1City Marathon (Benoni by the beach)

[MARATHON #255 / UNIQUE MARATHON #152 / 2 December 2023]

Irene van Eeden from Eastern Province Athletics heard that Julian and I would be coming through for the 1City marathon and asked what marathon number we’d be running, promising to give us the corresponding numbers. There was a slight hitch though because the printed race number sequence issued for the race did not include either of our marathon counts (927 for Julian and 255 for me). However, Irene made a plan with some handy “cut and paste” decoupage skills to ensure that we both ran with a memorable personal touch.

A lovely personal touch from the organisers – Julian and I received customised race numbers featuring our marathon count.

12th April 202015th April 2020

Charlotte Raubenheimer – The First Home IronMom

Foreword

When I decided to do my own Home Ironman challenge, I checked out the original, pre-Covid-19 date of Ironman South Africa and realised it would have been on Sunday 29 March. With Covid-craziness gripping South African endurance athletes, I wondered whether and real triathletes would be undertaking a Home Ironman on the first weekend of lockdown. It turned out that two did. I was fortunate enough to chat to both – this is the story of the first Home IronMom, Charlotte Raubenheimer.

Charlotte Raubenheimer: The First Home IronMom

Saturday the 28^th of March was day two of the South Africa’s original 21-day lockdown period. Whilst many South Africans spent the day getting acclimatised to lockdown conditions (or figuring out where they were going to store all the food and toilet paper they’d needlessly stockpiled), for Charlotte Raubenheimer it was a day of speculation. Continue reading “Charlotte Raubenheimer – The First Home IronMom”

10th November 201910th November 2019

Friendly City Marathon (the one with a tequila sunrise)

[Marathon #224 / Unique Marathon #128 / 7 September 2019]

The week leading up to this marathon had been one bad news story after another in South Africa. The perfect antidote for a bad week is a visit to Port Elizabeth, otherwise known as the Friendly City – especially if you get to run the Friendly City Marathon whilst there.

On arrival Port Elizabeth quickly reminded us of her other nickname, the Windy City, and the small amount of hair that I have left got given the full Alex Ferguson-hairdryer treatment on the short walk from the plane to the airport terminal.

Port Elizabeth plants are largely leafless – and evolutionary response to the constant wind.

Continue reading “Friendly City Marathon (the one with a tequila sunrise)”

16th February 201820th September 2018

Bay Ultra (See the Lighthouse at the End of an Ultra)

[MARATHON #175 / UNIQUE MARATHON #92 / 3 February 2018]

The 2018 running year has started really well with two fantastic marathons (Finlime and Volksrust). The first weekend of February seemed like the logical time to escalate to an ultra. This required a flight to the east coast for Port Elizabeth’s Bay Ultra Marathon – 50km around Algoa Bay.

I was surprised that most of the budget airlines don’t fly into Port Elizabeth – and those that do don’t offer good “in-and-out for a marathon” flight times. Therefore, I had to settle for a premium priced airline offering budget rate service. Nothing signifies the decline of the British Empire quite like the experience of flying British Airways. Continue reading “Bay Ultra (See the Lighthouse at the End of an Ultra)”

18th December 201720th September 2018

Aspen PE City Marathon (Back2Back Marathon Weekend)

[MARATHON #170 / UNIQUE MARATHON #87 / 2 December 2017]

My current running goal is to complete 100 unique marathons. It’s a great way to stay motivated – annual double-lappers around Benoni are enough to destroy the spirit of even the most enthusiastic runner (there’s been nothing glamorous to look at in Benoni since Charlize Theron left for Hollywood)!

Running different marathons is also a great way to explore our beautiful country. With this in mind, I agreed to see off 2017 with a bang and do something I said I would never do – run back to back marathons.

Continue reading “Aspen PE City Marathon (Back2Back Marathon Weekend)”