20 March 2021, 04h32 it was dark, windy and cold. We set off to do a 100km loop around our beautiful city. More about that just now.
Late last year we decided to run for charity, finding something local and close to home. Hannah’s Place of Safety run by the Fabe’s, based in Westridge, Mitchells Plain. A Safe house for abandoned and neglected babies, do a Google search for them for more info. We set R30000 as our target, we reached that because of persistent spamming of social media accounts. Sorry we had to spam you but we are thankful that you put some cash into their coffers.
Anyway, this post will take you on a journey with us and I hope this can do justice to the efforts put in by the men who undertook this monster run. This run or event has nothing to do with the 2 Oceans or Comrades or any other ultra distance event. The purpose was to raise money for an institution that looks after abandoned babies. Nothing more, nothing less. Also on a more selfish note it allowed us to train at a level that made sure that we could get our pants size down, lockdown was tough. Covid-19 has impacted all of us in some way, spare a thought for families who have lost loved ones and jobs and bless the souls of the departed who were taken away from us over the last year. This has been one Rollercoaster of a year but if anything it has shown us how resilient society can be.
So while we ran this distance, the efforts of our family members can not be ignored. Distance running is always a family event, the families are more important than the athlete, they provide the support and the encouragement that we need. The driving force behind us on Saturday, was each family member that somehow really made the 100km fly by quickly. From the kids to the the parents, grandparents and our Kenfac club mates who became family over the years offering their time to do roadside support. The group was massive, something that we couldn’t have imagined, support and assistance on the same level as Comrades, for a few “nobodies”. The families got to experience the Comrades effect, the early wake up call, the nutrition planning, the logistics, the feeding stations, these things rocked, we planned properly and they made it comfortable for us.
Wake up call at 01h30, breakfast, coffee, toilet, toilet, toilet, pack bag, toilet, check memes, check the weather, toilet, change a nappy, shower, take vitamins, eat a second breakfast, say goodbye to Tamsyn and Jessi who would be seen around the 70km mark. The thing about Tamsyn, no matter what, I just need to give her road names and landmarks and she’ll make her way there at that specific time. Even with Jessi around she still does the support car duty like a champion.
Qaasim rocks up to fetch me, at 04h00. We get to our starting point, it is dark, windy, cold and all you can see are the lights of the 12 Apostles Hotel and some ship carrying the covid-19 vaccines on the horizon. Esmund and Merlin rock up in an entourage, the photographers were snapping away, incredible atmosphere at the start. Ezzo says a prayer for our safety and the safety of our followers for the day. He is the pastor of our group, every big race he is the go to guy.
Off we go, from the Kramat to Bootleggers Coffee shop was dark, after that the streetlights done their job. Ocean on the left, Mountain on the right, nobody else in sight. Camps Bay, Clifton, Three Anchor Bay, Jill joined us to keep us safe, Sea Point, Green Point where Ezzo’s rat friends came out to check up on us, Jill hit a left to get back to her car, she was happy that we were safe.
Cape Town, past the flower selling people, lovely people “morningks julle, lekker haaaaloep”. Into Darling Street or Rat Avenue, District 6, Woodstock on High Alert because of the tik addict. Who knows what their plans are? They seem to have more time in the day to do random acts of “kindness”. 13km done as we head towards the Southern Suburbs like a Wynberg taxi, nou ry – gou ry the legs keep ticking, I was incredibly hungry, 2 race food bars done and the first big stop for food would be at 21km in Rondebosch. A chance to see friends, chat a bit, got to meet Ezzo’s mum and get that very important chicken mayo roll thanks Vania, legend. Nearly a quarter of the distance done the conditions were good, but still not warm enough to remove layers of clothing. The sun was trying really hard to make an appearance now but the clouds played along nicely for us. Adiel Slarmie drove past us, scolding us for running too fast apparently, that was deeply concerning. Iekraam joined us for a few kms, 35km to be exact. Mad bliksem.
From Claremont (Kler-mon as the SDO calls it) into Wynberg is our first climb, nothing to hectic but it does warrant a run-walk strategy to the top. The nightshift staff were straightening their wigs, fixing their eye lashes and making their skirts shorter for their early morning customers. Covid-19 is not for everyone apparently. From Maynard mall to Bergvliet was slightly downhill, gravity done the necessary and we got to our next feeding Station in good time. Dylan the physio joined in from Wynberg, his plan was to go to Dalebrook, apparently Dalebrook is in Fish Hoek. Alas, more chicken mayo, Coke and water mix, photos and what seemed like a 300 strong crowd. Off we went…
From Bergvliet to Fish Hoek via Port Elizabeth because the wind between Westlake and Muizenberg blew three fully loaded Quantums up and over Ou Kaapse Weg, yes 28 people in each van. Just past Military road into Kirstenhof we got to meet Merlin’s mum, his serious brother and he hid his pretty sister away from us. Terrible friend really, not even an intro. The wind kept us fresh, not much of a grind there, the banter was of a good standard, 30km mark at Muizenberg station Q’s family was there to cheer him on. 70km to go from here. Next stop, Fish Hoek police station, the 1st marathon mark. Rushda and Janey with our super juice mix and more food. I can trust Rushda to bring food, I don’t know how much of it will be left but she’ll certainly bring enough. Janey Blue Number Athlete, can take a selfie like no other, whoever is reading this can contact her to up your selfie game. She’s also very, very encouraging.
