Scenic Marathon Archives - The Running Mann

2nd February 20195th February 2019

Prison to Prison Marathon (The Breede Valley Jailbreak)

[Marathon #201 / Unique Marathon #112 / 8 December 2018]

In my effort to monopolise the South African running calendar, I managed one last roll of the 2018 marathon running dice in December. I was aiming to land on Breede River Valley to add a new marathon to my portfolio but, after flying down to Cape Town and completing the 90-minute drive to Worcester, I did not pass go and went directly to jail. Luckily, I had already paid for my ‘get out of jail free’ card – a simple R120 ($9/£7) transaction to register for the Prison to Prison Marathon.

Continue reading “Prison to Prison Marathon (The Breede Valley Jailbreak)”

26th May 201820th September 2018

Outeniqua Marathon (The One I Almost Missed)

[MARATHON #187 / UNIQUE Marathon #101 / 28 April 2018]

I run a lot of marathons around the country. When local runners see the Gauteng license plates pinned to one’s vest they often ask, “Did you come here especially to run the marathon?” – and are suitably impressed (and often somewhat surprised) when you confirm that is indeed the case. When you run a marathon on the Garden Route, local runners ask a similar question from a slightly different perspective, enquiring “Are you here on holiday?”

You see, when you live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, your assumptions change and you know that even the most addicted marathon runner isn’t going to just ‘hit and run’ – it’s much more likely that they are going to ‘hit, run your marathon and stay for a few days’.

Running through the Garden of Eden: About to cross the Silver River on a road that’s a national monument.

Continue reading “Outeniqua Marathon (The One I Almost Missed)”

7th April 201820th September 2018

Umgeni Water Marathon (One Dam Marathon After Another)

[MARATHON #182 / Unique Marathon #98 / 25 MARCH 2018]

After Om Die Dam the previous week and Kosmos (around Lake Umuzi) the week before that, I headed down to Midmar Dam for the Umgeni Water Marathon – in what was quite literally a case of just one dam marathon after another!

Another dam fine marathon I got myself into (& around)!

Continue reading “Umgeni Water Marathon (One Dam Marathon After Another)”

I am Stuart Mann

Professional Lean-Agile Coach and Unprofessional Athlete (and like writing about both).
Compulsive marathon runner (over 190 marathons and ultras completed).
Experienced joker and mischief maker.
Father (2 gorgeous girls), husband (1 gorgeous wife) and Trainee Feminist.

Current Running Goal: Complete every marathon and ultra in South Africa

Previous Goal (Completed April 2018): #100UniqueMarathons

Mission:

Promote great marathons and running tourism to South African runners.
Promote South Africa as the marathon running destination of choice for International runners.
Run as many marathons as I can and share the experience with a humorous report that brings out the “personality” of the race.
Share great running stories.

Pipe Dream (some people call this a vision): Earn enough blog readers and social media followers to:

Have travel costs covered to run marathons and write about the experience (selfish goal).
Use as a platform to help raised awareness for inspirational charities and runners (altruistic goal)

International runners: If you’re planning to visit South Africa and want info on SA marathons, I’m happy to answer your questions. There are great marathon options all year round – I’ve run most of them and would love to help you run a marathon in our beautiful country.