There was a time when marathons dominated the running calendar to an extent where the only other meaningful runs were in fact ultra-marathons in the region of 60km. The marathons numbered about six in the Border region. Then with the arrival of new clubs this increased to 11, while numerous other marathons were operational in Transkei and Eastern Province.
The only short distance races were the Liz and Rowan Hoare 23km event on the West Bank, the “Strandloper” from Orient Beach to Nahoon and back and the Model Dairy Fun Run.
The Daily Dispatch Fun Run took over in 1979 the same year the first Border Half Marathon Championships were run. The Dispatch event unearthed many a runner including runners like Mzwandile Shube who went on to win the SA Junior title at the half marathon and Makaya Masumpa who at 56 is still prominent in results today.
!982 ushered in winds of change in the sport with many new events over 10, 16, 15 kilometres, with the half marathon distance suddenly deemed necessary and becoming extremely popular.
There were cut-off times for various distances, governed in respect of the marathon by the Comrades Marathon qualifying time which was four hours and 30 minutes. Two Oceans cut off was 4:15, but all standard marathons stuck to the 4:30.
When Comrades moved the race cut-off from 11 to 12 hours the qualification became five hours. That has since been shortened to 4:49:59, in other words a sub four hour, fifty minutes.
There has been much debate on the “extra hour” for a number of years and while that is a Comrades matter, what has happened in marathons around the country is that cut-offs have been opened up to the last runner in being accepted. This has had devastating consequences to support structures at events, other road users and traffic in general.
On the roads, be it suburban or country, residents, normal traffic flow and runners all have rights and are entitled to consideration by all parties. There are, on occasion, frustrated motorists and tired runners on either side of the scale. The question therefore is whether it is fair to all to have an open ended race, or should they all be cut back to previous norms and cut-off times?
I ask that in relation to race marshals, feeding stations, the traffic services, medical requirements, timing operations, facilities and more.
Both the Buffs and Tony Viljoen Marathons, run on similar routes, with the latter being slightly quicker than the other, prove that the numbers outside the previous or the new relaxed qualification times are small, but they demand an extra hour of race time, dedication and command of the roads.
Buffs had 734 runners in 2022 and 931 in 2020 with 444 and 561 potential Comrades qualifiers respectively, while the Tony Viljoen had 471 out of a field of 563 in May .
It is obviously not about Comrades as not all wish to run 90.2km in a race. But the original cut-off times designed to accommodate Comrades might have been much tighter had that not been the criteria. A four-hour cut-off may have been deemed good enough to keep the sport alive, indeed growing, and competitive.
Similar standards have been in the past applied to all distances and could well be considered again.
Is the long overdue news that sports, and other recreational activities being opened without restriction in SA going to lend a new dynamic? Every race this year has failed to reach the numbers of years past and while it may well take an injection of fresh ideas to rekindle the excitement of pre 2020 at least those who love to run free, can do so and may they never again be hindered in their pursuit of health and happiness.
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