Yesterday (August 5), I got the chance of a lifetime to run a half marathon in
Kruger Park.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Andre Vianello asked me if I was in good shape, as there was an upcoming half marathon in Kruger Park. Well, I wasn’t in great shape, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me, so I said “Sure, sign me up!” Andre, who is an excellent runner and is heavily involved in the local running club, said “It’s too late to sign up officially, but all you have to do is show up and they always have a few extra numbers (i.e. official entries) available”, and so we made plans to go. When we got to Skukuza Village where the race starts, I inquired about the extra numbers, and got a lot of good laughs for my efforts. Turns out that the race is very popular, the cut off for entries was October of last year, the race is so oversubscribed that they have to have a draw to see who gets in, and there were no extra numbers at all. Oh dear. But in the end, Andre came through by asking around and was able to find an extra numbers from one of the running club members whose wife couldn’t make it. So I got to run officially, and was fortunate to be able to change the registration detail so I wasn’t running as a thirty year old woman.
Here I am with my coveted official number
It was a beautiful day for a run, not too hot, partly cloudy, and of course we were running through one of the worlds greatest parks. The course was partly through Skukuza Village and partly through the bush on gravel roads, with a few good hills thrown in to make things interesting. There were rangers with guns posted here and there, and no one got eaten. I did see some Impalas running along side us, their beauty and grace as they leaped through the bush providing a stark contrast to our dull trudging. I just wanted to start singing ..."Born Free, as free as the wind blows..."
It was interesting to see the mix of people running. There were the usual unusual shapes, sizes and running styles. Before and after the race a group of gumboot dancers put on a show, which was unique and cool. I saw a young black kid who looked about 13 years old, running without shoes on the stony gravel roads, who finished in about 1:30 (that’s a really good time). There were the members of a running club who waited until the very last person was coming in, and then all ran across the line together singing their team song.
At the finish line - Danica is cheering me on.
Me and Andre
Can you believe this guy is 62? He is in fantastic shape. Andre has finished 19 Comrades Marathons (90km each), including the one this year. He beat my time by over half an hour, and complained that he felt slow.
As I was running I had a chance to think about all the things God has given us, the ability and health to run, friends like Andre who went to the effort of inviting me and finding me a number, just the fact that we were here in Africa, the fantastic complexity and diversity in nature – wow, it was very uplifting. Our God is a good God.
