4-37pm
I’ve spent the whole day recovering…and I didn’t even run! The alarm went off at 4am and I got up to make David breakfast. We left home before 4-30am and I dropped him a block or two away from the start, turned around and drove back to Woolsack Drive where I parked. Then I joined the throng of runners and spectators walking the 2km to the start. Hundreds and hundreds of people all heading in the same direction in the early morning darkness. It was cool, but dry.
It was my hope to try and find David, but spectators were not allowed beyond a certain point. I hung around there for a while and eventually walked the 2km back to the car. By the time I got back, the race had started. It was dark and isolated by Woolsack Drive, a situation that took me a bit by surprise. I found myself walking in the dark, alone and with no one around! I sat in the car for a while and then phoned Mike. Around 6-30am, I walked up Woolsack, through UCT Middle Campus to the Finish at the Upper Campus sports fields. My first stop was to put my head in the massive spectator tent…
Then I scouted around the finish line…this is the side the runners see…
…when they are running down the final stretch…
Once I had decided where I would stand, I went and joined the coffee queue…
While in the queue, the first half marathon runners came in AND I saw David on the big screen running up Southern Cross Drive, looking very strong! 🙂 I phoned Mike immediately and he ear-marked the place on the PVR!
With coffee in hand, I returned to my spot at the finish and watched all the runners coming in. I had been there for about 15 minutes when it began to rain. I had taken a BIG umbrella & put it up, much to the delight of the two young girls either side of me. They snuck in under it!
I was expecting David at about 1 hour 50, so I was ecstatic when he arrived at 1 hour 40 & 27 seconds…
Well done David! Two Oceans # 1. I am sure there will be many more!
Getting out of UCT was a task of mammoth proportions. The rain was bucketing down and the traffic was gridlocked. Once we had got onto the M3 though, it was a free run all the way to and over Ou Kaapse Weg. On the Sun Valley side of the pass, where the road was closed, we parked on the side of the road, walked a short distance past the Ultra marathon runners and Mike collected us.
For the rest of the day, I have spent a large amount of it in bed! We had a happy visitor who joined me…Gizmo (neighbour’s cat)…
Now, there is soup on the stove and garlic bread ready for warming.
Easter Saturday is coming to an end.
John 3:16-17 says: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