We arrived @ Milpark at about 15h45 and arrived with the busses at the starting point around 16h00. Needless to say, a long wait was to come. Ronel (who was kind enough to offer me a lift to the event) and I sat and walked around- in the rain I might add for the first hour or so- and finally took up our positions in the middle of the bunch while waiting for the race to get going.
While waiting I noticed that my feet had started to pain and I thought “Oh no, I haven’t even started the race yet”
3 hours had finally passed and it was time to get Jozirun on the go. Excitement filled the air and everyone was slowly but surely getting rid of their plastic raincoats which we got earlier when exiting the bus.
5,4,3,2,1 and off we went. A slow start and some pushing to get everyone past the starting point. As we crossed the Nelson Mandela Bridge we were greeted by fireworks lighting up the night sky and showing us the way into the streets of Jozi. I got Goosebumps as the realisation kicked in of what was happening and that was being part of one of the biggest events in the making of Jozi history.
Even though I lost my running partner early in the race, I got a steady pace and kept it going all through the race. There was not a single piece of road that we did not have Locals motivating us, cheering for us and keeping us going one step at a time.
When we had reached the 6km mark, I had only stopped once on a steep hill and I was very proud of myself. During the whole race I walked 3 times, all 3 on steep hills.
We must have ran about 7k’s when one local shouted “come on guys, only 1km to go”. Could this be, could we only have 1k to go… Well I had hoped that it was the truth, but that was the longest kilometre of my life.
When the racers saw the Finish line, no-one dared be caught walking. We all got our chins up and jogged the last couple of 100 metres, proud to say that “I did it, I ran free in Jozi”
This was an experience that I am so glad I had the privilege of doing and one that I will never forget. Thank you Nike and Jozi for an unforgettable race!
#10km to a new obsession#
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