MARIUS Brown (43) from the Western Cape is on the second last leg towards completing his ‘redemption run’.
The father of three, from Lambert’s Bay, a small fishing community along the West Coast, decided to tackle the almost 2000 km distance from Cape Town to Durban after he encountered certain personal experiences in his life during 2003.
“The purpose of my run is to raise awareness regarding the impact of absent fathers in a household and how it can possibly contribute to crime. I strongly believe that the fatherless, and those who are not cared for properly, are more susceptible to crime than those in more stable homes with an active father or father figure.”
“For the most part of my life I grew up without an active father and so I vowed that I would never let my children feel that empty space. I remember how alone, lost and confused I felt after my parents separated following years of constant fighting,” said Mr Brown.
When he was 15, he witnessed his only brother drown right in front of him. He tried to help but couldn’t. “I’ll never forget how helpless I felt when I saw him fighting for his life. Water sputtering out of his mouth as he called my name to help him. He finally stopped struggling and as he was slowly being swallowed by the ocean he looked at me with his eyes wide open. I knew then that I would never recover from this horrific experience,” he said.
He felt the same excruciating emotional pain when his wife and him separated, just like his parents did years before.
After the divorce his life was ripped apart and he took to alcohol. After losing everything he returned to Lambert’s Bay and worked at sea as a shoreline fisherman.
In 2008, when he was at his lowest point, his life changed. He was offered a role in a movie ‘Everyman’s Taxi’.
“I was thrown a life line and embraced that opportunity and slowly started pulling myself to safety and back into the lives of my children. My own journey to self-discovery began.”
During the filming he received news that his son (14) had been admitted to hospital after being burnt with boiling water. It was only then that he realised what he had done to his children, deserting them and leaving them unprotected.
As a result of these experiences, Mr Brown decided to run from Cape Town to Durban.
He started his race on April 20, and was escorted along the way by SAPS members as well as traffic officers.
He reached Port Shepstone on Wednesday at around 4pm and departed for Umkomaas yesterday.
He will complete the last leg to Durban tomorrow. The ‘redemption runner’, as he calls himself, plans to raise more awareness on this topic next year, and hopes to have more community involvement.
After completing his 2000km run, one would think to give the legs a rest, but the Western Cape man, will be running the Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban this Sunday.
While passing through Port Shepstone, Port Shepstone cluster commander Major General Thembi Ndlovu, bid him a safe race and conveyed her appreciation for caring for the community and creating this awareness along the route.
