In fact , the rapid success of the Gauteng Pacesetters has led to similar pacesetter organisations being established in other provinces , with Mindlo Mdhluli from KwaZulu-Natal running with Buks in Gauteng races before taking the concept back to his province , and three guys from the Eastern Province contacting Buks for advice on getting things started there as well . “ It ’ s difficult for me to travel to other areas all the time , but thanks to the new guys coming on board , we can now deliver buses all over the country , across all the timelines ,” says Buks . “ We do realise we are human and can get it wrong some times , and then we have to accept the criticism on Facebook , but we will keep striving to deliver on the promise .”
THE WRESTLING RUNNER
Buks has been running since he was young and made the cross country team for the Free State Champs when he was in standard nine , but he says he was actually more of an amateur wrestler . That saw him selected for the Police Force during his national service stint in 1990 , because the police had a very strong team headed up by national wrestling coach , Captain Kallie Calitz . While in the police , Buks served in the riot unit for a short period , witnessing the turmoil as South Africa emerged from the Apartheid era , and he says those were stressful times . Then , just a month before finishing his service , he was badly wounded in a shoot-out after pulling over a suspiciouslooking vehicle . “ I nearly lost my life , and was in and out of hospital for months . That also meant I couldn ’ t continue with a contact sport , so I had to give up wrestling .”
Buks and his Comrades sub-12:00 bus
Once recovered , Buks decided to take up running again . “ It all started with a desire to run the Comrades after I watched Bruce Fordyce on TV . I idolised him , so I read up about the race , then took my car and drove the race distance , and decided I can do that . So , on Old Year ’ s Eve of 1995 , I made the decision to run the 1996 Comrades . I qualified at the Sasolburg Marathon with a 3:02 , then ran a 2:55 at another marathon to get my A seeding , and when I lined up at Comrades I found myself standing right next to Bruce ! I was running with Oom Louis Harmse , who first introduced me to Bruce , and then told me to just run with him and
remember to keep calm . In the second half Louis pushed on ahead and told me to just keep doing what I was doing – he finished in 6:47 , I finished three minutes later .”
THE ULTIMATE BUS
Buks went on to run silver medals in his first four Comrades , and this year will see him going for his 18 th medal , but these days he is very much at the back of the pack , having taken over the heavy responsibility in 2016 of carrying the sub-12:00 pacing flag . This is the get-you-home bus that literally thousands of Comrades runners join at
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