LONDT PARK 10 KAY RUN SEPTEMBER 2010

LONDT PARK 10KAY RUN
Saturday morning 11th September 2010

On Thursday 9th I attended the Achilles AGM. This meeting once again confirmed to me that Achilles Members are really special people with such different characters but, quality people, every one of them. I miss the interaction that I used to enjoy so much. However my life changed and I am no longer as active as I would like to be.

And then the following Saturday morning there is a League Event which I am inspired to run. It is the 10kay from Londt Park sport fields. Gerald Scheepers' family, and I will be running a trail in the Baviaanskloof next weekend so we decided to run a bit extra this morning as part of our preparation. Gerald tells me that he is tapering. But he has not run more than 8 or ten kays for some time now and can hardly be tapering. The past two weekends we ran the Moffet circuit but really slowly and at the end of each run I was quite exhausted.

This morning I was supposed to have done the Clarendon Park Spring Walk. When I had suggested that I may want to run the 10kay instead, Barbara reminded me that I run too many races and that I should support the family. Funny how people see things from different perspectives. Any Achillean, looking at the Participation list, would say that I hardly run any races. In the end the weather won the argument as it had rained the previous day and the walk had been postponed.

Gerald and I had arranged to meet at Londt Park at 06.00am. I drove there but when I phoned Gerald to confirm, Pat told me that he was running to the start. I stopped at the front gate and met up with Colin Mc Call. He too wanted a bit extra. I registered and Gerald arrived. He was waiting for Pat to drive to the start. Colin and I ran the route in reverse for around 7 or 8 kays. Llewellyn Clack had been electrocuted the previous day and we could not help ourselves but to talk about the fragility of our lives. Llewellyn had been a good friend to Achilles and to Runners in Port Elizabeth as a whole. Very sad for all of us but especially for his family. I had not known Llewellyn well as he was a much more talented runner than I am. But this did not stop him from always taking time to show a friendly greeting. I found Llewellyn to be a very encouraging man.

As Colin and I completed our warm up run and as we got back to the start area I met up with Malcolm Figg and Dean. A good number of people were doing a warm up run which is essential for a fast 10kay. Colin and I changed into our running vests and lined up for the start. There were a good number of Achilleans, Crusaders, Charlo, Transnet and various club members at the start. I put my running backpack on. I had filled it with 3 liters of water and so was carrying an extra around 4kilograms this morning.

The back pack was part of my Baviaanskloof training. But, as I ran this morning, I had so many chirps such as: What is in there: A chess set? Sandwiches for lunch in case you don't make to back to the start in time for lunch? Practicing for when you pick up weight?

We started off reasonably slowly and from the back of the field. Selwyn Solomons, Ernie Verral, Gerald Scheepers, Gerald Hoxley, Robin and other more mature runners inspire me to continue with running. Robin and I ran side by side for the first few kays. We saw Ron Field ahead of us and there is nothing quite like an Achillean in front of you to make you work a little harder. We caught up with him, said: “Good Morning Ron” to which he replied: “Grunt”. I saw Gerald H in front of us. I pressed on while Robin was a little more polite. Also he sees people with a 70 or 75 vest and those are his targets. I passed Gerald H and again greeted with a friendly chirp and received the second “Grunt” of the morning.

We passed the half way mark and trundled up and down the hills. This course is really quite challenging with short sections of flat but mainly up and down through the suburb of Sunridge Park. We passed the church where we had said good bye to Carel B. With around 3kays to go I was beginning to tire. But had determined to run the whole way without a walk. So I pressed on and chatted to as many people as possible.

I find that many of the runners today (especially the younger set) have earphones and I find this to be completely off putting and anti social. Being a person of conversation myself I find it hard to accept that a person would rather listen to music than my scintillating conversation. So I am now learning to accept that my cheery greeting can easily go unanswered. I have come to terms with the fact that it is not my body odour nor my repetitive stories of my grandchildren that cause people to refuse to respond to me.

So we come to the final kay and I maintain the pace. We enter the field and do that horrible lap around the field which organisers love to set as an extra bit for the runner. As I run around I see a whole lot of people in the center: Malcolm and Dean shout hello's. I wonder if they had done the 5kay or how else they were there so long before me? Maybe its more my slow pace than their fast running?

So we arrive under the finish banner and I am told (for the umpteenth time) that my V is no longer valid and that I need a number to show my age. But the fact is that I am nowhere in an age category so have never bothered to change. Also I wear the same vest that I ran in over 25 years ago and would have had to purchase one of these Age Category Numbers every five years. The chap next to me says that we have run in 57 minutes which makes me quite happy as 6 minutes a kay is quite fast enough for me. Colin is right behind me. Ernie Verral is right behind me. He is around 20 years older than I am. Ernie is a really talented man when it comes to running.

I am able to spend a few minutes chatting to Achilleans: Liz, Kathy, Lindsay, Ron, Robin, Gail, before having to leave as I was on duty at work this morning. I felt good about the run this morning. I should now be ready for next week's event.

Peter
12.09.2010