[MARATHON #277 / UNIQUE MARATHON #170 / 7 December 2024]
The whole of South Africa slows down in December and good marathons are hard to find (but a hard marathon is always good to find). Luckily the Eastern Cape provides some festive cheer for the obsessive marathon runner, hosting the only two pre-Christmas options – the 1City Marathon in Gqeberha and the Mdantsane Marathon just outside East London. Unfortunately, this presents a Christmas predicament for the marathon enthusiast as they were both run on the first Saturday in December in 2024. Having run the 1City Marathon in 2023, Julian and I opted to head to Buffalo City and tackle the hills of Mdantsane.
With a population approaching 200,000, Mdantsane is the second largest township in the Eastern Cape and 17th largest in the country. It was established in 1964 when 112,000 people were forcibly moved from Duncan Village to Mdantsane, a sad and stark reminder of our recent history. The marathon is one of the many upliftment efforts in this vibrant township. According to race organiser Keith Blanket, the event was established with the primary goals of bringing local youths back to a culture of sport and helping to raise money and awareness for youth skills development and employment.
I have always enjoyed the privilege of running in South Africa’s townships and, sporadic organisational issues aside, have enjoyed the dozen Soweto Marathons that I’ve completed. However, Mdantsane could not be a more different race from Soweto. The one similarity is that they are both very hilly (in fact Mdantsane makes Soweto look positively flat) but the size (tens of thousands at Soweto versus 51 finishers at Mdantsane), spectator support (virtually non-existent in Mdantsane) and the surroundings (Soweto is bustling with very little free space and few trees whereas Mdantsane is a lot more relaxed and with plenty of open space and greenery) are a complete contrast.
Mdantsane was named for a stream that ran from the Nahoon River down to the Buffalo River. I did however wish that they followed the same naming convention as was used for the SOuth WEstern TOwnship. Located to the north west of East London, had they followed the same format as Soweto, the marathon could have gone with the slogan, “42km to run, Noweto to hide!”.
The start is at the Winter Rose rugby stadium which is about a 30-minute drive from central East London, requiring an early wake up for the 5:30am start. It looked like it had been some time since a rugby match had been played in the stadium as the fields seemed like they had been put out to pasture. I was amused to observe some ‘cutting edge’ finish line technology and last minute preparation when out came the weedeater to clear the finish straight. I’m not sure if our weed whacker got bored or if it was just too much foliage for the weedeater to handle but he left a big section in the middle uncut. I guess you could say that ‘he fought the lawn and the lawn won’…
During the early stages of the race, I was surprised at the apparent lack of household security precautions as I noticed that very few of the houses had fences or burglar bars until I saw the sign above which provided a possible explanation. As a child we always called medicine ‘muthi’ (I don’t know why we stopped, it’s a lovely word) – although it should not be confused with oxtail soup (which is ‘moo-tea’).
You can always expect to see plenty of ingenuity in the townships. Mdantsane is no different and nothing goes to waste. Most people buy their roofing materials from Builders Warehouse but if you throw a party and someone pulls Lionel Ritchie dance moves then it’s good to know that the Builders signage works just as well.
December marathons are always festive – and the festive season was in full swing at the Mdantsane shebeens. However, the water tables were frequent and well stocked so I was not tempted to stray into a local tavern (or even a ‘tarven’ which I assume is a drinking spot for dyslexics).
I am not sure whether my kung fu dancing model in the photo above is the last man standing from Friday night or whether he was the first in the queue for Saturday’s grand opening but he was very keen to be in the photo. For those wondering, I am told that “Akusarhwa” means ‘no freeloaders’ and “Akuliwa” ‘no fighting’. I am also glad that, whilst they provided some graphics of forbidden weapons, they decided against providing a drawing of a woman getting pregnant.
Trying to prohibit weapons may be gratuitous in Mdantsane which has a rich boxing history and it is the fists of featherweights that probably pose the biggest threat to obnoxious patrons. The township is known as South Africa’s “boxing Mecca” and is the birthplace of several international champions including Welcome “The Hawk” Ncita (former IBF Bantamweight Champion), Vuyani “The Beast” Bungu (former IBF Super Bantamweight and IBO Featherweight Champion) and Simphiwe Nongqayi (former IBF Super Flyweight and WBO Junior Featherweight Champion) amongst others. It was nice to see that there are murals honouring them outside the Sisa Dukashe Stadium (although it looks like Ncita is about to suffer a technical knockout due to a serious injury above his left eye).
