Soul City Running Morning

Peer pressure from my eight year old son got me to attend the Soul City half marathon this past Sunday instead of doing a 20km training run at home. The highlight of this very difficult half marathon was not my run, but my son’s first 5km finish. The race started and finished at the Sentech tower in Johannesburg.

This broadcast tower is situated on one of the highest hills in Johannesburg so the start was a steep downhill and regardless to say, the finish included the same road back up to the top. This was the same for the 5km run as well so I’m very proud of my boy for finishing his first 5km on such a tough route.

This half marathon is one of the more difficult ones in Gauteng and the route included some very tough hills. The highlight on my run was running over the Nelson Mandela Bridge while watching a steam train with six passenger cars below as it left JHB station. I’m a bit of a train freak so this was a bonus for me.

All in all it was a very enjoyable morning and a good way for me to get my long run for the week done. This completed a 59.2km week for me as well as a 221.5km month. Next month I’ll run between 250 and 270km and then the serious buildup for Comrades will start in January. Sounds like fun and I must say I’m really looking forward to it all.