The late Tony Viljoen started the Masters Marathon concept in 1978, some 48 years ago, on a tough route that included climbing out of Buffalo Pass, then a pristine area of beauty, attracting a mere 33 finishers.
Numbers dropped to 18 and 19 before returning to 33 in 1982 and nine years later reached 141.
This Sunday, after years of steady growth and the event rightly taking on the name of its founder, the race has finally peaked and been capped at 2,000 runners and a 10-minute staggered start of 1,000 each.
During this process, the half-marathon, originally run in February, was moved to the same September date as the marathon, and while it badly impacted the quality of the shorter race, it had little effect on numbers as new clubs and many hundreds of new runners emerged.
Viljoen stepped aside as his health failed and was taken on by John Oatley. He sadly passed away, and with Oatley choosing to step down, Sharon Bosch, with husband Colin at her side, is the new convenor.
At the beginning of the week, the weather looked ominous with a forecast of heavy rain in the build-up and on race day, too, but fortunately that has changed, with Sunday now a chilly 13-14C, a gentle breeze with no rain to speak of.
The organising team, traffic, supporters and others will be relieved, as is this scribe.
Race times have improved, though not to the extent some might have expected, and with the many different age categories taking precedence over overall winners, it has been confusing for many to follow.
The categories have offered prize money, but not compared to the larger marathons in the province and further afield.
This has attracted many of the top marathoners to other races.
However, a late notification this week confirms the Tony Viljoen Marathon will, for the first time, be paying prize-money of R10,000 to the first overall male and female runners in the race.
This follows a 50% injection from Ginger Bomb, and the balance will be met by Border Masters themselves.
There being no late entries, those who entered early will be the recipients of the prizes.
Who the top runners will be remains conjecture, with no media release of entries.
However, if last year’s male winner, Khaya Gqwetha (Vukani Multi Sport), lives up to his time of 2:21:40, when he won by more than five minutes, then he must be a favourite.
Mcoseleli Luyaba (Nedbank) ran a 2:24:38, but has faded from the local scene, and the other man to impress over the years has been Perfect Dlamini (Hollywood AC). He ran 2:27:42 in 2023 and 2:27: 28 in 2024.
Caryn Lategan (Easy Equities Born2Run) was the fastest woman in 2022, 2023 and 2024, winning by margins of between 7:45 and 12½ minutes on each occasion. Last year, she ran the half-marathon.
This year, Lategan was entered in the marathon and was the favourite, but this week decided to switch to the half-marathon again, along with her sister Lauren Ranger, which is a pity for the race.
The fastest women’s time was set by Lategan in 2022 when she ran 2:51:03, following that with a 2:51:27 in 2024.
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