100BEFORE40

56 Philadelphia Marathon, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 18 November 2018. The American Dream I first watched the movie Coming to America in 1997. I remember it very well as if it happened yesterday. I watched the movie at my school teacher’s house. This was not because there was a lesson to be learned from the movie. He had a video cassette recorder;  we did not have one at home. In fact, "we did not have a video cassette recorder at home" is putting it mildly. We could not afford a video cassette recorder at home. The movie left a mark in my childhood life. I was fascinated by America and dreamed of  my own "Coming to America” story.  Agatha’s debut marathon deferred   I was pleased with myself when I managed to convince Agatha to register for her first and last marathon as she said. The Istanbul Marathon. We were going to run from Asia to Europe together. However, a month or so after registering and getting excited about the Istanbul Marathon, I had to put my...

49 - Kigali International Peace Marathon, Kigali, Rwanda, 20 May 2018 Every second year or so, my family embarks on a great trek to the east. East Africa. Uganda. They say, “wise men from the east”; I say, “beautiful women from the east”. This may be a bit of a stretch, but I know of a "beautiful woman from the East", my wife. We were set to travel to Uganda sometime in 2017, but the Athens Marathon, The Authentic got in the way. Kisoro, the village (even though Agatha will argue that it’s a town) that Agatha comes from, had to give way to the Athens Marathon, The Authentic. We had to delay the trip to Uganda until sometime in 2018. When 2018 arrived, the 100BEFORE40 Asia leg got in the way and we pushed the trip to Uganda to mid-2018. Postponing the trip to mid-2018 proved to be a brilliant idea in the end. It coincided with the running of the Kigali International Peace Marathon in May. I had read and heard a lot about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. I had always wante...

40 - Marakele Marathon - Marakele National Park, South Africa, 3 March 2018 I would be lying if I said I am over the disappointment of missing the 2017 Big Five Marathon. I had looked forward to it for a very long time. Missing it after traveling and dressing up for it was a bitter pill to swallow. As a result, any race that’s run in a game park or reserve gets me excited. I see it as a way to get my revenge on that false start to the 2017 Big Five Marathon. That was the feeling I got when I stumbled upon the Marakele Marathon. Finally, had a chance to run in the wilderness amid game, so I thought! Having registered for the race in December 2017, the wait until March 2018 was a very long one. Luckily, the races in between managed to keep me sane a bit. As is usually the case, race day arrived when there were many other things going on. I had planned to get to Thabazimbi during the afternoon on the eve of the race. However, I only got there late at night. My departure w...

"What's yours is ours" moment. I couldn't really argue with that😜😜😜 38 - KIX Senshu International Marathon, Osaka, Japan, 18 February 2018 Since the running bug caught up with me in 2014, I have not been able to shake it off. I have not tried to shake it off. I do not want to shake it off. I have let it settle and dictate where I go, what I do and when. While I was preparing for my trip to Athens for the Athens Marathon. The Authentic, it occurred to me that completing 100 marathons before I turn 40 is not a destination, but a journey. I need to enjoy and celebrate every part of the journey, rather than the wait to celebrate upon completion of my 100th marathon. The 100BEFORE40 challenge is like war. You celebrate each battle and ground gained until you win the war. With this in mind,  I decided to make the journey more exciting. Wild as it is, I decided to try running at least a marathon on every continent as part of the defining aspects of the 100BEFORE40...

The Goodie Bag... 35 - AEL Milling Mielie Marathon, Welkom, South Africa - 20 January 2018 On 31 December 2017, while I was “taking stock” of my 17 Marathons for 2017 medals, my daughter, Kami, asked me if I was going to run 18 marathons in 2018. I told her that I had initially challenged myself to run 18 marathons in 2018, 19 marathons in 2019 and the list goes on, but I now had other ideas. Instead of fixing the number of marathons at 18, the 2018 challenge was to run at least 18 marathons. In other words, the goal was to run as many marathons as I could, provided they were at least 18. This marked the birth of the AtLeast18MarathonsFor2018 challenge. Missing the Prison to Prison Marathon 2017 because of a delayed flight reminded me not to leave things for the last minute. The Prison to Prison Marathon was the last marathon on my list for 2017. It was scheduled for 9 December. Missing this race put the 17 marathons for 2017 challenge into serious jeopardy. Luckily, there...