I ran the Safari half marathon in Wellington this morning. As usual not enough time to prepare - did a couple of long runs weekends but nothing much else so wasn't expecting a fantastic time. Set the alarm for 4.30 but the clock time was wrong so it went off at 3.30. Finally dragged myself out of bed at the right hour. Let the dogs out to wee and had a glass of apple juice myself. Recently read an article in Runner's World about runners who had got caught short doing marathons and had to visit the nearest bush and use their socks for loo roll - so made sure I visited the throne room before leaving. Broken hearted, paid a cent etc. Put on my gear, bade my half awake dbw farewell and headed for the northeastern territories about 5.15. It was still pitch dark and there was a spatter of drizzle but not too bad all things told. Listened to the somewhat inane banter on Talk Radio with "Udo". I gather it is short for Rudolph. Nice enough guy. Some folk phoned in with funny jokes. Well almost funny. Nothing is hilarious at 5.30 am.
Picked my sister up at 6 - she was coming for the ride and to support me but not running this time - still recovering from the 2 Oceans. We managed to just about get lost in Paarl, due largely to roadworks, poor signage, bad driving (some of it mine) and generally adverse weather conditions. I started to worry about the time - it was 6.45 and the race started at 7.15. We switched on the Blackberry GPS and after that it was a little easier. I needn't have worried - I made it in good time. There was a large crowd behind the tape. They said something about a field of 5000 for the half. There was a good vibe. Still a bit of light rain but nothing to write home about. Just before the start we had a minute's silence for those killed in the Paarl printing works fire. From the buzz of conversation to absolute silence - it was quite spooky but very beautiful in a sad way. Poor buggers.
A short speech by the madam mayor of wherever and then we were off. The race starts with a short and very steep uphill, then levels off. I must say it was nice after the 2 Oceans to have some room to move. I slotted in behind the 2 hour pace keeper ("bus") and stayed with him for about 5 km. After that I seemed to be keeping pace with a guy slightly older than me with a big"Run with Jesus" label on his vest. Never thought of Jesus as a runner, but what do I know. We ran out of town and then turned onto a dirt road. The smells were interesting to say the least - manure, that rotten grapes smell one often gets around vineyards, woodfires from the labourers' cottages. All along the road, outside nearly every farm there were groups of farm folk, even in the rain. Kids shouting "Hou bene Hou! Hou bene Hou!" and holding out their hands to be "high fived". The spirit was amazing.
At about the halfway mark the rain got heavier, the wind picked up and it became a tad unpleasant. My shoes and socks were starting to get wet. Some of the runners had light "second skin" type of apparel which they put on. They rest of us grinned and bore it. The second half of the race has some pretty mean hills. Meanest of all is the fact that at about 15km one passes through Wellington East and one is within earshot of the stadium where the winners are coming in - you can hear the public address system and the applause - but then you go out of town again and follow a long curve to come in from the south I guess.
At 18km I was distinctly uncomfortable on account of the previous night's muesli and yoghurt. There is a lesson there of course. I wasn't sure whether I would be able to last until the finish. My prayers were answered in the form of a small outhouse next to the refreshment table and I gratefully "abluted" before resuming the race. In retrospect it cost me a few minutes but gave me a second wind (no pun intended) and allowed me to complete the final few km at a good pace. I finished in 2:15 which is no great shakes for a serious runner, but I was quite happy with it. 2 years ago I did a sub-2h in this race but I was fitter and the weather was better.
My sister was waiting with a mini-bar-one, banana, towel and jacket. There was a bit of a damper on the rest of the activities which are nornally part of this event - live bands, braaivleis and the like, so we decided not to stick around. I phoned my dbw to let her know that I had not ended up in the coronary ICU of the local hospital or the morgue and that I would meet her at the shopping mall in about an hour. Then we found the car and headed back to Cape Town where most sensible people were just getting out of bed. We almost got lost in Paarl again! The GPS lady got increasingly irritated as we disobeyed one instruction after another. Finally found the N1 and after that it was plain sailing.
Next is the Robertson half in about a month. Can't wait!
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