“Good morning Stuart, I want to give you a lead to consider for a story, but I am not really part of the story.” was the intriguing message I received from Ronnie van der Westhuizen. He did have a story that is both lovely to tell and interesting to read so here it is.
Ronnie is a member of Hangklip Athletic Club in Bettys Bay and the story revolves around clubmate Johan le Roux who had recently moved to the small holiday village after going into early retirement. Health related issues had meant Johan had to leave his post of 21 years as the principal of the Black Rock Primary School in the Northern Cape.
Johan has suffered many health issues over the years. He was diagnosed with cancer at the tender age of 22 and his running journey started with some short distance training after completing his last round of chemo. From there he built up to a few fun runs, then a few club organized events and steadily proceeded up to longer distances, culminating at the Peninsula Marathon 8 months after going on his first cancer free run.
After a maiden marathon, it didn’t take much for a friend to convince Johan to join him at the Two Oceans ultra marathon. On the Easter weekend of 1988, Johan completed his maiden Oceans voyage in 5h34, comfortably under the 6-hour cutoff that was in place in those days.
While undergoing chemotherapy, Johan had made a promise to God that if he went into remission he would “praise him for giving me a next chance to live my life to the full.” For Johan, running became an integral part of ‘living life to the full’ and he praised God for his recovery after every run. Having completed his first Two Oceans, Johan added an additional clause into his pact with God, “I then made a promise to God that I will run 10 Two Oceans ultras to earn my Blue Number.”
Johan fulfilled his obligation with a 10th Two Oceans voyage in 1998. During this period he also ran a Comrades up and down (which is the sensible way to do it).
Unfortunately, health problems continued to plague Johan with two further cancer diagnoses but he kept on running as much he could between treatments. Johan added another couple of Two Oceans ultras and a pair of half marathons to his Two Oceans CV. The last of these was in 2003, before a heart attack resulted in him stopping running completely. He also suffered a stroke in 2020 which he fortunately recovered from.
Fast forward to 2022 and a newly retired headmaster arrives in Bettys Bay unfit and overweight but with plenty of time on his hands. Johan eased into retired life and integrated into the local community by volunteering as a marshal at the local parkrun, occasionally walking the route when his services were not needed.
In August of 2024, he struck up a conversation with his neighbour Ronnie (our background instigator of this article). Johan learned that Ronnie had recently been diagnosed with cancer. This led to a friendship and the commitment to participate in the Gun Run 10km together. Johan was particularly impressed that Ronnie had kept on running throughout his chemotherapy treatments. This inspired Johan to “give running a second go.” Johan was a reliable training partner and they duly completed the 10km route together – with Johan earning his first race medal in over 20 years.
The goal was then set to run the Two Oceans half marathon in 2025. Getting back into running after a long absence is hard work, especially as one gets older. But when you’ve beaten cancer three times and survived a heart attack as well as a stroke, no challenge is too big. Johan was also getting into much better shape, managing to lose 13kg while training for Two Oceans.
Statistics and results only tell you so much. On paper Johan’s 3h10 finish might not look like much. However, for Johan this finish was right up there with his Two Oceans and Comrades finishes in the days when you needed to cross the line in under 6 and 11 hours respectively.
But the euphoria soon turned to disappointment. Despite arriving home 20 minutes before the final cutoff, Two Oceans had already run out of medals (as a result of drastically overselling the allowed number of entries). Elated with his successful finish but dejected with the lack of a medal to show for it, Johan found his friend Ronnie and some other Hangklip AC clubmates and joined them to reminisce about the race.
READ MORE: Where did all the medals go? (Board greed threatens future of Two Oceans)
Deep into conversation, Johan got a tap on the shoulder, he turned around and “the greatest moment” his running career unfolded.
Enter Stephen Fitz-Patrick, a man who ran his first Two Oceans ultra all the way back in 1983 and has several ultra, half marathon and trail finishes to his credit. After a decade-long absence from the race, Stephen’s daughter Maxine had dragged him back to the start line and they ran their half marathon together, securing a comfortable 2h21 finish (long before the medals ran out).
I’ll let Stephen take over storytelling duties, “Medals in hand, exhausted but elated, we made our way to our post-race meeting point – the steps above Madiba Circle. As we collapsed onto them, we found ourselves among a group of runners from Hangklip Athletic Club, proudly displaying their hard-earned medals and celebrating their victories with well-deserved drinks. Their energy was infectious, and as Maxine and I chatted, we couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation – stories of triumphs, struggles, laughter.”
Then a late arrival joined the group and Stephen noticed that there was something different about this runner’s body language, “He wasn’t celebrating. He was gutted. He had finished the race, but the event had run out of medals. His name caught my eye. Johan. Ultra: 0. Half: 0. A first-timer*. And his disappointment hit me harder than expected. My mind wandered to a memory – a similar moment years ago when my sister-in-law suffered the same fate. I had handed her my medal then, knowing exactly how much it meant.”
* Johan’s race bib had been printed incorrectly; he went into the race with 12 ultras and 2 halves.
Stephen continued, “And so, without hesitation, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my own medal, and tapped Johan on the shoulder. With a simple gesture, I handed it to him. He was stunned, caught between disbelief and gratitude. But he accepted it. We shook hands. Took the obligatory photo. Exchanged a few words. And then parted ways.”
Stephen is self-effacing, acknowledging, “What I did wasn’t extraordinary. Others did the same that day, understanding the profound impact a medal – the symbol of a runner’s journey – can have.” However, Johan is still filled with gratitude and disbelief at Stephen’s kind gesture.
There are other stories of runners selflessly giving up their medals for others but this example highlights the impact that one kind gesture can have. To Johan, Stephen’s generosity was totally unexpected, “The biggest moment in my running career was when Stephen tapped me on the shoulder and said that I can have his medal. I am certain that in all road races across South Africa, it never happened that one athlete gave away his medal.”
Johan is planning to hand the medal he eventually receives from Two Oceans back to Stephen and gives this personal message, “I would like us to come together after I receive my medal to hand you back your medal. It will be great to take another photo so that we can end the journey with a before and after photo.”
I would have loved to conclude this article with a photo of a second medal handover but Johan (like thousands of other runners) is still waiting to hear back from Two Oceans as to when he’ll get his hard earned medal. Hopefully I will get to do an edit and add this photo at some point in the future.
However, Johan is still upbeat, “In spite of the negative comments about this year’s run, I hope Stephen and I see each other at the start next year.” Just goes to show, the Two Oceans Marathon is an amazing event with amazing participants. This is an event that’s about great runners and the runners are what makes this event great. If only the organisers could display half the humility, selflessness and integrity of their loyal entrants.
Afterword
When I sent some questions to Stephen about the medal handover story, he overachieved and responded with this lovely standalone article that I thought I’d share as is.
Follow Running Mann:
“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good”! From all the “drama” surrounding this year’s Two Oceans, you and some other runners have managed to unearth some truly heartwarming stories, which you have kindly shared with us. Please keep them coming. This is why I love running.
This is now the 2nd time in a space of a month that I’ve heard there were not enough medals for finishers in a race. It’s actually a disgrace by the event organisers as they know exactly what the total number of runners there will be at a race since there is a cut off date for entries or a cut off for when a specific number of runners has entered. The organizers must just remember one thing… It’s not them that make the event special, BUT, the participating athletes that makes the event special.
And this story just shows again that sport in South Africa is the one and only “thing” that can bring strangers together at an event and leave friends afterwards.