In Eventing, Going Places, Heart & Wellness, Reviews

I ran the Soweto Marathon, again…

Posted on November 5, 2024

Have you ever run 21km with period pains knocking? That was me this year. I was telling my bestie that I was not sure if it was a brave, or stupid idea. But yeah it happened.

I decided it was on at the beginning of October: I’ll be running the half marathon. For those who know me to have run the 42km, you’ll also know I’ll never run that distance at Soweto again. The teething problems there are not my portion, I have the battle scars to prove I’ve been there and done that. I digress…

My training consisted of running 100 km that month (I usually run 50km), and carb loading. The target was 2 hours and 30 minutes, so this was meant to be an easy 21km in terms of pace. Every Friday and Saturday I ran at least 15km and had all the carbs I would have in the morning of the race to test how my body would react. Corona beer, and pasta proved to be a winning formula for me. For three weeks these were my running besties, I woke up feeling fueled and I had little to no cramps during the training runs.

Fast forward to the 31st of October, I reached the 100km target and I felt ready for the race. Reaching the target reminded me of how badass I am when I’m focused on a goal. I had to say no to a lot to remain on course. On the 1, and 2nd of November I had to surrender to short-distance runs and easy stretches. The night before, I suddenly felt stomach cramps. I had my normal beer and pasta and said a short prayer, I didn’t come this far to come this far.

After a very light sleep, I was woken up at 4am. The day had arrived, first things first… Take a poop! A few years ago I forgot this very important item, and it cost me 15 minutes at the race. After that, it was prayer, stretching, and a shower. Not forgetting lots of sunscreen, it was said to be a heat wave that day, another reason to finish quicker. At 5am I was on my way to an already full Nasrec Centre, I opted to wear a pink t-shirt that had lighter fabric. The closer you are to the norm, the better. Shoes, t-shirt, tights, socks. My dad taught me to stick to the script, always. He is a 21-time Comrades Marathon runner.

The first 7km was faster than I anticipated, I was running at 5:30 p/km. One of the things I love about the Soweto Marathon is the people. We came across a wide variety; from the kids singing and dancing, to the gogo who blessed us and told us she loved us, to the not-so-sober uncle who pointed out that we did this to ourselves, so we needed to finish what we started. They will always be the highlight of the race, the plan was to shoot content but it was time-consuming so I had to prioritize my time target. The downside of the Soweto Marathon will always be the trees. Or rather, the lack of trees.

Around 10km, I was still strong, but the period pain was knocking. I had to soothe it by spraying water on my lower abdomen and saying another short prayer—not here, not now. At 15km, I appreciated the individuals who ran with speakers. A huge shout out to them—you guys serve an important purpose in the race. Those few minutes of running past a person with a speaker served a much-needed distraction when the pain kicked in.

I got to 18km without joining a bus (a group of people running together at a certain pace), I was proud of myself for that. I managed to pace myself throughout the race. And then came the steep hill towards the end: the longest and steepest 2km’s. At 20km, I felt like I was going to vomit. The PMS, the heat… All of it came all at once. FINALLY… The finish line, we finished at 2 hours, 19 minutes. By the time I got to the finish line, I needed to sit but I knew I would pass out. So I found a beer stand, got a cold one, sat down, and reflected on my life decision to run 21km, with period pains.

Besides the pain, this was the smoothest 21km I ran so far. There was never a time when I was running on empty or when I had too much mental clutter that played tricks on me. And yes, I’m already training for the next one. Hae du!