Iconic Soweto Marathon is alive and well

While some events have struggled to keep up, and others have folded, South Africa’s improved standards have resulted in a road running boom across the nation, giving dedicated promoters and race organisers an opportunity to hitch their events to a bandwagon that’s gaining momentum.

No race in the country offers more evidence of the potential turnaround that can be achieved in the current road running landscape than the iconic Soweto Marathon.

Having established its place among the most popular road races in the country, the “People’s Race” was called off in 2013 after a power battle between Athletics South Africa and the Soweto Marathon Trust chased away potential sponsors. It was a dark day for the sport. Few races have captured the interest of the local road running community in the way the Soweto race did in the Nineties.

While the 42km contest is run at altitude, essentially eliminating the potential for record times, it has served up some memorable races with elite athletes from across Africa producing exciting battles up front.

More importantly, the race opened the door for amateur South African runners to join arms in unity through the streets of a township which played a crucial role in a brutal battle for equality, and today runners appropriately pass such historical sites as the Hector Pieterson Memorial, Vilakazi Street and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

Though other popular races have suffered similar fates in

Wesley Bo on

recent years, including the lucrative City 2 City and Legends ultra-marathons in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, the cancellation of the Soweto Marathon left a feeling of uncertainty hanging over the sport.

The subsequent explosion of world-class races around the country, however, has resulted in a rise in interest in road running, and rather than allowing the event to fade away, Soweto Marathon stakeholders managed to leap aboard a moving bandwagon.

With the relaunched Cape Town Marathon securing IAAF Gold Label status, and the Run Your City series attracting some of the world’s best distance runners, the standard of the country’s best races has been elevated to a new level.

And while some races have struggled to follow suit – and there will seemingly always be space on the calendar for smaller club events – the battle for highprofile sponsors has resulted in some event organisers slipping off the pace.

For others, however, it has been somewhat of a saving grace, and popular races like the Comrades and Two Oceans ultra-marathons have continued to grow in popularity.

None, however, have latched on to the recent boom with such tenacity as the Soweto Marathon organisers.

Five years after the race was scrapped from the calendar, it has returned with a deafening bang and 30 000 entries have been sold for tomorrow’s 42km, 21km and 10km races.

Even with headline sponsor Old Mutual backing off in its support of the sport next year, retaining only limited interest in the Soweto race, organisers and promoters around the country have proved that a professional approach can elevate road running events to unprecedented levels of interest.

At the very least, the local road running community can rest easily in the knowledge that the country’s most historic and iconic standard marathon is in a healthy state.

As long as the Soweto Marathon is alive and well, the sport is doing just fine.