Soweto Marathon and 10K

Over the weekend of November 6-7, 2010 we went to Johannesburg to run the Soweto Marathon and/or 10K. There were about 20 of us caravaning from Swaziland and let me just say that approximately 19 of us ran the 10K. Which, as you can probably do the math, ONE person ran the marathon. Our friend Michelle (PAC Doctor) was running her first marathon, so we were going to cheer her on and at least had to do the 10K. One of our friends from Swaziland, Allison, had since been transferred to Johannesburg for her work as a consultant; therefore, we piled into her place. She was a very gracious host as every bed, couch and square foot of floor space was taken!

History Lesson: Soweto is an urban area outise of the city of Johannesburg bordering the city's mining belt towards the south. It stands for 'South Western Township' and its origin was as a black settlement during South Africa's Apartheid government. Black citizens were relocated to townships outside of the city and Soweto is the most populous of these with approximately one million residents.

Back to the story...On Saturday morning we went to the Expo center to pick up our race numbers and packets. It was definitely not the 'expo' that you'd experience at say the Chicago or New York marathons. This was the sign that awaited us upon entry.

So, we followed directions to the 'collections' table and retrieved our race numbers. I commented at the time that it was strange not to receive our 'race/goody bag' as on the registration form I had been asked to request a size for my t-shirt. This was actually foreshadowing for the next day, though, because there ended up being a riot and 100% stampede by 1000's (yes, 1000's) of people in pursuit of their race t-shirt. Doors were busted in, fences were trampled, and t-shirts were snatched. I am not exaggerating in the least and I am assuming that next year there will be t-shirt pick-up along with your race number. I hope.

After picking up our race numbers we went to the Apartheid Museum.

None of us had been, but many of us had always wanted to go, so we took advantage of the free afternoon and visited. On our way, we followed the signs that pointed us to the museum, but when we arrived, we were in the parking lot for an amusement park! It was quite the juxtaposition, the amusement park vs. the Apartheid Museum, and we decided that this would be a cruel joke for a kid (having to go to a museum, when there were roller coasters next door). Turns out, this was also a cruel joke for Doug. Okay, just kidding. Kind of. I can guarantee if we had more time (i.e. the park didn't close at 5:00pm) we would have gone after touring the museum.

Doug, me, Keri and Eric in front of Gold Reef City

Since the museums cafeteria was closed and we were all starving, we decided to run across the street for lunch prior to entering the museum for good. Where did we eat, you ask? Well, at the casino, of course. Because what Apartheid Museum/amusement park intersection is complete without a casino? Bizarre-o land.

It was just like Vegas, except that there were impala in the fountain

And gold-plated elephants

Keri and I took ZAR20 and played a safari slot machine without any luck...

After lunch we went to the Apartheid Museum for real and were impressed by the mutlimedia format and the history explained. It was a powerful and interesting exhibit, but much like visiting a holocaust museum, it isn't what you'd call 'uplifting.'

There were many art installations, like this one, which was supposed to represent the people past/present who have visited the museum.

And this one represented the many people illegally executed during Apartheid

Additionally, there was a special Mandela exhibition

On Sunday morning Doug, Michelle and I got up at 4:00am to make our way to the marathon start (because it gets so hot here, races start by 6:00am). Since Doug and I were the only ones in the group who had ever run a marathon, we were sympathetic to Michelle and agreed to accompany her and then to wait around for the start of the 10K.

Everyone had a successful race day and completed either the 10K or marathon. It was a really beautiful day and interesting course.

Keri and I after the 10K

After our race, Doug and I ran backwards on the marathon course to pick-up Michelle and to run with her at the bitter end when the finish line just can't come fast enough. We picked her up at the 38km mark and ran her in to the finish.

Finish line

Doug, Michelle and Steph (PAC Doctor) after Michelle finished the marathon

I would like to say that our day ended here, but (unfortunately) no trip to Johannesburg is complete without a car being stolen. And this time it was Tammy's (TechnoServe) white RAV-4 which bit the dust. You might think that I am kidding or that the rumors about crime in Johannesburg are exaggerated, but I'm here to tell you that this is the third car from our group of friends that's been stolen. THIRD. Needless to say, this put a damper on the day, but the good news was Tammy had full-coverage insurance (and none of the rest of us did). I'll leave it at that.