Park run to Sanlam Cape Town Marathon by Mark & Karen Jacobs

The running journey started back in winter 2019 and eventually landed Karen & I at FHAC.

From that first parkrun who would have thought a marathon was in the making. To all those aspiring runners and newbies to the FHAC it’s possible.

Race day – it was an extremely early start as the well organised transport left Sunvalley at 4am 🕓. A big shout out to Lambert Greef for the logistical arrangements, your efforts behind the scenes are noted and appreciated.

The bus journey had most of our Saturday regular running crew, you know who you are 😜, true to form they provided the gees and entertainment on our journey to the start. Side note, this group requested me to start a chat group to accommodate the “not so fast runners” 🤓. To quote the taxi fraternity “ nou ry gou ry…” the apt name I would assign to the Saturday bus 🚎 crew is just “NOU RY”🤣

Back to race day, waiting in the cold 🥶 was way too long but par for the course, I guess. The organisers could have provided music to warm those bodies and add some gees at race start. However, thanks to my fellow club members for keeping our spirits high with encouragement, given that all of the “NOU RY” bus were novices. 🙏🏽🤗

It got real once you entered the shoot, and the experience was amazing as the vibe was lifted with a breakout of traditional song by some runners, need to learn – goosebump stuff. Kudos to the organisers as the start went off well considering the number of runners.

Going into the City and onto the freeway was a special experience.  When driving on the elevated freeway the views of the harbour and mountain is not appreciated. I had the honour of spending some road time 1-2km with the legendary Beaumont, thanks. 🤩

Going into Woodstock felt strange and congested, ran with a few club members, and must admit was not the prettiest of sections, but hey this our City embrace it and do what you must to keep improving our city, and this race goes a long way towards that goal.

Getting to Claremont from Woodstock you realise it is uphill, but the crowd support starts to swell as you hit the 10km mark. In the words of the legend earlier, get to Rondebosch and the race is truly underway.

The crowds at the Rondebosch common was something else, many FHAC supporters cheering us along, if we didn’t get to see you, your voices were heard, a big thank you 🙏🏽.  At the half marathon mark our children were out there in full support, brought some happy tears 😭 to the eyes, HUGE shout out! 🙌🏽. At this point, the legs were still going strong, but you knew that the tough challenge was to come, part 2 of the race.

Onto Black River Park way passing the old Hartleyvale Stadium was a tough mental stretch, as the roadside support dropped off. The 25km mark was looming and into no man’s territory, the mind games were real, and the body was asking questions! Croc knees and muscles aching that never existed before 🤓.

Push on we did towards Salt River. Like Woodstock it is a part of the city caught up between old and new, however the roadside support was tremendous. At this stage, the focus was to get to the 30km mark and the company gardens. The struggle continued, the mind games dissipated but the body aches started to talk more and more, thank goodness the feet 🦶 was holding strong! Note to all find that shoe that works for you no matter the brand!

Finally hit the city and a brief stop at the coke station before hitting company gardens. The 30km was approaching, mentally was fine and body still intact with the newly found muscles😜

The strategy through the Gardens, save the legs 🦵 for the last 10km. It was a walk run up till the 32km as Long Sreet approaching with relief in sight as it was downhill. Very scenic part of the route.

Finally hit top of Long Street, plan worked well, kicked into gear and disaster struck! Bang a stitch in the leg 🦵cramps and all😲 Thanks to the roadside support who offered some ice 🧊 to ease the discomfort. It was a stop start affair from here onwards, thank goodness it was single digits left to the finish line.

Entering into Green Point one would think, I got this, alas it was the beginning of a tough stretch mentally and physically. One a lighter note, couple of guys opposite Woolies were offering free beer 🍻 if you show “tits,” but clearly, they were not impressed with “Man Boobs” 🤣!

The dreaded loop 🔂 was upon us and the “loop en amper val” with running in between was the order of the day. Seeing a number of club members on either side of the loop, you knew the struggle was real for all 🤓. This loop is way too long and all the way up the first half. Not even the scenery or the crowds could make up for the ongoing struggle! Note again, you know there is trouble looming if you have 3 water stations within such close proximity🤨

In the end, when we reached the corner to hit the blue carpet, no more walking it was a run 🏃‍♀ to the end 🤓🙏🏽 just in case the camera was focused on you 🤣.

WE DID IT 👏🏻, with months of preparation and many an early morning and late evenings in cold, windy, and wet weather we can finally call ourselves MARATHONERS 🙌🏽.

We would like to give thanks as follow – to the almighty for blessing us with the opportunity to be able to run, our families, friends, “Nou Ry” Bus 🚎 and the FHAC tribe for making the opportunity possible and memorable.

BRING ON THE NEXT CHALLENGE 🤓