SURFERS MARATHON 2011 and JASON MURRAY WATER POLO TOURNAMENT FEBRUARY 2011

13 FEBRUARY 2011

SURFERS MARATHON 2011
SELBORNE HIGH SCHOOL JASON MURRAY WATER POLO TOURNAMENT


Friday 11.02.2011: Barbara and I dropped Ally off at Collegiate where she would ride with Patrick and Terry Billson to East London. Not many of the Parents of our team would be going through so I was glad that I had taken two days leave to be support to our team. We left after the Billsons had and decided to stop over at Nanaga Stall for a coffee. There the whole team was. We gave Ally her camera and phone that she had left at home. They left as we arrived.

We bought ourselves a filter coffee and some eats and left in the direction of Cradock. I had decided to take a route that I have never taken before. We drove through Patterson and then over the Olifants Pass. We were taking a slow relaxed pace. Then we turned right to Alicedale. This is a good road. This is my first time to drive this route. It is good to have some time on our hands so we are able to a small exploration on our way to EL. We are always in such a rush that we fail to stop or take detours to see the country side around us.

There were some roadworks but the route is pretty and takes the motorist through a valley or poort. Alicedale itself is a sad little village with vacant shops and buildings and various people hanging around with nothing to do. However there is a Luxury Golf course Estate there called Bushmans Sands. It runs paralell to the Bushmans River and looks very smart with some homes built on the Estate.

The complete opposites on the two sides of the road is what hit me the most. On the one side is this luxury golfing estate with green fairways, caddy carts, well dressed people and smart buildings. While on the other side of the road there are the run down buildings, drab brown concrete and dusty looking buildings. The disused shops and homes that are now housing dusty roofs that have long since collapsed.

Dusty men sitting on the steps waiting for payday when they will receive their government grant and will again be able to purchase enough samp and basic foods to survive for another 30 days and the rest will be spent on alcohol and merry making for a few days. The village just looks so sad. When I discussed this later with Andre Muller he said that he had heard that the Bushmans Sands Project was supposed to uplift the community. Perhaps it has brought some employment to a dozen or so people but it still appears that nothing in their lives has changed. The whole scene was just pathetic.

We exitted on the East Side of the village and immediately hit some serious road works. We had to crawl along for a few kays before getting back onto the tar road. This detour took us back onto the Grahamstown N2 where the Pumba Game Park is located. Along this detour we drove past game parks, Shamwari and some really beautiful looking farms. It was green and there were some buck and Warthog grazing on the grassy patches.

Back on the N2 we drove to King Williams Town where I filled up with petrol. I had not filled before leaving and this is why I did not drive the Peddie Route. I was worried that I may have run dry before reaching EL. We drove straight to HiFi corp where we bought ourselves a TomTom to replace the GPS unit that I had stolen when the Merc was stolen a year ago. From there we went to Selborne after two failed attempts: Joan Harrison Pool and Selborne Junior school.

We found our team already in the water. Just as well we got there early. The Cape Town school; Redham, had flown to EL and their flight had been delayed. So our team started their match early. Today we played Two matches. One in the morning and one later that afternoon. We won both matches comfortably and held onto our record of not losing a match. We watched some of the other teams play and were impressed with both Stirling and Clarendon high. The quality of play was at a high standard and we knew that we would have some tough games ahead.

I later discover that this tournament is called the Jason Murray U14 Water Polo tournament. This is named after Jason Murray who was the U14 Water Polo Captain in April 2002 and who died in a motor accident.

General: From the newspaper the Dispatch: "In the worst tragedy to hit the school in living memory, 4 Selbornians (Joshua Vickers, Mitchum Scott, Matthew Paxton, and Jason Murray) and a teacher (Rob Taylor) are killed when the school bus is hit by a car overtaking on a blind rise. The class of 1991 extends its sympathies to the families of those concerned, as well as to the school."

The front page of the Brochure reads:
"A warm welcome to all Participants of this, our 8th tournament in memory of Jason Murray who died in the tragic Selborne bus accident in April 2002, Jason was the captain of our 2002 U14A team and was everybody's friend. For those of us who knew him, this tournament is our way of keeping his memory alive in the sport that he loved so much. His death was a severe blow to us".

We checked in at Chimneys Guest house had a bit of a break, registered for the Surfers Marathon the next day and then went back to Selborne where we watched some more WP. Redham had now arrived and were beaten in both their games of the day.

Before heading home we have a drink at Chandlers Guest house where the Collegiate team is being housed. Malcolm and Berenise Rose, Terry and Patrick Billson and ourselves are the faithful parents watching our children. This evening Barbara and I bought a "Platter for Two" at the Ocean basket. We had this delicous meal in our bedroom at Chimneys before passing out for a good nights rest.

The scores up to the start of the finals:
Collegiate had beaten Cambridge 8;1; had beaten DSG 7;3 and had lost to Stirling 2;5.

Meanwhile Stirling had won the three qualifying matches. In the other group Clarendon had won three out of three matches with Redham in second place with 2 points tie with the other two: Kingswood and Pearson. But their score average was slightly ahead and so they qualified for the semi-finals.
The play off would be Stirling vs Redham and Collegiate vs Clarendon.
We lost to Clarendon while Redham beat Stirling.

