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Ex-Supersport star, Clayton Daniels, dedicates Two Oceans Half Marathon run to slain Fleurs.
While Gerda Steyn ran the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon a fifth successive time to cement her status as the greatest woman ultra-marathoner South Africa has ever produced, thousands of other runners traversed either the 56km ultra on Saturday or the half marathon on Sunday for varied and much simpler yet seriously personal reasons.
One of those was professional footballer Clayton Daniels who ran on Sunday.
The versatile player who was recently in the books of Cape Town Spurs ran with a heavy heart in commemoration of his recently murdered former teammate and menteed at SuperSport United Luke Fleurs.
"You know mos what happened with Luke Fleurs, I ran in his memory."
Daniels had just completed the tough 21.1km distance through Cape Town's southern suburbs in a respectable one hour and 44 minutes and was regaining his composure alongside lots of other runners on the fields of the University of Cape Town.
Resplendent in the red SuperSport United jersey from the MTN8 emblazoned with Fleurs' name and the number 25, the defender-cum-midfielder who began his professional career at Ajax and also counts Mamelodi Sundowns, Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg United as his former clubs looked somewhat 'lost' among the runners.
But he needed to honour his fallen 'little brother' and what better way to do so than run in part of Fleurs' soccer kit?
Fleurs, a Kaizer Chiefs player, was shot dead when he tried to fight off robbers who were hijacking his car in Johannesburg last week.
“He was a young boy that I kind of mentored when he came to SuperSport and also a boy from Mithcell’s Plein where I come from, so this was in memory of Luke Fleurs," Daniels explained.
Fighting hard to stop the welled-up tears from flowing down his cheeks, he lamented the state of crime in the country.
Having seen Fleurs in his early days, he said it broke his heart that such a promising talent had his life snuffed out so cheaply.
"It is very, very sad what happened to Luke Fleurs, you know. It really is not a nice thing for a young boy, just 24 years old, who had his whole future ahead of him to be killed.”
Completing the race among a myriad of all kinds of people from all over the country and even outside, Daniels said he wished the camaraderie and good spirit that characterized the race was prevalent all over.
Look at this race today, you see a lot of people coming together and doing what they love. I just hope that our country can feed off this kind of event and be like this in all other things, you know'" he said, constantly blinking.
"Look, all people, irrespective of belief, race or colour are here for one course – running.
We are enjoying ourselves instead of hurting each other on the streets.
"I think that’s the sad part of it because we really can come together as a country. But to have people like Luke murdered is very painful. To lose your life at 24 is very sad and very upsetting to us who are left behind. ”
Though his finish time suggests he has some running talent, Daniels is not about to ditch football - the fact he is currently clueless notwithstanding.
“I am now training with another team until the end of the season. But I am busy with my coaching courses and hopefully, by the end of the season I will make a decision which direction I take.”
He knows for sure what direction he would like the country to take though. And that is for it to be rid of murders such as those of his mentee Luke Fleurs.