Racing through tears
Pain in their hearts will overcome the pain in their feet
FOR some Comrades Marathon runners, the pain in their hearts will overcome the pain in their feet as they hit the home stretch of the race tomorrow.
For Durban veteran runner Denise Towell, her race will be full of memories of her 9-year-old nephew, Matthew, who died of cancer on Thursday.
The famous ultra-marathon, which drew thousands of competitors, their families and friends to the city yesterday and which is estimated to have an economic impact of more than R600 million, will also bring in millions of rand for the vulnerable, sick and needy.
Towell, who will run her 16th Comrades, struggled to hold back the tears at registration yesterday, saying her run would raise funds for Rainbows and Smiles, an organisation which assists children with cancer.
“Matthew was diagnosed last year. I told him every step I take in Comrades is a step for him to heal. He died yesterday (Thursday), but I’ll still be running for him.
“There are a lot of runners out there running for their own cause.
“Comrades is full of ups and downs, but you have to keep going, very much like the journey in the fight against cancer,” she said.
While the marathon supports six official charities with 500 entries open to runners supporting a cause, there are also thousands not officially registered as running for charity, yet they run for a reason – be it a one-person or team effort.
Comrades veteran Bruce Fordyce, who ran the charity race at the London Marathon in April, said this week that having a cause could give a runner that crucial push in the final tough stages of the race.
And the combined effort of pounding all 87km with a multimillion-rand spin-off for charity often has a human story behind the journey.
Towell’s teammate, Bonni Suckling, from Johannesburg, will run to celebrate her 6-year-old son Jed’s last words, “let’s make today the funnest day ever”.
When Jed, aged “6 years, 8 months and 8 days”, died of brain cancer in 2011, Suckling’s world ended.
“I was a couch potato, I was taking too many anti-depressants and I tried to take my own life.
“When I was in hospital, I thought about Jed’s last words.
“At that stage he was paralysed and was losing his sight.
“I decided to live life and started running and I just ran and ran.”
In 2014, she completed her first Iron Man, followed by her first Comrades in 2015.
Last year she completed Iron Man, Comrades and climbed Kilimanjaro, raising funds for children with cancer at each event.
“At the 70km mark, I feel my son’s spirit with me.
“I run Comrades for that moment of being with him,” she said.
Another parent pushing himself to the limit will be Oupa Ratlhagane from Pretoria, whose 5-year-old son, Amo, was diagnosed with bone-marrow cancer three years ago.
It will be Ratlhagane’s 15th Comrades.
“I am dedicating this race to him. He is such a brave little guy and I want to bring him to Comrades next year,” he said.
Among other teams running for charity will be the well-known Cows, which raise funds for CHOC Childhood Cancer Charity, and aim for R10 million this year in their 10th Comrades. Over the last nine years the familiar team dressed in cow suits have raised more than R30m. Team member this year and cancer survivor Morné Julyan from the Eastern Cape was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2006 when he was in Grade 6. He started chemotherapy the same day.
“I remember using a razor blade and putting Vaseline on my head after it was shaven to make it nice and shiny. People said I looked like Kojak,” he said this week.
Also supporting children in need is the Bouncing Man, Durban’s Myles Buxton, who will bounce a ball up to Pietermaritzburg to raise funds for two children, a young girl with leukaemia and 10-year-old Vitthal Maharaj, who has muscular dystrophy and desperately needs a motorised wheelchair.
This week Fordyce said: “The charity aspect of running is great and it gives you a sense of purpose, especially when you get to the part of the race where you say ‘what am I doing here?’ – then it can be good motivation.
“I ran the London Marathon in April, which is for charity, and the guy next to me was running in a beer (can) suit. At the start everyone asks what charity you are running for and what time you are hoping for,” he said, adding that, as an ultra-marathon, the Comrades had that extra distance to cover.
“Comrades is a hard race and to wear a costume is really tough.”
At the Comrades media briefing yesterday, Comrades Marathon general manager Chris Fisher said the economic impact of the marathon was estimated at R600 million, split between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, while spectators along the side of the road were expected to hit the 400 000 mark.
“We believe social media is driving people to come out and watch the race… This year the Comrades app is available so the public can track the race live,” said Fisher.