Saturday morning 12.02.2011 we left for Selborne after a healthy breakfast. We watched our team and the various other teams play. Barbara got talking to Quinton who she met on the stands and organised a lift for me to the start of the Surfers. At around 12.00pm during Ally's semi final I had to leave. They were playing Clarendon who were at that stage 3-0 up. Redham had beaten Stirling in a thriller match and would now play Clarendon for the winning spot while we would have a second chance at Stirling who had beaten us 5-2 earlier.

In the end, while I was running the race: Clarendon first, Redham Second; Stirling third and Collegiate was fourth placed out of 8 teams in the tournament. Pearson from PE were also represented but did not make the top four in the finals. Ally seems to have friends wherever she goes. She greeted the St Andrews boys as well as the Grey boys and then sat with the Pearson boys and girls. All teams were given a T-shirt with the words: "Dont just sit there, Jump in" on the back of the shirt.

Quinton and I left for Oxford Striders field where we were due to catch a bus to the start at Quelera River Mouth just north of EL. However the busses just left as we arrived. So I decided to hitch hike and soon we were offered a lift by Keith and his wife Wendy. They took us all the way to the start. Keith tells us that he had run this event about 20years ago but had become dehydrated and had to bail ending up on a drip in hospital. Today he would be walking and had brought a water bottle and a stick. There was a huge traffic jam returning from the start including three busses standing still in bumper to bumper traffic.

Quinton has done around 15 Surfers while I have no idea how many I have run. When Dawn and Richard lived in East London, before emigrating to Canada, I would make a weekend of the Surfers. I have probably run more than five but less then ten of the Surfers.

Keith finds parking, turns the car around for his wife and the three of us walk to the start. Fortunately Quinton pointed out that the ankle straps for the timing chips were too tight. I changed from being around my ankle to tying the chip with shoelaces.

We may have been in time with waiting for the busses, but I was glad to be at the start even if we were there about an hour early. What I do is to move right to the start where I then sit down and wait for the last minute. While sitting at the start line I look around me. In fact I am looking at legs and feet. Running shoes: Aisics, New Balance, Nikes are some of the popular brands that I see. But I also see some "No Name" brands. It is not only the regular runner who does surfers. So there are sometimes the strangest of shoe types. But I also see that some of the runners are taking the trail running thing seriously and have bought Merrels and Salamon trail runners for this event. In my opinion you should have a reasonable pair of running shoes but certainly not a new pair as they are going to become full of sea sand and sea water and we all know that no matter how hard you try you can never rid a pair of shoes of the sea.

The gun is fired. I stand in the front and jog off. This means that I dont have the disadvantage of being squashed at the back of the mad rush of runners. There is a lady handing out the wrist bands; Blue for walkers and Red for runners. The walkers would start at 14.40 while we started ten minutes earlier.

As I started I realised that this was not going to be a good run for me. I was feeling empty with no strength. I was passed by runners in their hundreds. I thought that I would Pass some of them later when I started to settle into the rythm of the run. We run for a few hundred meters along the dirt road and then head down to the beach. There are two ways to get to the beach. One takes the runners to an immediate left turn and the other one takes the runners a little higher. In both cases there is a jam as the runner has to make their way though the bushes.

Onto the beach. Today the tide was very low. Last year we had run in a high tide and that had made the run much more difficult. I was glad that I did not have the same disadvantage this year as I was still not feeling strong. We run along some slippery rocks, rough beach sand and pebbled beaches. The first about 8kays is really tough and this took me about an hour. I was not able to run the whole way and was often reduced to walking even where I should have been able to at least put up a show of jogging.

I am not sure if it was the sun or just my general fitness but I was either feeling weak or out of breath. Perhaps it is the pathway; from slippery rocks to soft sand and pebbles does not allow the jogger to establish any kind of rythm. Maybe it is running in the afternoon while all my training is in the early morning. I may have stomach problems, too little sugars or too much tummy. But I know that I feel uncomforatable.

The flatter rocks are not easy to navigate as slipping with sandy soles of your takkies could cause some serious injury. But running on the soft sand is tough on both legs and breathing. Then there are the Pebble beaches where the rocks are just too big to run with ease. One tends to stare at your own feet with occasional glances ahead. You should not take your eyes off where your next foot will fall or else suffer a fall of your own.

As we approached the Gonubie River the Walkers passed us. It was interesting to see this first group of walkers. The rules as far as I know them are that you have to keep one foot on the ground all the time. However these men were leaping across the rocks. That would constitute a run in any mans language.

Finally we reached the Gonubie River. This was a welcomed relief for me. The river was not flowing strongly and I probably could have walked through holding the rope but opted for a swim. So refreshing. The refreshment tables are much better than they were in earlier years. We would have to run from the start to Gonubie without a water break but now there is a refreshment station on the beach. As we came out of the River I was heavy laden with water in my shoes and walked along the beach to the tar road. Here we had a second water break. There is a nice little hill to greet the runner in Gonubie. This is an addition to the route brought in a year or two ago to alleviate the pressure on the boarwalk leading to Gonubie.