From Fish Hoek we head to Glencairn, wind and sand all over the place, 45km gone and we meet up with Ezzo’s work friends. Lovely people with bananas and beverages and a poster saying how much they love Esmund. Strange. All the along the Main road we’ve been pointing out Red Hill, the first big climb in the distance.
Then we saw the Mageds and twins roll by, now anyone who has popped in at the Kenfac race day area is offered everything but a Sunday roast and if they had time I’m sure these ladies would make Sunday lunch for you. 48km mark, snack time, the timing was perfect, that gave our early birds the Galantinos and Van Wyk’s time to get a proper breakfast or a moment to bring the heart rate down.
Red Hill, let’s walk. We took a few run breaks, that hill is usually okay at the John Korasie race, because you get the hill early but we chose to get the hill around the halfway mark. Insane, crazy, tough but so much fun. Ezzo even had some old guy talk about his weight. Imagine being body shamed by a bra who has one foot in the grave. Classic. The view from the top of Red Hill is incredible. False Bay on the left and a massive slope down past an informal settlement.
Down the hill we go, into Scarborough, Misty Cliffs and Kommetjie. But first a refill at Perdekloof, where Iekraam leaves us. An incredible effort lots of laughs, football chat and planning his comrades with us when races return or if someone can organise a few vaccines for us. Our support group has grown, more kids, the kids really make these long runs exciting, they bring their innocent energy and joyous faces to the party. Adults are starting to need the mid-morning nap by now but they’re soldiering on, we offered them water, coke, energade and food. They turned it down, very polite bunch.
Red Hill broke the group up, now Qaasim who got bullied into doing this run by his beloved sister was taking strain. No time to be a hero, sometimes it’s a case of go home or go to hospital. A good decision made, he sat out a part of the journey to recover a bit. Absolutely no shame in that, what he has achieved with such a little mileage was nothing short of incredible. Really admirable performance from the young man. Off we went into Scarborough, coming down Red Hill was nasty, a quad destroyer and just as you get a slight break then the little road into the seaside towns keeps going down, down, down. The descent was causing havoc. 60km gone, no pictures, too tired to take our phones out for selfies. The last time we ran pasty Misty Cliffs there was a swimwear model doing a photo shoot. We were hoping she would be there again, sadly all we had was our dad jokes and tender quads. This stretch was also the most boring part of the route. From Perdekloof to Kommetjie while very pretty there was nothing to see, sea on the left, mountain on the right, 7 cars passed us and not even a breeze. We took turns leading the way the entire day and then Merlin tricked me, “Pandy, your turn to take us to the lighthouse”. Sure no prob, what a horrible idea. We kept a decent pace for some really tired bodies, frequent body breaks due to loads of liquid being consumed. Then someone decided to turn the temperature up. Merlin’s bleskop started to change colour, Ezzo went quiet and then we saw some rastafarians, Mary Poppins and some chap run up the hill from Kommetjie. We were warned about Baboons in the area and 2 minutes later a troop of baboons chilling on the side of the road taking in the view of 3 Baboons running 100km around the City. Kommetjie done 67km, 33km to go but first let’s get to Ocean View, the land of slippers, tracksuit pants and pit bulls. Esmund Van Wyk loves a pit bull. True to form, he spots one in the distance, “ouens mustn’t we run that side, daars ‘n pittie.” To which Merlin responds, “that’s a puppy Bru.”
I got to see Tamsyn, Jessi, my nieces and Wyden. So many more supporters gathered as well. Good times, but the sun was still hurting us. 70km done, fuel station, fruit, cold fruit, cold water, coke and familiar faces and smiles. Nothing like seeing people you know to put a spring in your step. Saleh and Zarif joined in. Absolute champions, running with vests to carry water bottles for us, keeping it cool and making sure we stayed light. It’s the small unselfish acts of kindness that makes the dream work. Surround yourself with good people and you can accomplish really good things. 5km to Noordhoek which should be a safer place for our supporters to see us again. Aan kap issie main ding. Rodney Brown joined in for a bit too, the old War horse had a few words of encouragement, played traffic cop for us and brought some really tired maths along that even confused Uncle Merlin who by now could fry an Ostrich egg on his head.
Into Noordhoek 75km, people, food, kids with posters with words of encouragement. A real feel good zone. Not much to say, thank you for your time, your faces and your kind words of encouragement, guys we appreciate it. See you later.