Probably the most famous of the shebeens, euphemistically called ‘cultural and lifestyle venues’, is Jeff’s Place which has even been honoured with tourism awards. However, I have developed a severe allergy to the name ‘Jeff’ after painful protracted interactions with the former interim Comrades Chair and quickly ran past without even taken a photo (it might also have been the prominent Castle Lite* signs that put me off).
* Ironically, the effectiveness of Minnaar’s stint as interim Comrades Chair could be unfavourably compared to that of a warm Castle Lite (but that is perhaps unfair to Castle Lite).
I am not sure whether it is mere coincidence or by design but a short way down the road from Jeff’s is the 1,724 bed Cecilia Makiwane Hospital which is named after the first registered Black nurse in Africa (and depending on your racial classifications maybe even the world – at the time the only formerly recognised nurses of colour were Māori women in New Zealand).
For an outsider like myself, running in Mdantsane provides a glimpse into the informal trade sector and if you get a little peckish for protein you’ll be pleased to know that you can get some freshly braaied meat from the various shisanyamas at the side of the road.
Old shipping containers are creatively used for corner shops like the one below. I do not possess the photoshopping skills to insert myself next to the 19kg and 48kg containers as a 77kg canister but I do have a couple of flatulent friends who could vie for the title of ‘Gas Master’.
A Brute of a Route
The start of the marathon is a few hundred metres down the road from the finish outside an Astron Petrol Station (whose ‘drop and go’ toilet facilities were preferable to those in the stadium). I did feel right at home here as this is next to a popular establishment called MAN Pub and Braai (although it was hard to run past it again at the 38km mark).
This is a route that pulls no punches. The first 5km are basically one long climb to the highest point on the route (395m). The next 9km are the easiest of the day despite a couple of nasty climbs as you bob and weave down to the Bridle Drift Dam (170m) and the lowest point of the race. Lulled into a false sense of complacency, the route then lands a haymaker with the longest and toughest single climb of the day – 120m of elevation gain over 2.5km. At the top of Bridle Drift Hill, it’s worth taking a Standing Eight Count to appreciate the panoramic view of the dam and lush greenery below.
From there to the halfway mark it is a series of continual japs and testing uppercuts. The good news is that you’ve covered 50% of the distance and conquered the toughest hill, the bad news is that roughly two-thirds of the race’s 902m elevation gain occurs over the second half.
With the showboating over, the real work starts at 24km. This is a 7km section split into three big hills – a virtual Tyson Special (Lead Hook – Rear Uppercut – Lead Hook). Funnily enough, the middle ‘Rear Uppercut’ hill is known as Ko (which I assume rhymes with ‘go’ rather than being the abbreviation ‘K.O.’ but at this stage I did not have the breath left to clarify).
If you haven’t thrown in the towel after this ruthless combination of hills, you’ve still got 11km of probing uppercuts before the final bell sounds. There are two nasty body blows in the last few rounds. The first is the Sasol Hill at 36km which climbs 50m over a kilometre. At 38km you pass within a whisker of the finish line but the route deftly parries your best shots and shoves you back into the Mdantsane ring.
After passing the finish stadium you run a flat kilometre and then drop steadily downhill. All the while you know you are being set up for one final sucker punch but all you can do is grit your teeth and wait for the inevitable impact to land. The final hill is dubiously close to a low blow, a solid one kilometre climb to pay back the 40m you lost on the downhill.
Shortly after the summit, you’ll find your first flat section of road over the last 500m before you can finally take off the gloves after crossing the finish line (I’m probably pushing the boxing analogy too far now but could you call it a ‘punchline’?).
Cautionary Tales
Most nursery rhymes are cautionary tales. The origins of ‘Jack and Jill’ are inconclusive (some scholars believe the ‘crown breaking’ references the political upheaval resulting from King Charles I’s tax reforms in 18th century England whilst others that the protagonists represent King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette whose figurative ‘fall’ led to the French Revolution). Regardless of conjecture, the fact remains that Jack and Jill only ran up one hill and had a song written about them whereas the 51 Mdantsane Marathon runners who ran up 902m of hills over the route are still waiting for their bard to step forth and immortalise their efforts.
