Don Rukanda Archives - The Running Mann

19th October 202320th October 2023

Shikhumba Marathon (Back in the saddle up Dead Donkey Hill)

[MARATHON #252 / UNIQUE MARATHON #149 / 7 October 2023]

I had not run a marathon for over 16 months courtesy of sloth and a boring neural issue in my knee. Having received a complimentary entry to Cape Town Marathon, I’ve spent the last few months getting marathon fit (or as close as possible to it) again. Then came the inconvenient realisation that my daughter’s birthday was the day before Cape Town Marathon.

I have a newfound respect for government negotiators and their dealings with the trade unions. After a short but intense round of negotiations, I realised that there would be no compromise. Either I flew my daughter and her friends to Cape Town (and convinced the body corporate at my mom’s retirement village in Noordhoek to host her birthday party) or I would have to find another plan.

Another plan was found. The plan involved a 500-kilometre drive to the northern extremities of the Limpopo Province and was one week earlier (meaning one week less to train) but it would have to do. Luckily, a few old running compatriots had the same plan and I was able to tag along with Julian Karp, Don Rukando and Farai Razano (names listed in order of marathons completed – 915, 161 and 101 respectively) on their marathon adventures to the Shikhumba* Marathon.

18th April 2020

Riana van Niekerk Marathon (Showing off in Snor City)

[MARATHON #234 / Unique Marathon #134 / 30 November 2019]

A true test of a man’s virility can be found north of the Jukskei. Pretoria, aka Snor City, is the original Home of the Moustache. Fortunately fast facial hair growth is my superpower and, despite only putting my razor blades away halfway through Movember, I arrived at the start of the Riana van Niekerk Run & Walk For Bibles Marathon sporting a moustache of impressive elegance, grace and girth.

Continue reading “Riana van Niekerk Marathon (Showing off in Snor City)”

10th March 2019

Klerksdorp Marathon (You Shouldn’t Judge A Town By Its Main Road)

[Marathon #205 / Unique Marathon #115 / 9 February 2019]

Klerksdorp was never high on my list of marathons to run. I almost ran it last year but then “got a better offer” and ended up doing Potties instead. There are some marathons that I look forward to doing and others I look forward to getting done – and I was expecting this to be one of the latter.

My only previous exposure to Klerksdorp has been driving through the city on the N12 – normally on the long drive to Kimberley for one of their marathons. People slow down to look at car crashes but they avert their eyes when driving through Klerksdorp. The only redeeming factor for Klerksdorp is that her N12 façade is slightly less ugly than that of her close neighbour Potchefstroom.

On top of this, the towns Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom are both are incredibly irritating with lots of slow, exasperating traffic and dozens (may well be hundreds) of infuriating, stop-start segments. Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom are like the mosquito and the fly – everyone tells you that they serve some kind of purpose, but no one can tell you what that purpose is. Continue reading “Klerksdorp Marathon (You Shouldn’t Judge A Town By Its Main Road)”

2nd March 20196th March 2019

Meerkat Marathon (The One With A Presidential Sendoff)

[Marathon #204 / Unique Marathon #114 / 2 February 2019]

Once a year, I take out the one wood for the long drive to Kimberley – five to six gruelling hours along the N12. I am slowly working through all the Kimberley and Northern Cape marathons in my quest to run every marathon in the country. When scheduling my races, the annual trip to Kimberley is one of the first to go into the plan – but I can only face doing the drive there once per year.

Took out the 1-wood for the long drive to Kimberley to run the Meerkat Marathon.

Continue reading “Meerkat Marathon (The One With A Presidential Sendoff)”

21st February 201922nd February 2019

Ottosdal Night Marathon (Testing the Limits of Delayed Gratification)

[Marathon #203 / Unique Marathon #113 / 26 January 2019]

The Ottosdal Marathon is one of the last races left from my original running bucket list. The race is the subject of much folklore amongst the inland running community for two reasons:

Starting at 5:30pm, it is the only night marathon on the South African calendar, and
Some nutters* make the most of the opportunity and use Ottosdal as the meat in the middle of their marathon running sandwich, with this being the second of three marathons they run in just over 24-hours.

* Similarly to driving, where anyone slower that you is a classified as a dithering idiot and anyone faster a raving lunatic; Anyone who runs less than you is an idle slacker and anyone who runs more is an absolute nutjob. Continue reading “Ottosdal Night Marathon (Testing the Limits of Delayed Gratification)”