passports please !!! this is standard procedure!!!

5 - The Two Countries Marathon, Zimbabwe - South Africa, 26 September 2015

The month of June was one of the longest months in 2015 for me. It was the first month after the Comrades Marathon. I could have forgiven anyone for wishing me a happy new year. June felt like January. I was convinced a new year had just started after the Comrades Marathon. I had prepared for the Comrades Marathon for a long time. After the Comrades Marathon climax, I had to start again. Starting again meant I could not run for the whole of June and half of July. I could not run as for two reasons. I was recovering from all the beating my body had taken at the Comrades Marathon. I was also recovering from the severe infection I had contracted just before the Comrades Marathon.

This sabbatical from running gave me a lot of time to think about my next move. I would go for hours, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, thinking of races that I would do as soon as I got back on the road. I looked for races that I thought would be different to the local races in and around Gauteng. It was during this time that I stumbled upon the Two Countries Marathon.  

The Two Countries Marathon, as its name suggests, is run in two countries. It starts in Zimbabwe and ends in South Africa. It is run in September in the scorching heat of Matebeleland South on the Zimbabwean side and Limpopo on the South African side. This was a challenge worth taking on. I sold the idea of doing this race to my close mate Bryge Wachipa and our veteran running mate and coach Frans Mogano. Both agreed to register for the race without hesitation. We were all excited that we were now going international.

On Friday 25 September, Frans and I left Johannesburg for Musina. We fetched Bryge in Polokwane later that afternoon. We arrived in Musina late at night. I could not sleep as I was excited and nervous at the same time. The heat and mosquitoes in the low budget hotel we stayed in did not help the situation either. At half past three in the morning I was already up and ready to take on the “longest” standard marathon that I would do in my quest to complete 100 marathons before I turn 40. Even though the race was 42.2 kilometers just like any other marathon, the thought of running from Zimbabwe to South Africa made it feel like it was a 100-mile race.

We assembled at the finish venue in Musina, South Africa. We then boarded a luxury coach that would take us to the start line in just outside Dulibadzimu, Zimbabwe. The border crossing was pre-arranged by the race organizers. We all handed our passports to them as we collected our race numbers. That was supposed to be the end of immigration formalities until we were re-united with our passports at the finish line after the race.

The arrangement worked out well on the South African side of the border as we exited the country. It took our bus 20 or so minutes to go through immigration.

On the Zimbabwean side, the story was different. After waiting for 30 or so minutes, our passports were returned to us. We were told that we all had complete arrival forms. There was a further delay after we completed and submitted our passports. I did not understand what the cause of the further delay was. The race organizers pleaded with the immigration officers to streamline the process because we were now running behind schedule as the race was scheduled to start at 6h00. Their pleas were simply ignored. They tried to remind the officers that they had made prior arrangements for our “smooth” passage. One of the officers was not pleased by this. He told our “head of delegation” that he did not care about any prior arrangements, this was “standard procedure” and we all had to go through the process. 

After more than one and half hours, the immigration and customs process was finally completed and it was time to go. However, one of my mates had gone to the toilet and the bus could not depart without him. One of the elite runners was not pleased with this. She had been spilling bile all morning especially while we were stuck at the Zimbabwean border. She said we the useless runners who run at the back for coca cola were wasting her time. By this she meant we the social runners, the ones that did not run for prize money, were so useless and our goal was to get the refreshments on the course of the race. This statement angered me. How dare could she suggest that a running veteran who had completed 18 Comrades marathons and countless standard marathons was running just for the coke at the water points? I, however, managed to contain my anger. I convinced myself that she was just an attention seeker and I was not going to fall for her game. She had earlier said she did not understand why the Zimbabwean authorities were complicating the immigration process, none of the South Africans on the bus had any intention of staying in the filthy Zimbabwe were people were poor and starving. I was hurt, but was not going to let this empty tin spoil our “international” race.

My mate eventually returned and we got moving. Once the bus got going, the hospitality of the Zimbabwean police pleasantly surprised me. Our bus was escorted by the Zimbabwe traffic police from the border to the race starting point. The police cars' blue lights were flashing and their sirens bellowing. There was a complete road closure and we had the road to ourselves. We became the center of attraction. I once again become a believer in the old adage that good things come to those who wait. We had waited for a long time at the border. We were now about one and half hours behind schedule. However, the whole police escort thing quickly made up for the long delay. Rather than being stopped multiple times and asked for all sorts of things by the police, as is usually the case, the police were facilitating safe passage for us, the "international" runners.

When we got to the start line, there we a few formalities and the race commenced. Bryge, Frans and I started at the back of the pack. Our group quickly grew as we were joined by other “coke runners” Freddy Sithole, Aubrey Baloyi, Katie Thomson and Fadzai Madhaka. We formed a bus and Frans was the bus driver. This was a huge bus since the whole field of marathon runners was about 55 people. For the first 20 or kilometers of the race, on the Zimbabwean side, we experienced the great hospitality and love of the Zimbabwean people. Despite being at the back of the pack, they cheered for us like we had a chance to win the race. We were sucked into the atmosphere and we ended up running faster than we had planned. We paid for this mistake in the later parts of the race.

