Cape Town Marathon: Pienaar’s appeal to the captains
SUNDAY’S Cape Town Marathon looks set to more than justify its IAAF Gold Label status with competitive racing and fast times from elite athletes from many parts of the planet, but pay attention, too, to runners further down the field, where the event has become a veritable melting pot of South African sporting heroes.
Household names, normally associated with oval balls, Kookaburras, corner kicks and shooting hoops, will instead line up at the starting line in Green Point to test themselves and their fitness over the 42.195 kilometre course through the Mother City.
Francois Pienaar and John Smit led the Springboks to two World Cup triumphs in the past two decades, but on Sunday, together with a third Bok captain, Corne Krige, will be pounding tarmac rather than tackling players on the hallowed Newlands turf.
Instead of counting number of runs from the his cricket bat, former Proteas captain, Graeme Smith will be calculating the number of kilometres still left to run to the finish, while Bafana Bafana legends Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish are determined to outrun their rivals from other sporting codes.
And former national netball captain, Zanele Mdodana might find racing 42km a tougher assignment than shooting hoops in netball contests, while Ryk Neethling could experience the “fish out of water” syndrome in the latter stages of the race.
Pienaar, launched the Captain’s Challenge initiative six months back, appealing to captains of sport and industry to join him on the starting line. “I’ve run out of excuses – it’s time I ran the race,” Pienaar admitted. “I have completed the London Marathon, and now I’m aiming to run Cape Town, surely one of the best races on the planet.
“The marathon promotes health and wellness. Participation in an endurance event is one way in which people are able to transform their lifestyles. I call on all captains of sport and industry to join me and lead by example. If a rugby forward can do it, then no one has an excuse!”
Apart from the inevitable inter-sporting code rivalry which will add spice to Sunday’s race, the “Challenge your Captain” initiative provides the opportunity for leaders to raise awareness for a healthy lifestyle whilst raising money for charity. The Make a Difference Foundation, Unogwaja Challenge and Endurocad are three of the charities and entities that will benefit from the Captain’s Challenge.
“The Captain’s Challenge is about encouraging not only participation, but most importantly participation for a cause,” race director, Janet Welham, commented. “The key focus of the Cape Town Marathon is to leverage positive change and what better way to realise this goal than by having leaders across South Africa’s various sporting codes, business, politics, arts, culture and society accept the challenge? Through their unselfish actions, these individuals motivate and inspire all of us.”
Race ambassador, Elana Meyer emphasised that running can change lives and that the Captain’s Challenge was an ideal platform to achieve this. “Having run many marathons, I know how personal and fulfilling the experience is. Particularly when one commits to helping others less fortunate than oneself.”