East man walks a marathon around his neighbourhood

A 69-year-old Pretoria east man will stop at nothing to stay fit and walking seems to get him there.

René Oosthuizen completed his own marathon a week ago, covering 90km by walking on a street circuit in his neighbourhood in Moreleta Park X2.

“Surprisingly, the walk was good until about lap 80, when the inclines began to have effect,” he said.

“However, my determination was steadfast and I pushed on without hesitation.”

The walk was not without its challenges. Oosthuizen said he had a little hiccup on lap 69, when he swapped his running shoes for sandals in which he completed the final half marathon.

At the end of the run he realised he was dehydrated, which was rather unpleasant.

“I also have a badly bruised toenail. Both these ailments could have been avoided and will be addressed in future ventures,” he said.

“The circuit has a nasty little incline of about 80m and a total ‘climb’ of some 20m, resulting in a total 90-lap ‘climb’ of approximately 1 800m.”

The father of two told Rekord that he has been a “Fitbit addict” since November 2017, with daily goals of 11 000 steps and 99 floors.

To prepare himself, Oosthuizen was part of the “Bug’s Life” fitness classes which he said assisted in a keeping up a good routine during the past 18 months.

“Since March this year, I jogged or briskly walked a one kilometre street circuit past our residence, two laps in the beginning, increasing to five laps towards the end,” he said.

“During April, I did one 21-lap jog/walk, and during May one 13-lap jog and one 10-lap walk in order to determine my strategy and timing for doing the 90km distance.

“Based on this, I decided to walk rather than using the combination of walking and jogging and thus in June focused on my daily five lap walks until June 12.”

His inspiration for the walk was a neighbour who in 1978 shared with Oosthuizen that he had done the Comrades marathon before.

“I reckoned why not me as well, a nice challenge,” he said.

“I did my first one to two-kilometre jog outing with him on January 31, 1979. This fatal attraction built up momentum and resulted in my first Comrades on May 31, 1979.”

A systems engineer by profession, Oostehuizen said he was working on a late-life career seeking balance between body, mind and spirit.

He said physical fitness was an essential element.

“I have a vision of doing the Comrades once more at age 81 – my first one was at age 27,” he said.

“En-route to comrades@ninesquared I am setting annual goals to prepare for the event. Each of these goals will involve a 90km distance.”

He said many years of rat-racing during his professional career caused him to neglect his health and physical fitness which he will never do again, and his aim was to “live life to the full and be purposeful”.

“To achieve this it is necessary to be healthy and avoid medical care and pharmaceuticals at all cost,” he said.

“One needs to take control of one’s own life and body and trust your immune system.”

Finishing his race, Oosthuizen was welcomed by an entourage of family and friends at home, with his grandchildren holding up a placard written “Go Oupa, go”.

To help his body recover he rested it out and three days later, he felt spick-and-span, ready to pursue his next goal.

His advise to others: “Modern-day life detracts from health and forces most people to adopt the ‘sitting’ position much more than is good for you. Walking is perhaps the best physical activity, with the added benefit of being therapeutic. Get out there and do it!”

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