Next stop Chappies, 80km. Eina, eina, eina. Going up, we are going, going higher and higher. Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom bom. Yes, I know you just sang that now, we did too. As you can see, sunshine and blue skies. Merlin’s head still fighting the good fight. Going up Chapman’s Peak drive is always tough. I’ve gone up this road from both sides, many times and I still don’t enjoy going down into Hout Bay. The support at the top was incredible, more familiar faces, friends, family, and supporters. Some tourists even got in on the cheering too.
At the top of Chappies stood Wasfie Adams, smiling like a proud mentor. The only problem was, I knew that he was thinking “what took these guys so long.” I noticed he didn’t have American day clothing on, I saw Oupie Saban was also in running kit. Rushi Kolbe was there snapping photos and offering support, good hearts making the journey a success. 15km to go, just the guys we needed. Calm heads to motivate us and clear the way for us and stop cars and fight with taxi drivers.
The drop into Hout Bay was painful. The hurtlocker. Calm heads. One step at a time, lots of jokes and heavy breathing got us to our next stop. Chapman’s Peak Hotel. The supporters, the incredible supporters. My mother was down there too, she usually comes out for the big events and so far this was the biggest of the lot. I think she was crying. Two of my sisters were there aswell, the other one was probably sleeping at home or brushing her dog’s teeth. I also remember seeing my friend and former runner Rasheeda Davids, she was dressed in running clothes but she was pulling off that yoga mommy look. The pretend to exercise look, I know there was a selfie taken. The boys weren’t talking much now, water, coke and oxygen. Left, right, left, right. PJ Moses was in the mix too, glad to see him, another tough bugger, there for extra motivation. Going up Victoria Road to Suikerbossie was a tricky situation. Cars, taxis, pavements and a massive hill. The disgusting smell of KFC and a stretch where the boys were hotstepping around 6mins per km. That was definitely not in the plan. We slowed down again. 10km to go. Anwar and Ashraf, just the right manne for the job. They hate a walk break. Two gents with good hearts and a great sense of humour. Scholtz kept talking rugby to Esmund. Esmund stopped talking in Ocean View already. There was no joy for Scholtz. There was also some annoying phone giving us useless stats about the run, it would have made sense if we only ran 7km for the day but if you are guilty of using that app, I urge you to switch that horrible noise off in future. There was a stop for water and some muscle spray goodies about halfway up Suikerbossie Hill, 13 hours done not long to go now, spirits were lifting and the day was finally coming to an end, the sun still high as we hit the top of Suikerbossie Hill.
Hill top, drop top, one more stop. Destination The Finish line. Not long to go now fellas, massive following now, giving more energy to get to the end. Llandudno, is a beautiful place, no matter how tired you are just looking down at that beach is relaxing, watch out for the cat eyes or as Wasfie said, “I’ve made peace with kicking those things, they will get you, eventually.”
The event got bigger than we expected, the cause, raising money for babies and caregivers. Unselfishly done by a couple of guys who were just looking to avoid getting the “Dad bod”. The number of times people said thank you to us was incredible, all we set out to do was make a difference. Box ticked, people now know about Hannah’s Place of Safety.
Now for our thank you to the people that got involved making this a success. So many wonderful people and companies got on board. PowerBar SA, Xciter Sports Apparel, G-Sport Apparel, Human Cause, Run Store in town for our incredible Saucony footwear, Abdullah Ganie, JP Duminy, Spirit Education Foundation, Goolam Jaffer, Dylan Solomon Physiotherapy, Athol Williams, Style Delights, CapturewithCole, Kenfac Athletics Club, SkinsSA Compression garments and all our family members. This can not be emphasized enough. The completion of this 100km would be impossible without the people that mattered. Yes we designed a programme, yes we trained, yes we ran but without the sacrifice of our supporters and sponsors this would have been a long day or even a day that may not have materialized. Rodney and Tracy Brown, thank you for the opportunity to be a part of Hannah’s Place of Safety and doing something good for others. No mess, no fuss just an all round enjoyable experience especially the last 5km, lets unpack this quickly.
Making our way to the end, counting down the “distance markers”, 12 Apostles looking down on us. The last km was a blur. Facebook live, cars hooting, 99km done, around the bend, but so much to be thankful for. Safety, the opportunity to do something of this nature, to hang out with great friends, the ability to do hard things, the opportunity to share the euphoria of a long run with you all. The lads were happy, the people were happy, even if just for a moment all troubles were forgotten as the sun came down on what was a very successful day. Would we do it again? Not today. Would we need your support again? Most definitely. Sons of Cape Town salute you all, proud to be associated with good, secure, strong individuals. No smack talk, just ticking boxes to get things done.
Be like water, shapeless, formless. ~ Bruce Lee
Struggling Sportsman 
This is soooo amazing! Such an awesome caption of this event. Was awesome to read. Well done to everyone involved.
Awesome read! Well done Angelo Adams 😊
Wow so well written! Didn’t want it to end.
Great job to all.