100BEFORE40

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...

39 - Gift of the Givers Township Marathon - Eldorado Park, South Africa, 25 February 2018 After completing the KIX Senshu International Marathon, I promised to go and play with “other children” at the Gift of the Givers Township Marathon. Honestly, it was just a promise. One that I was not sure I would keep. I had not even registered for the race. I also did not know if there would be late entries on race day. But you know how runners roll. We make decisions on the go when it comes to running matters. You just dream it up and find a way of turning it into reality. As the week progressed, I was not sure that I would be able to run the Township Marathon and kept a very low profile. I didn’t even tell my wife that I would follow through on the promise and run the Township Marathon. Photo - Malepe Makgaka I spent the day before the Township Marathon wondering whether to go to the race or not. Finally, just before I went to sleep, I put together my running stuff, getting ...

"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...

31 - Sani Stagger Marathon, Sani Pass, South Africa, 25 November 2017. I first came across the Sani Stager Marathon in October 2014. Looking at the elevation profile, I thought it was one of the easiest marathons around. In my mind, all I had to do was run-walk to the top. Once I got to the top, I would fly down to the finish. It was that simple. I could not understand how running down that 'hill' could be difficult. I tried to register for the race at that time, but it was too late. In 2015 and 2016 my attention had shifted elsewhere and I did not even think of the Sani Stagger Marathon. It was also not part of my plans when I put together my “Wishlist” for 2017. It only became part of the “Wishlist” when I decided to drop The Two Countries Marathon from the list. It was an easy choice for me as I had postponed it for too long. I had also heard a few people “ The Sani is a must do ”, without explaining to what they meant by it is “ a must do .” Sani Stagger Marat...

The Athens Marathon. The Authentic course. 30 - Athens Marathon the Authentic, Athens, Greece, 12 November 2017. At the beginning of 2014, if you had asked me about the Athens Marathon, I would have looked at you and answered the question with another question; am I expected to know that and why? Like many people (some runners included), I knew that in the running circles, there was track and road running, and all road running was marathon running. This is all I knew and needed to know. The thought of running the Comrades Marathon had crossed my mind by then, and I was confident I would one day. However, the running bug had not really gripped me to the extent of researching on all these nitty-gritties of running. A marathon was a marathon regardless of the distance. Five, 10, 21, 42 or 90 kilometers, were all marathons. So, why would I be expected to know anything about the Athens Marathon? It was only sometime in November 2014 while I was preparing for my maiden marathon, th...