N12 Ultra (If George Mallory ran ultra marathons)

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As the name suggests, the N12 50k Ultra is run almost entirely along the N12 between Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp – and yes, that is about as exciting as it sounds.

Running 50 kilometres along the N12 highway is as about exciting as that sounds.

There are only three good reasons to run 50 kilometres along the N12:

1.  Held on 4 May, the race is your absolute last chance to qualify for the Comrades Marathon.

2.  You have already qualified for the Comrades Marathon and want to mentally prepare along the only stretch of road more boring than Harrison Flats.

3.  The George Mallory / Mount Everest “because it’s there” rationale.

I think I was the only person who fell into category three.

With every available room in Potchefstroom booked for some unknown reason (maybe there was a Kurt Darren concert that night), I woke up extra early and did the two hour drive through in the morning. Fortunately, Hybré Geldenhuys had seconded her daughter (who is a student at Potch) to collect my race number so I could enjoy my peanut butter sandwiches and urn of coffee in the comfort of my car without worrying about queues.

You’ve heard of a one horse town. It looks like Potchefstroom is a one household insurance town.

This was the third running of the event with the race following the Comrades protocol of alternating directions each year. Other than the comparison to Harrison Flats (thankfully without the accompanying smell of chicken shit) that is where the similarities end. This year was a “down” run with the finish in Klerksdorp being 25 metres lower than the start in Potch.

Whilst there are plenty of long and gentle undulations there is only one ‘hill’ which is strategically placed at the 46km mark as you enter Klerksdorp. However, it is just 1km long with 23m of elevation so it is really nothing to complain about.

A 6am start just as the sun is rising.

The starting gun fired at 6am sharp, just as the sun was rising. We started with a 2km loop around town before heading onto the N12. The actual distance between the two towns is 47km so I think we should have done an extra kilometre in Potch as we were 1 kilometre ahead of schedule for most of the race (at the end of the race my legs were not complaining about the missing kilometre).

If you find the N12 too flat and boring, you can turn it into a trail run like this Pirate on the right.

Having found this to be one of the most boring stretches of road in South Africa to drive along, I knew that there were not many points of interest along the route. Therefore, I kept my eyes peeled for photo opportunities as we traversed the industrial outskirts of Potchefstroom. I have been told not to count my chickens before they hatch but I did get rather excited when I saw the signs below.

I was not brave enough to ask for volunteers to pose in front of these signs.

I was not brave enough to ask for volunteers to pose in front of these signs. However, there might be an opportunity for the North West Province to boost tourism with their version of the Pirelli Calendar using plus size models*.

* I do have plenty of candidates in mind with the archetypal body type should I ever find a ‘Chubby Rooster’ sign.

Keep on trucking.

The N12 is a busy road but the runners are allocated a full lane of the freeway plus the emergency lane whilst oncoming traffic is limited to one lane. As such, several large buses were spotted on route. Not sure if the Greyhound bus made its destination on time but the running buses safely delivered their passengers for a Comrades qualifier (and were in a festive and vocal mood the entire race).

A variety of different buses were spotted along the route.

On a flat and featureless road, one needs to find a companion to share the pain (and some good running stories) – luckily I got chatting to Muzi Skosana and we broke the back of this ultra together. Muzi is a personal trainer and runs many of his marathons with his clients but was running solo at the N12. Muzi was training for his 5th Comrades (which he duly completed in a PB time of 10:46:00).

There is quite literally only one landmark along this stretch of road – the North West Province’s version of Table Mountain. I thought it was a mine dump but was told later that it’s the discard pile from the Corobrik factory.

As you see the cameras came out (Muzi Skosana in picture) to capture the North West province’s answer to Table Mountain.

There really is so little aesthetic appeal on the route that I risk being accused of ‘cyber bullying’ the N12. Fortunately, a truly talented photographer was on hand. Personally, I think the photo below by Tumelo Mabua deserves an award. Anyone who can make the N12 freeway look this cheerful, charming and inviting merits recognition.

Making the N12 look cheerful and charming (Photo credit: Tshwantsho Media, Tumelo Mabua).

Not only that he also made me look much better than I do in person – as those who have met me IRL can attest from the photo below.

Ultra running is thirsty work (Photo credit: Tshwantsho Media, Tumelo Mabua).

If one is prepared to use the definition loosely, signs of civilisation start appearing again on the outskirts of Klerksdorp. However, your terminology and standard accepted definitions may not match those of the Klerksdorp populace. For example, if you are ever asked the question, “What is a Klerksdorp bakkie?”, the answer looks to be a convertible Mercedes Benz!

Klerksdorp “bakkies” on display.

With about 1 kilometre to go, you finally veer off the N12 and head to the finish area with the Matlosana Recreation Centre which is a nice spacious venue to relax and replenish after the ultra.

Logistics can often be a challenge with the point-to-point races but the N12 Ultra provides all runners the opportunity to get an authentic minibus taxi ride back to the start. Hybré had finished just behind me and we ended up in the same taxi home. We were chatting about the race when there was a sudden change in music genre blaring over the radio and she started giggling, “O, gonna, it’s Kurt Darren!”. To her credit, Hybré did quickly follow this up with, “I don’t even listen to this kind of music.”

