and then the sub 4h00 Marathon came

2 - the Cape Gate Vaal Marathon, 1 March 2015

Having failed to finish my first ever marathon under 4h00, I set out to accomplish that mission as soon as possible. I spent a lot of time on the road working on my speed. Like any other novice, I went about it the wrong way. I spent many hours running as far, and as fast, as I could, hoping to improve my time. Any experienced runner will tell you that this is a recipe for disaster. Well, I did not need an experienced runner to tell me this.

Disaster struck. I ended up with all sorts of over-use injuries and spent a lot of time consulting with medical practitioners. I made very good friends with my chiropractor. I even went for a cortisone jab, just to get back on the road.

I spent a lot of time on the sidelines waiting patiently for my next marathon. It was not until 3 March 2015 that I managed to run my second marathon. This time I was a man on a real mission. I had studied the course and read a lot on how to pace myself correctly. I teamed up with my friend Bryge Wachipa. We had just purchased our GPS watches a day before the race. We were prepared and nothing was going to coming into our way.

As usual, it was an early morning out of bed for us. We had never been to this race. We had to get there very early. Agatha, in preparation for her first ever (and to date only), half marathon, also tagged along for her 10km training run. 

Armed with my brand-new GPS watch and confident that the route was flat, I dived in head first. I ran for three or so kilometers with Bryge. He was too slow for my liking so I left him. I stepped on it for a good 30 or so kilometers. It was good flying past other runners. Little did I know that “the wall” was around the corner and I would soon “hit the wall”. When that moment came, I was so grateful I had not made any comments about how slow these runners were as I passed them. 

After hitting the wall, it was my turn to watch others fly past me. Every kilometer became longer and longer. My size 14 shoe was no longer an advantage. It was now part of the problem. My legs got heavier with each step. As if that was not bad enough, the minutes on my watch started flying. Suddenly I was now taking 6:30+ minutes per kilometer.

From a possible 3h50 finish, I was now on the verge of missing the sub 4h00 finish. Bryge caught up with me around the 29th kilometer. He easily flew past me, probably telling himself that he knew my fuses would blow as I had gone out too fast. My Soweto Marathon struggle started playing out in mind. I asked myself all sorts of questions. What is the magic around this sub 4h00 marathon? Does it really matter in life? Isn’t the goal to finish, no matter how long it takes? The questions kept coming and I did not have answers for them. The good thing about these questions was that they served as a diversion. I for a while forgot about the pain in my legs. When I can back to reality, I realized that I had about 5 kilometers to go. I had about 32 minutes to achieve this. On any other day, I would have said it was a walk in the park. I could easily run 5 kilometers in 27 or so minutes. Therefore, 32 minutes was a lot of time. The only problem was that I had just done 37 kilometers and the fuel tank was empty.

I struggled through these final 5 kilometers. Every kilometer was a huge achievement. I managed to cover 3 kilometers in about 19 minutes. That gave me a bit of hope, but the final 2 kilometers were somehow longer. The 41km distance marker simply did not appear. I only realized, as I made the final turn towards the stadium, that I must have missed the 41km marker. I do not know what happened. All I know is that it was such a relief seeing the 42km marker with about 4 minutes before the 4h00 cut-off. 

I did not break the custom after the race. I went on to document my heroics on Facebook, just to make sure that the World knows that it happened. I had the following to say on Facebook:

"Drove an unofficial Taxi Cab at the Vaal Marathon this morning. Business was bad - only had one passenger (my mate). After 30km he asked for my PDP after realizing that the pace was going south. Told him I don't have one and he stepped on it leaving me behind. But am happy that I managed to cross the line with a full minute and some change to spare (By the way - this is my second marathon. The 1st one was the Soweto M and I came home in 4h19 - then battled ITB since December). For those wondering what happened to my passenger - he crossed the line at 3h51. — with Bryge Wachipa."