Saturday 20th April 2019
Two Oceans Marathon --- 21kay and 56 kay events.
Barbara and I drive to Cape Town from Port Elizabeth on the Thursday.
We stay with Nicky and Werner with Christian; Aaron; Zara and Mia in their house in Durbell. Also there is Cathy and Blake from Aukland; New Zealand and Ally who is studying in Stellenbosch. ..
Friday evening Werner makes us a wonderful Prawn Stir Fry and we are in bed early. We hear the rain pouring down but there is nothing we can do about that so I am asleep early.
Saturday morning. Nicky and I leave her home at 3.30am. We drive to Tygervalley where we park and take the bus from there to the start. The plan is to catch the bus back after the run.
The bus drops us at the University and we walk to the start. It is only after the run do we realise that we have no cooking clue where the bus dropped us. It is a substantial walk to the start. We are early and it does not worry us. There are thousands of people at the start and long lines for the toilets. We stand in line... more just in case we should need it.
Then we move into the F section. This is the last section of the 21k line up. Ahead of us are many thousands of runners. I think that there are something like 15000 entrants for the 21k.
Nicky and I see the AB and C group leave at 5.50; Then the D at 6.00. Then the E at 6.10 before we finally leave at 6.20am. But the crowds are unbearable. We really cannot move through them. Both sides of the roads are being used but we still feel a sense of being blocked down due to the huge number of runners.
The first 3km takes us to the top of the first hill and we have been playing dodgems all the way. It takes us 25 minutes for 3km. Down the Ladies Mile freeway it opens up a bit but at 7km we leave the freeway and the bottleneck begins again. Then comes the switchback and the crowds block our way again. We started the morning "holding Hands"by means of a black bag. This works okay for a while until we discard it and then at 9km we see the family who have been there for a couple of hours waiting for us.
Cathy made pancakes and coffee. And they give us a fine welcome as we pass by. Immediately after we leave them there is the 9km watering table and this is where Nicky and I get separated. I wait for her but when I dont see her passing by I wonder if she is ahead.... So I press on and up Southern Cross drive as hard as I can.
At the top of Southern Cross I wait again but no Nicky so again I now think that I had better really try to catch up with her. It had happened a couple of years ago that Nicky passed me at the 13km mark and I had to run hard to catch her. But today I cannot find her.... So I continue, running past others and greeting people as I do so. When we are at 3km to go and up the hill, the road narrows so that only about 4 or five runners can run abreast.
I decide to use the right hand lane and pass people asking them to move to the left if they are walking or running slowly. Most people oblige, I just receive a negative from one particular lady ... But I understand that she has run 19km and Grumpy is acceptable. Around this time I see two names that I would later encounter -- Kriek and Beulah. As usual I greet / congratulate them and politely pass by on the right hand side. They, like others who see what I am trying to do, follow me on the right as I carve a bit of a gap for us to run in.
With about a Km to go I see Stefany from the MPRG. She was really worried about her back and so would be taking it easy today. However here she was looking as strong and happy as every. She finished strongly and very pleased to have completed her first Oceans 21k.
Finally we arrive at the University and onto the fields where we run the final few hundred meters. Once in I begin to look for Nicky. I am pretty exhausted and my legs are sore. The weather has been fantastic. A little rain to start the morning and then off an on a bit of misty rain. Now, standing on the field, I am a little chilly and not sure if I should go to find the Tog Bag where we have some dry clothing. Or if I should wait a little longer to see if Nicky is there.
I see Nicky; we take some Selfies and then get our clothes. Nicky is feeling exhausted and a bit nauseous. We walk to try to find the Busses to take us back to Tygervalley. No luck -- But somehow we meet up with Kriek and Beulah.. .. Mother and Daughter. Parents now living in Perth Australia and Beulah, a MD now studying to be a Radiologist intends to move there as well. We walk from the finish banner. To the tog Bags area. Then up to the top of the University. Then down and under the bridge. No Uber. Then we walk down to Main Road where we are finally picked up by the Uber driver..... I check my phone and today I have taken 35 000 steps and run / walked 25k in total.
We share an Uber home. The first Uber driver gets confused and does not find us. The second driver finds us in a few minutes and we head home for a shower and Easter Egg Hunt.
Meanwhile the 56kay runners still have hours more to run. Thank goodness we do the 21k.
0027 (0) 82 55 03 714 Whatsup
peter.giddy@gmail.com
- Addo Elephant Park
- Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
- Daniel Cheetah Project
- Pumba; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
- City and Cultural Tours
- Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
- Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway in the Forest; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Walking with Elephants; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
- Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
- Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve transfers.
- Volkswagen Factory visits.
Website -- petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com
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Contact me on Whatsup.... +27 (0) 825503174
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