Southgate 15km Race Report…A Trip Down Memory Lane

On Sunday morning I ran the Southgate 15km road race at the Southgate Mall in Johannesburg. I ran this as a training run and also to support the local running club. It was a cold morning with the wind blowing clouds in from the North East.

The sun was trying to get through the clouds.

I arrived early and registration was a breeze. It was a bonus to have the race close to home as traveling time was only 10 – 15 minutes. Most runners sat in their cars waiting for the start. The wind was just too cold to stand around outside. The race started at 6:30 and I waited in my car until 6:24 before making my way to the start.

Waiting for the start.

There was a medium size field and I’m sure the cold wind and clouds had a number of runners stay at home/in bed rather than venturing out for a 15km run. The start was uneventful as was the rest of the race. I wanted to run comfortably the whole race and that’s exactly what I did.

Not long after the start.

The venue is close to my parents’ house and I was happy when the route went in the direction of some very familiar roads. Soon after the start we ran on some parts of the road I used to cycle to university in the eighties. This was a pleasant trip down memory lane!

I cycled this road to university in the eighties.

The memory trip didn’t end here as we made our way through the suburbs towards a more industrial area. Here we joined some of my old running routes. From 7km to 12.5km we ran on the route I used when I trained for my first race in 1981. I ran thousands of kilometers on these roads through the nineteen eighties. This was fun!

On my old running routes.

Long gradual hill. I've run up here countless times.

Once we reached the top of the hill in the photo above, the rest of the race was flat and down for a very comfortable finish. I was feeling really good. The rest and low mileage after my gallbladder infection was certainly good for my legs. I had to force myself to just relax and not push too hard during the last few kilometers.

Flat...

...and gradual down...

...to the finish.

I finished feeling strong and relaxed. I wasn’t tired at all. This is great as I can now say I’ve recovered 100% since being sick. I can now start my buildup for the Sani Stagger marathon in November with confidence.

A nice medal for a nice race. The race organization was superb and I had a very pleasant run down memory lane.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!