REDHOUSE RIVER MILE FEBRUARY 2005.

REDHOUSE RIVER MILE
SUNDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2005.

We had been in East London for the Surfers Marathon the previous Saturday and so had left EL at 04.30 to be on time for church on Sunday. The service was in induction service for the new minister, Jonathan Hobson.
After the service we rushed home and then to the river to get there by 12.00 when our daughter, Ally was due to swim her event, which was a 100meter swim across the river. There were 13 girls in the under 10’s and Ally swam this in about 2min30.
The men’s mile was due to start at 15.30 so I had time for a hamburger, cold drink and a good sleep in the shade while the children (Ally and Jessica) continued to swim in the river under Barbara’s watchful eye. Tim, Suzanne, Emma and Tim’s mother, Anne joined us at about 14.30 and we sat and watched the ladies mile. The first lady finished in about 18mins.

It is a tradition that participants walk to the start. This takes about 15 mins and so at about 15.10 Tim and I walked along the riverside (watch out for the thorns, this is also part of the tradition). Some of the houses along this river are really beautiful and the residents make a day of it on this day with braais and lunches.
Other Achilleans who I saw at the event were Steve Douglas, Craig Wilson, and Jock Sutherland. Apologies to anyone else from the club who I have not mentioned. I also missed my daughter Jacqui (London) and her husband Michael who have swum the event with me in previous years.
Once Tim & I got to the start we were separated in the crowd of men lining up and swimming as they waited for the start. Often this event is swum with a strong following tide. This was not to be the case today as the tide was already high and may have even being against us to an extent. Fortunately the wind was Easterly and helped us along.
Once the gun was fired the men sped off and I was soon being battered by the arms and legs of fellow swimmers. I tried to find a free path and was soon able to settle into a steady stroke. Having trained for triathlons this would be the first year that I did not come last or close to last (there is this bloke with no arms and no legs---they call him Bob--- who I am generally able to beat). I was able to swim the crawl the whole way whereas in previous years I was mainly a doggy paddle swimmer. I finished in 48 mins. I think that Jock and Steve were there about as well. I am sure that Craig was way ahead of us. The cut off time for medals is 45 mins but they felt sorry for me and still handed me this most important memento. I was gratified to see that I had beaten Marcus Burri’s son, MC (7 years old) who finished just after me. Tim had swum a 37mins, which was a very respectable time.
It had been a long hot afternoon and we left immediately after the swim. This event is a part of Port Elizabeth and should be done by everyone. My training in previous years has been my daily bath so I really do not consider myself to be a swimmer, just a participant. Put this one on your event calendar for 2006.

Peter Giddy
20 February 2005.