On Sunday 12th Feb, one intrepid deckchair travelled 6000 miles to South Africa’s Western Cape to take part in the ABAX Milkwood Half Marathon.
Ok, not strictly true. With Brighton marathon training in full swing and me being here on holiday with my family, I took the opportunity for a bit of racing tourism to spice up the weekend long run. Just 30 mins drive away from my base in Hout Bay and promising incredible views, the Milkwood 21km fitted the bill perfectly.
The route is an out and back course along the coastal road from Soetwater Resort in Kommetjie with the turn around point in nearby Scarborough. After a week of blazing sunshine in the mid to high 30’s, the 6am start time made complete sense (even if the 4am alarm didn’t). We were further blessed with cool coastal breezes and thick cloud to take the edge of the already 20 degree heat and 90% humidity.
A “flat and fast” course this is not so any plans of a nice evenly paced run were thrown out the window and instead the decision was made to just race hard and get a thoroughly good workout for my early morning effort. Despite the misty weather, the views were indeed incredible and the race was fantastically well organised by local Harfield Harriers.
There were 880 finishers of the half marathon (there’s also a 10km, 5km and 3km run) and was won overall by Malusi Judase in 1:07:58.
I was pleased to come away with a time of 1:21:54 officially, 13th overall and 3rd V40.
John Law