legacy
OF LIFE AND
Emma Sainsbury takes on her debut Two Oceans Half Marathon in honour of her beloved grandfather , Chet , and her father Neil , to raise funds for brain cancer research . - By Stephen Granger
Three days short of her 20th birthday , Cambridge University language student , Emma Sainsbury , will be embarking on a journey of courage , pathos and discovery when she lines up at the start of the Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon .
Magawana , Rakabaele , Van der Merwe and Steyn are legendary names associated with extraordinary accomplishments at the Two Oceans , but if there is one name which will forever be celebrated , maybe even immortalised , at Cape Town ’ s great footrace , it is that of Sainsbury .
Chet Sainsbury ’ s granddaughter , Emma , is travelling from her home in Britain this year to debut at Two Oceans in his memory – and more .
Eight years after he lost his battle with skin cancer at the age of 73 years , Chet Sainsbury ’ s legacy is fondly remembered by many thousands involved in sport in South Africa , and particularly by those who had anything to do with the Two Oceans Marathon over its first three decades .
Chet Sainsbury was widely regarded as one of the leading sports administrators in the country and it is unlikely that his 28-year tenure at the helm of the 56km Two Oceans Marathon will ever be surpassed .
Shortly after his retirement as a fiery loose forward at the Villagers Rugby Club , Sainsbury was at the Villagers grounds at Brookside with his wife Annemarie to watch KZN runner Derek Preiss lead a field of 185 finishers across the line in the 1975 Two Oceans Ultra-marathon and he was hooked .
Chet ran his first Two Oceans in 1978 in the colours of Celtic Harriers and by the time he stepped down from Oceans Directorship in 2006 , the 56km race had attracted almost 10 000 entries while the half marathon ,
introduced under his watch in 1998 , was on a steep upward trend and had grown to 8000 .
After directing the Peninsula Marathon for two years , the Sainsburys took over at the helm of the Two Oceans in 1980 . Annemarie was a fastidious administrator who later became the event ’ s first full-time professional administrator , with Chet as race director . They made a formidable team .
Chet enjoyed a close relationship with the Two Oceans for more than half his life , running the first of his 32 Two Oceans Ultra-marathons in 1978 and the last in 2014 at 71 , completing his only Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2012 , when he ran with his youngest son , Mark . His fastest time of 3 hr 58 min 01 sec came in 1987 .
A measure of the esteem in which the couple was held is that the “ Sainsbury medal ” was launched in 2006 for runners completing the 56km in under five hours . And a range of less formal tributes can be found , such as ‘ Chet ’ s Hill ’ – the ‘ kick-in-the-teeth ’ last climb from the Kirstenbosch traffic lights , just over 3km from the finish .
But back to Emma . It was more than memories of ‘ Grampa ’ which led her to make an impulsive decision to enter the 2024 Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon , despite her training having been severely restricted through injury . And this time the health scare was closer to home .
Last June , following one of his regular gym workouts , Emma ’ s father , Neil , suffered a sudden seizure . “ The next thing I knew I awoke in hospital ,” recalled Neil , Chet ’ s oldest son , from his Milton Keynes home in England . “ An MRI scan confirmed a tumour in front of my brain but apart from the seizure I felt completely normal – no other symptoms .”
Innovative treatment of Neil ’ s grade 4 ‘ glioblastoma ’ had early positive outcomes . Although recent results have been less encouraging , Neil , who was a top middle-distance athlete at Rondebosch Boys High and the University of Cape Town , remains positive .
“ Onwards and upwards , as my dad always used to say ,” said Neil . “ Although it ’ s obviously been a shock , I ’ ve been feeling really good , swimming and cycling regularly .”
Images courtesy Sainsbury Family
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