Perhaps this is because there was not one Jack or Jill listed in the results – unfortunately (with 51 finishers) we were one Jack short of a full deck as local stalwart, Mkhululi Jack, fled to the Gqberha flatlands to run the 1City Marathon instead of returning for a rematch with Mdantsane. MJ was part of the organising team and ran the inaugural Mdantsane Marathon in 2023. If you want a more detailed and graphic route description, take a look at his exceptionally well-written and detailed post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15QD2iVmuw/
Hopefully there will be better planning in 2025 so that marathon runners can run both events should they so wish – and if you do find yourself fortunate enough to be in the company of MJ along the route, make sure you ply him for stories of the local landmarks and history.
The race has great potential but needs some better promotion if it is going to grow and become a feature on the running calendar and reach its aspirations of becoming the next Soweto Marathon. The small field size also makes it a risky proposition for female runners – I spoke to a few ladies after the race who mentioned that they’d had been hassled at one point along the route and there was also one attempted watch snatching.
On a lighter note, during the race I was fortunate to spend a bit of time running with Alex Kambule and as we were climbing yet another hill, Alex (who is a local resident and organiser of a number Mdantsane races including the highly recommended Human Rights Real Gijimas 50km Ultra) pointed out the police station and municipal courthouse which are on opposite sides of the road, with the quip that this allows cheap and efficient processing of customers between the two. I guess you could call that ‘from caught to court’.
As for whether I’d recommend this marathon to fellow running tourists, sticking with the boxing lingo, I would say that it’s a split decision. The race has massive potential to be a distinctive December drawcard but, with half the finishers that they had from their inaugural event, there is a lot of work and re-thinking that needs to be done by the organisers ahead of the 2025 bout.
Saved by the Bell
As I waited in the neutral corner for Julian to finish, I got concerned when I noticed the timekeepers starting to pack up (if anyone was wondering they were normal timekeepers and did not employ scantily clad women to talk around with sign boards). There was no officially published cutoff time so I told them to wait for Julian. As time went on, I was contemplating wandering around the streets like Rocky Balboa (after surviving fifteen rounds with Apollo Creed) blearily shouting “Julian, Julian” when he staggered around the corner – quite literally the last man standing.
Having explained that he narrowly avoided a technical knockout we set off for the Virgin Active where Julian had organised access for me to shower before my flight home (Julian was bussing it). Julian assured me that he knew the way and that we didn’t need the GPS to get to the gym but I should have given him a concussion test before getting into the rental car. Julian took us halfway to Mthatha and back before we finally pulled up outside the gym.
After the unplanned diversion, I was now faced with a serious dilemma. I either had time for a quick shower or a couple of free beers in the airport lounge but not both. This was unfortunate for my fellow passengers on the afternoon flight back to OR Tambo.
Besides which, I was inspired by the words of Muhammed Ali. Many people don’t realise that he followed up his famous “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” tagline with the following philosophical advice for slow marathon runners, “Trudge like a tortoise, drink lots of beer.”
This was my last marathon for the year, so I’m calling this my Sportify Wrap. Although still down from my pre-Covid numbers, I am happy to have added 21 marathon finishes to my running CV (most of which were marathons I’d not run before). For the old G.O.A.T. Julian, it was lifetime marathon #983 and his 54th for the year. Here’s looking forward to many more new adventures around our beautiful country in 2025.
Thanks to RaceSpace
This was another marathon that I’m glad I travelled for – I was even more thankful that Race Space offered to cover my travel costs for this adventure.
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Afterword: Levels of Insanity
ChatGPT is even more insightful and intuitive than I thought. I’ve started using AI to help with research and creativity. Whilst writing this article I thought I might do a joke about being Mdant-sane so asked it, “What are the different levels of insanity?”
I got back an insightful and clinical answer divided into Mild, Moderate, Severe and Extreme categories (with examples) and then concluded with the below “colloquial” answer…
Ha, ha – I am three for three! But they do seem to be missing the ‘Extreme’ category which would indeed be “Mdant-sane” and travelling over 1000km for one day to run one of the hilliest marathons in the country.
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Thank you Stuart for such insightful writing about this Marathon. One will put it on the bucket list for future ones.