I stopped and asked a spectator to phone Barbara to tell her that I had moved the car. I was so worried that she would panic and call the police when she arrived at the place where we had parked that morning and found no car. Earlier I had moved the car into the Selborne school grounds. I walked and jogged though Gonubie. Saw Abe Cilliers at the Gonubie Hotel where I seem to see him every year. We greeted each other with a wave. Basically this was the only person who I saw on the run who I knew. I am sure that there were other people running who I know but either I was too slow this year or I was just unaware of them. At the start I had met up with Mike who I know from running and I know that Chris Zeitsman and his son would be running as well.

In PE we have water restrictions which have been in force for over a year. We do not use hoses nor water sprinklers on our lawns. This is not the case in EL where the spectators are most generous with spraying the runners with cold water. We had started off this afternoon in heat after waiting at the start under the sun. There was a gentle West Breeze which was just enough to cool us down. But by the time I arrived in Gonubie the weather was changing. It had become overcast and the westerly was quite cool. Heat was not a problem in the second half of the event for me.

Spectators are everywhere. Along the beach and in Gonubie it is a festive atmosphere. Braai's and Beers. One spectator tells me (when I am walking) to run; I reply that they should not sit but walk: "We prefer drinking" she tells me. I think that we all prefer an easy life but doing events like this makes the reward all that sweeter.

In Gonubie we come across a Kay sign that reads 8kays. One of the things that has always made Surfers a tough event is not knowing where you are. I do not run or ever wear a watch so time is not a concern to me. Nor is distance. I have this philosophy: "keep moving forward and eventually you will get there." I realise that I still have a long way to go as the distance of this event is just under 18kays.

I jog on where I can but find myself in survival mode and do too much walking. I am not having a good day. Just before we exit Gonubie I see a 6kay marker board and realise that they are marking the Kays to go and not the Kays done. This picks up my spirits a bit and I make my way down to the beach again. The distance through Gonubie is around 5kays and I have walked too much. On the tar I should be able to jog the whole way. I simply do not know what it is about this event that I am so tired and out of breath. Perhaps it is the running in the afternoon which I never do in training?

Back on the beach; The terrain is much easier going now. We dont have to skid our way along rocks and sand and are able to find firmed footing. But it is still five kays of beach running (walking) before we finally reach the Nahoon River. What I find really amusing is the number of abandoned running shoes. Some strange looking shoes but even new looking Nikes. I have seen a number of barefooted runners. I am sure that they have battled over the rocks and more so through Gonubie on the tar road.

People become so tired and just want to get this event over that they are prepared to leave thousands of rands worth of shoes abandoned on the beach. At one of these runs I picked up some shoes but today I had no energy for anything more that getting the distance completed. For myself I run as light as possible with a vest and an old pair of running shoes. Today I wore my cap the whole way as I am careful to not burn my (bald) head. I see that some people run with backpacks including the strappy bag thing that was handed to us at the registration. I am not sure what you would keep in a bag but I want as little as possible on my person.

At the Nahoon River: Most people wade across but I am so happy to be able to swim that I plunge in and have a leisurely float on my back across. I had remembered the final 300meters as soft sand so was quite pleased to find the sand relatively firm with only the final stretch being soft. I hear the announcer saying what "show offs" we are; all of us. He is right, most of us have done some serious walking but none of us walk now. We jog or sprint across the finish line -- as if that makes any difference. I see that I have done just under 2hours and 25 minutes. This is not a good time for me. But only about five minutes slower than last year. I have finished. No beers or relaxing. Barbara and Ally will be waiting for me at Selborne.

I grab the free t-shirt and a bottle of water and immediately start the long walk to the car park where I walk up the hill and start hitch hiking. I am soon picked up by two men who were spectators. I am wet and full of sand on my shoes and probably very smelly but they are most obliging. They kindly drop me off at Selborne where Barbara has been waiting for me for around an hour. I feel terrible. Nauseous and exhausted. We drive back to Chimneys where we drop off the Chair that Chris had lent us. He is not back yet.

We then drive to the Milk shake shop where Barbara buys us each a Friesland Milk Shake. Barbara does the first stretch of driving as I am still trying to recover. I am shiverring, nauseous and tired. I doze off a couple of times. Ally falls fast asleep in the back seat. Finally after about an hour I feel that I have recovered sufficiently to drive. We stop at Port Alfred for some more to drink and I buy some insipid hot chocolate and a cold drink. Having more liquid seems to make me feel even better and we have a relatively easy drive home in the dark arriving home at around 9pm.

The Surfers is not an easy event and is not for Sissies. Today there were around 2900 people taking part including one paddler on stand up surf board which he paddles. It must have been tough for him as he probably took around the 2.30 hours that it took me. The ocean had been relatively flat for the Surfers (Paddlers). Later that afternoon, while driving home I receive and SMS; "Congrats Peter on finishing the Discovery Surfers Challenge 2011 in a provisional time of 2;24;55".

Peter Giddy
13.02.2011