some point during the race, and to add to the stress of it being his first time as a Comrades pacesetter, Buks was also running with a secret plan: He had girlfriend Carolien running alongside him, and tucked into his waistband was a wedding ring …
“ I knew some people had concerns about me pacing the sub-12:00 bus, given my much faster Comrades history, and I actually had to run at a very uncomfortable pace, but I was planning to ask Carolien to marry me at the finish line, so I ran the whole race on nerves, constantly checking the ring was still there, and constantly checking that she wasn’ t dropping off the bus! She had tried running Comrades three times before and only finished once, so I was always worried about her making the distance … because I needed her at the finish!”
At times the bus grew so big that Buks said he couldn’ t see the back of it when he turned around, and he says there was a lot of laughter and talking earlier in the race.“ I had joked at the Expo that I wanted a beer at 60km, because it helps with cramps, and suddenly we had three beers doing the rounds in the bus, thanks to various supporters who had heard my request. At the same time we were joined by the sub-12:00 legend himself, Vlam Pieterse, who ran with us for a kilometre and taught us his favourite song. Getting his stamp of approval for my pacing was a huge motivator for me! But it got more and more tense as we got closer to Durban, and there were constant questions whether we were going to make it. From 75km onwards we just had the finish in mind, but once past that PinkDrive station with 5km to go, we knew we could cruise home, and I knew Carolien was still right next to me.”
HOME SWEET HOME
As is always the case, the sub-12:00 bus came home to a standing ovation from the spectators in the stadium, and Buks was showered with hugs, kisses, high-fives, handshakes and slaps on the back, and then finally he was able to go down one knee and propose.( Buks and Carolien were married on the 1 st of January – because that was the only free weekend they had in between all their pacing commitments!) Looking back on that finish, Buks says the emotion really got to him, making it that much harder to get through his proposal.“ Watching the guys around me realise they had done it and achieved their dream … that’ s why I pace, and that’ s why I am going back to do the sub-12:00 bus again this year. And the best part is that Carolien will be beside me, so we will be making more memories together.”
You can find out more about the Gauteng Pace Setters at www. facebook. com / Gauteng-Pace-Setters-GPS-1205368806168863.
PACING THE CAPE
While Buks van Heerden is coordinating the newly created Gauteng Pacesetters, one of the men behind the long-standing Western Province Pacesetters is Paul Murphy. He explains that the group came about when the running magazine that started the Pacesetters in the Cape decided not to continue with the programme 10 years ago, so he and Wilby Steenkamp decided to keep it going.“ We e-mailed all the pacers on the list and had about 10 who wanted to carry on. Today we have 30 regulars on the list.”
“ We do around 10 official races a year, but some of the guys run most of their races as Pacesetters, whereas I prefer to pace just once a month, otherwise I stop enjoying it. We have identified the bigger marquee events in the Cape as our focus races, like the Peninsula, Cape Town and Winelands Marathons, and of course the Old Mutual Two Oceans, where we will have 26 pacesetters in action this year across both distances. We also hope to have more of the Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal pacesetters join us at Oceans in the future.”
Paul says the programme has met with a lot of success, and their Facebook page now has about 1900 members.“ It’ s great to see the growth in our own numbers as well as athletes who follow us. I actually think that we’ re very good at what we do, and I don’ t know if anybody else in the world does pacesetting week in, week out. Some of our guys are getting close to 100 races carrying a flag, and every time somebody says thank you at a finish line, I admit that I glow a little inside. That’ s the motivation to keep pacing.”
You can find out more about the Western Province Pace Setters at www. facebook. com / groups / 314436651950192.
Images: Courtesy Buks van Heerden & Paul Murphy
14 ISSUE 92 MARCH 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za