INSPIRATION
BEAN THERE,
Run That
It’ s a privilege to share the story – no, make that spill the beans – about Taylor‘ Bean’ van Wyk’ s debut half marathon at last year’ s Totalsports Two Oceans event. – BY STUART MANN
I
am always looking for good stories to tell in my Running Mann blog, and when a mom posted about issues with the half marathon seedings in the 2025 edition of the Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon, but finished off by mentioning that her special needs son had a fantastic run and‘ was probably the most excited runner on the course this year,’ I decided to do a follow up to get the full story.
The tight knit Van Wyk family – Alec, Andrea, Taylor and Dylan
Andrea van Wyk wrote,“ But our son, Taylor, who is special needs, ran this year as well. My husband, Alec, fell back to join him in his start block to make sure he would be OK, as I was two groups behind him, and it wouldn’ t have been fair to him to make him start back there with me for his first event.( And cheating is cheating, so I stayed put in my batch.) He had an absolute ball – he was probably the most excited runner on the course. As bad as the race was, TOM was a massive milestone for our son, and he cannot wait for the next event. For that we are grateful.”
Images: Courtesy Van Wyk Family
18 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon 2026