22 March – Two Oceans Half Marathon

Although I (Jim) am not naturally drawn to long races – or any footrace for that matter – I have done a few half marathons in the past few years. So when I caught wind of the Two Oceans Half Marathon (21 km) and Ultra Marathon (56 km), I signed up for the Half and began my training. (By the way, it is called “Two Oceans” because the Ultra (unfortunately not the Half) passes along both sides of the cape peninsula, providing fantastic views of the Atlantic and Indian oceans).

The race began early (6 am!) in part because the Ultra, which begins at 6:25, takes so long and would be no fun at all in a hot, mid-day sun. Honestly I was not quite as excited about this race as I have been about past races, in large part because I was preparing for it alone. My older sister, Katie, and other friends (Chip Sanders, Jennifer Felske, and cousin Jeremy Pennington, to name a few) were missing! But once I arrived at the start and joined the 7,500 other runners I began to smile. The energy, hustle and chatter, the anticipation floating all around you – it’s catching.

Aside from one nagging problem, the run itself went smoothly – a few more hills than in other half’s that I’ve done, but beautiful. And that ‘nagging problem’… let me just say that I learned a lesson: do not gorge on a large steak dinner, followed by an equally large dessert, the day before a race!! You want to be feeling good on race morning, not bursting and less than comfortable in the lower regions. Throughout the race I had some major intestinal “traffic problems” which some pain and discomfort. Needless to say, I finished the race but felt pretty bad the rest of the day. Friends, I beg you, please learn from my mistake!



(the finish line and tents were set up on the rugby fields of UCT campus, so those are some of the campus residences in the background)