and Wiets went on to study teaching