I later concluded that the loud cheers as we passed, especially Fadzai and I, were probably a result of the race preview that had been done by one of the local newspapers in Zimbabwe, the Chronicle. Unbeknownst to Fadzai and I, we had been tipped as race favorites. Two days before the race, The Chronicle had run a story which partly read “Among the Zimbabwean favorites for this event are defending champion Sibanda, Amos Chidodo, Collin Kanyimo, Charles Soza, Sicino Dube, Livingstone Chauke, Elijah Mutandiro, Josphat Mugove, Wellington Chidodo, Fadzai Mkhwananzi, Farai Razaro and Patrick Chipoyi.” (http://www.chronicle.co.zw/300-athletes-for-zim-sa-marathon/)

We ran past Zimbabwean immigration authorities without any hindrances. This was the best feeling ever for me. We were welcomed by magnitudes of on lookers as we ran past South African immigration authorities. From there, we made a few turns and headed for the restricted part of the race, along the border fence. There were no people or spectators on this part of the route. 

We saw more baboons and cows than people. Every now and then we ran past one or two members of the South African National Defense Forces (“SANDF”) sitting behind shrubs on the lookout for people trying to cross into South Africa illegally (border jumpers). The water points on this stretch of the race were also manned by members of the SANDF and one or two accredited civilians. 

The race had started almost two hours late and the Limpopo heat had comfortably settled. It must have been over 30 degrees Celsius by the time we made our way into South Africa, around 10am. We had been carried away on the Zimbabwean side and did not pace ourselves correctly. We had gone too fast. By the time we got to 27km, the wheels started coming off. Aubrey and Frans could not have any of it. They bolted away leaving the rest of the bunch behind.I ran alone for a kilometer or so. I had stopped for a toilet break and struggled to catch up with the group. This kilometer made me realize that this was not an easy race. It was flat, but the heat and the isolation after crossing into South Africa made it tough mentally. All I could hear was my heavy breathing and footsteps. I had stopped admiring nature (and the big holes on the border fence). The heat must have been around 40 degrees Celsius by that time. I just wanted to finish the race. 

We slogged away way to the finish in the heat. The moral was now low. All the excitement had died down. We hardly talked to each other as the group disintegrated into smaller groups. We had made a promise earlier (out of excitement) that we had started as a group and we would finish as a group. Frans and Aubrey sold out. Bryge and I stuck it out with Katie and Fadzai. Every now and then we would regroup, but it was difficult to keep the group intact. Freddy was having a bad day. He asked us to go and not worry about him. 

After many kilometers of wondering whether we would finish this race, we finally made our way out of the restricted area on to the main road. The first waterpoint after the restricted area was manned by a very jovial bunch. We stopped and danced to the music a bit. We were even offered some beers and requested to vote for this water point as the best waterpoint on the course. We refueled and tackled the last few kilometers of the race.

As is the case with every marathon I had done at that point, the last 5 or so kilometers seemed like they were 8 kilometers long. They went on and on, and it seemed like there was no end. Katie had at one point suffered from severe dehydration. She had managed to hang on, but later asked us to carry on without her. I think we left her behind around 39 kilometers. 
I was very much relieved when I saw the 41km sign. I knew this one was over. We had made it. We had run from Zimbabwe to South Africa! We crossed the finish line after 5 hours 22 minutes. Not good time-wise, but very good in terms of finishers’ ranking. We finished on positions 31,32,33, 35 and 41. Frans and Aubrey had finished on position 27 and 28 respectively. We had made it into the top 50!!! (the truth is, only 48 runners finished the race.) The loud and talkative lady had finished among the top 3 females. (http://www.raceresults.co.za/output.php)

If it’s not on Facebook, it did not happen. I documented our Two Countries Marathon journey on Facebook as follows:
"Two Countries Marathon - Beitbridge & Musina was great. The VIP treatment in Zimbabwe was second to none. The escort of our bus by the blue light brigade (a preserve for - you know who) was cool. The full road closure along the Beitbridge - Bulawayo road until all runners crossed the Zim border into SA was great. But the highlight was the border jumping (passing through immigration without personally presenting a passport to immigration). The love from the Zimbabwean people along the route from the start to the Zim border was great. Was kind of a reminder of what Zimbabweans are all about - very friendly people. — with Katie Thomson and Bryge Wachipa."

P.S – Just over a year later (in November 2016), an anti-doping rule violation case landed on my desk. I was tasked with prosecuting a lady that had tested positive for prohibited substances at a race in Limpopo. When I arrived at the hearing, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the lady was none other than the loud and talkative lady from the bus. Karma is a female dog as they say. I successfully prosecuted and got her banned from all sport for a period of four years. I continue to enjoy coke on the road while she serves her ban for cheating.