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After being victorious in my first race as a 50-year-old, I so loved the feeling it brought I intend going for more of such
I ran my first marathon as a member of the 50 to 59 years age category - the group formerly known as Masters and now just referred to as 50 plus -and I won.
For a social runner, a podium finish in a marathon is a massive feat. But to do it in a race as tough as the Powerade Marakele Marathon in Thabazimbi is incredible. To say I’m chuffed would be putting it mildly.
For the first time in my three decades of covering sport as a journalist, I understand just why sportsmen often speak about their plans of sleeping with their medals – the obvious risks involved with such an act notwithstanding I am finding it a little hard to remove my medals (one for completing the race and the other gold one for being a winner) and could well go to bed with them dangling down my neck.
There is something delightful about a plan coming together, isn’t there? I went to the race – courtesy of an invitation from the South African National Parks – with the full intent of winning my age group category. For someone who last ran competitively back in 2022 when I raced the Paris Marathon, such a lofty goal appeared unrealistic.
And given the difficulty of the Marakele Marathon, it has an elevation gain of 857m, many would have considered me crazy to think I could win.
But I’d run the race before you see, and I knew it could be done. Back then in 2020, I ran the race with an ‘old man’ – I can’t believe I’ve just used this term – who was racing in the ‘Masters’ category and we finished the race in three hours 12. He was his age group winner and I went to yesterday’s race confident I had it in me to run better than that. Silly, given that I’m four years older.
Though I won, I ran nowhere near better than 3:12, for I finished the race in three and a half hours. But it was good enough for victory alright. Way better than my previous podium finishes – second place at the Big Five Marathon in Mookgopong and third places at both Polokwane’s Mall of the North 10km and a Discovery half marathon in Cape Town for the veterans’ (40-49 age group) category.
I started the race like I typically do even though I knew the monster hills (plus a mountain) that lay ahead. I flew away with the leading pack of about nine runners and stayed with them for the first three kilometres until they left me for dead. I was doing well running at below four and a half minutes per kilometre until the eighth kilometre where the hill got me slowing down so significantly a clocked a 5:43/km. I was not worried though for I’d seen that none of the runners in front of me wore a 50+ age category tag, so my plan was to ensure none with such overtook me.
The Marakele Marathon is an in-and-out route, half a marathon up and the same distance on the same route back down. We’d done a sunset game drive on the route on Friday and much as I dislike doing this, I knew that there were parts of the route in the first half where I could motor away to make up for lost time. And I did just that.
I made the turn at the halfway mark in the pedestrian time of a little over 105 minutes. But I knew I’d make up for that going back even though I’m not a big fan of steep declines. And so it was that I motored down at an average pace of 4:25/km from kilometre 23 to 33, obviously making up for lost time on the way up. By this time I was in about position 13 until a young man went flying past me. I was not worried, so long as no 50+ runner showed me their back, my finish time was not an issue
It got very hard in the final five kilometres as I found myself running each of them at over 5:00/km. Encouragement from the half marathon back runners helped though and I eventually crossed the finish line, tired as a dog but delighted to have WON A MARATHON. It sounds surreal. But I’ve done it.
And the sound of my name being called up to receive my winner’s prize was beautiful. I can get used to it. I want to get used to it.
They called me madala (old man) a few times on the road, but whereas in the past I used to be offended yesterday I lapped it up. I was winning after all. And I so loved the feeling, I would love to experience it on the regular going forward.