Klerksdorp is so Afrikaans that even the minibus taxis play ‘sokkie treffers’ for their passengers. However, what was interesting is just how popular the video clip featuring the diverse music choice I took was. It picked up mainstream media interest like this article in The Citizen and the Facebook video post is approaching 300,000 views. Johan Stemmet would be proud!

And that was a wrap for my marathon running until the Knysna Marathon at the end of June. With the South African marathon scene shutting down in anticipation of Comrades, I thought I’d have plenty of time to get this report done quickly but the various Comrades shenanigans have meant otherwise. As for me, I like to “stand and deliver”, so after running the better part of 50 kilometres on this national road, I might need to change my moniker to The Highwaymann. I am sure that this rebranding would be popular with several Board members of prominent races that would like to see the author officially outlawed.

Signing out from the N12 Ultra. Look out for the next race report from the Knysna Forest Marathon.

Afterword: Water Issues

Before the race, I struggled to get any response to questions from the organisers via email or the event’s Facebook page (the flyer said race morning number collections until 4:30am which I assumed should have been 5:30am but I did not want to risk it and, after getting no response, arranged with Hybré Geldenhuys to have her daughter collect my race number on the Friday).

Several organisational issues were noted after the inaugural event in 2022 but these seemed to be mostly sorted out in 2023. However, a steady supply of water seems to be a issue for those further back in the field as the below race experience from Doreen Mukuku illustrates:

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Durban International Marathon (where the meat is tougher than the marathon)

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A lot can change in a few months. On the last weekend of April, I attended the Durban International Marathon (which doubles as the South African Marathon Championships), as the guest of Steve Mkasi and KwaZulu Natal Athletics. Before accepting the invitation, I did double-check that he was happy that I would be writing things “as I saw it” and Mkasi graciously agreed, “Regarding coverage, please be as brutally frank with your experience. We need you to be as objective as possible. Therefore, we are happy for you to play your role unscripted.”

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Highveld Marathon (An unreserved apology to Ermelo)

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Unlike the Boards of major ultra marathons in South Africa, I will readily admit when I am wrong. My memories of running marathons in Ermelo were clouded by the coal smoke from this industrial town when I ran the Gert Sibande Marathon in 2016.

There is even beauty amongst the squalor if you know where to look for it.
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The Running Mann’s Guide to September 2024 Marathons

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This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s September 2024 marathons and ultras including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2024 marathon / ultra calendar here.

[Note: I am currently unable to update the full calendar.]

A summary of your choices is below:

Click to expand.
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Festival of Running Marathon (Earning your Easter eggs)

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After Two Oceans moved away from their traditional Easter timeslot, a vacuum appeared on the marathon running calendar. Fortunately, this year two races stepped in to ensure that the Easter weekend is not ‘all eggs and no legs’. You could either run the City to City (back after a long absence) in Gauteng on Easter Sunday or the inaugural Festival of Running (FoR) Marathon in Gqeberha (PE) on Good Friday (or if you are Julian Karp you could run both).

With Two Oceans moving away from their traditional timeslot, you could choose between the Festival of Running or City to City Marathon (or if you are Julian Karp you can run both).

I decided to turn Good Friday into a great Friday with a trip to the Eastern Cape. I was particularly interested in the FoR Marathon as it was billed as the first 100% plastic free marathon in South Africa and also had the novelty of an afternoon start (the only other non-morning marathon in South Africa is the Ottosdal Nite Marathon). This allowed for a same day marathon sandwich with an 8:00am flight out of Joburg and an 8:00pm flight back home.

I originally thought that I would be flying solo as Julian sent me a “Pity to miss this but the flights are too expensive” message. A few days later he sent me, “I am getting FOMO on the Friday marathon – please forward your flight details and I will see what I can do.” This communication saga was concluded shortly thereafter with, “I’ve booked my flights. You are a bad influence on me Mr. Mann”.

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Johannesburg City Marathon (up in the dumps)

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[MARATHON #263 / UNIQUE MARATHON #159 / 24 March 2024]

I don’t run many marathons in Gauteng these days but when I do, I usually head to the south for Soweto or Jackie Gibson. The last time I ran a Gauteng marathon was 2 years ago at the Jackie Gibson, hosted by Johannesburg Harriers (the oldest running club Gauteng), and I was keen to see what their inaugural Johannesburg City Marathon had in store.

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What’s in a name? (A Eulogy to the Jackie Gibson Marathon)

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When I was at school, the matrics liked to roll marbles at their final assembly. The schoolboys all thought this was great fun but the teachers – and the deputy head in particular – not so much. I did not think that the deputy head’s face, who suffered from chronic alcoholism and was nicknamed “bottles”, could go any redder but the sound of a single marble rolling down the Memorial Hall was the trigger that would turn him purpler than Barney the Dinosaur after a long day in the sun*.

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Mapungubwe Marathon (off with their heads)

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[MARATHON #262 / UNIQUE MARATHON #158 / 2 March 2024]

These days the Limpopo running scene is a bit like Hydra from the Marvel universe: Every time you knock the head off the “final” Limpopo marathon on your list, two more pop up. And so it was that I returned to Polokwane for the inaugural Mapungubwe Marathon.

I got hold of race director Phateng Kgomo to check the details I was missing on my March monthly marathons article and he had a very short and simple route description for me, “Out-and-back. Hard.” Polokwane routes tend to be very hot but fairly flat (and I’ve run over most parts of the city in the various marathons I’ve done) so I was intrigued to see what the race would offer in terms of hills.

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