SA's endurance sport love affair
Brad Morgan
5 October 2006It's no wonder that South Africans love long-distance challenges - the country's beautiful, contrasting landscape is ideal for endurance sport activities. Competition in four sports stands out.
On foot
Endurance running is highlighted by two ultra-marathons, both of them world-renowned events. The Comrades Marathon is run annually between the capital of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and the balmy coastal city of Durban. The distance can vary slightly from year to year, but it usually is in the region of 90 kilometres.
The race attracts approximately 13 000 runners, and the route is lined by great numbers of cheering supporters. Since the introduction of prize money, the Comrades has also drawn some of the world's top ultra-distance athletes.
The undoubted King of the Comrades, though, is South Africa's Bruce Fordyce, who won the grueling race an astounding nine times between 1981 and 1990.
In recent times, runners from overseas have also claimed their share of victories, including Vladimir Kotov winning the up run for Durban to Pietermaritzburg three times in succession, but no one has managed in any way to duplicate the successes of Fordyce in both directions.
The popularity of the Comrades is based largely on some dramatic finishes over the years. But it is not the race for the title that provides the drama as much as the struggle for the also-rans, right at the end of the race, to cross the finish line before the cutoff gun sounds for medals.
SA's second ultra-popular ultra-marathon is the 56-kilometre Two Oceans Marathon. Its greatest drawcard is an extremely picturesque route that winds along the coastline surrounding Cape Town. The Two Oceans, like the Comrades, also manages to pull top professionals from overseas.
Zimbabwean men have enjoyed good success in recent years, winning the men's race four times since 2001, including a double for Marco Mambo in 2004 and 2005.
The women's race has succeeded in drawing many of the top female athletes preparing for the Comrades Marathon, which takes place just over a month after the Two Oceans, and as a result has produced winners who have gone on to Comrades' victory. They include Elena Nurgalieva and Tatyana Zhirkova.
On wheels
Cycling is a very well supported family-oriented sport, and South Africa boasts the world's largest individually time event, the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour. Like the Two Oceans Marathon, it is raced around the Cape Peninsula. In recent years it has drawn an increasing number of overseas cyclists, and it forms part of the International Cycling Union's prestigious Golden Bike Series.
The event also forms part of the Giro Del Capo, a professional tour event, which ends with the Cycle Tour, thus drawing professional teams from South Africa and from abroad.
The Laureus Foundation has used the Cycle Tour to raise funds for sport in South Africa, drawing big names to help boost the profile of the event, including Miguel Indurain, a five-time winner of the Tour de France, and rugby legend Hugo Porta.
Overseas interest in the race continues to grow and in 2006 it topped 2 000 entrants, including competitors from Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Australasia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
The voice of cycling, Phil Liggett, is a huge fan of the event, and also loves the Pick 'n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge, another mass-participation cycle race that takes place in Johannesburg.
The race has been recognised by cycling's world governing body, the UCI, as a model to the cycling world, and it continues to show fantastic growth. In fact, the aim of the organisers is to reach 40 000 entrants by 2008.
On and in the water
Off of land, the Dusi Canoe Marathon is a three-day challenge that requires
remarkable stamina. It is not just about canoeing, but running too, and that with a canoe on one's shoulders. Plenty of portaging means that good running is a requirement to do well.
The Dusi pulls over 2 000 competitors annually, but overseas contestants tend to shy away from it because of the high premium it places on running.
The Fish River Canoe Marathon, however, does draw some of the world's top marathon paddlers. It takes place over two days, starting in the Eastern Cape Town of Cradock.
In 2006, the event had its first ever international winners when the Czech combination of Michala Mruzkova and Katarina Vacikova claimed the women’s title in record-setting fashion.
South Africans, though, are among the best canoe marathon paddlers in the world and are tough to beat. This is borne out by the fact that Hank McGregor won the K1 Canoe Marathon World Championship title in 2003, while Shaun Rubenstein landed the title in 2006.
South Africa is also home to the world's largest swimming event, the Midmar Mile. The number of entries has rapidly accelerated well past the 10 000 mark, topping 16 000 by 2003. It is so popular that it is now swum over two days.
Former winners include some big names in the world of swimming, such as Ryk Neethling, a previous winner of the FINA World Cup swimming series and an Olympic gold medal winner in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay, as well as Germany's Jorg Hoffman, a former world champion over 400 metres and 1 500 metres, and Terence Parkin, the winner of silver in the 200 metres breaststroke at the Sydney Olympics.
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