Athlete completes 1st Cape Marathon

BLUFF Athletics Club runner, Johnathan Heslop, took on the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, October 17.

This was the runner’s first Cape Town City Marathon and his first race out of KZN, clocking 3 hours 9 minutes at the finish. He has completed six marathons in total to date. He was coached by David Ashworth in preparation for the race and was on a three month training block specifically for a marathon.

He shared that his diet generally involves lots of complex carbohydrates, rich in protein and healthy fats.

“The marathon was very well organised, every runner had to undergo Covid-19 rapid testing before being allowed into the expo to collect our race numbers. There was great support on the roads during the race and the water tables were excellent. The weather was the typical ‘Cape Town four seasons in one day’ as we had moments of heavy rains, sunshine, overcast and some wind.

“There were 10 000 runners running this marathon and at the start, we were separated into 25 batches of 400 runners. The groups of 400 were then set off one minute apart from each other so that there was adequate spacing between the runners on the road.”

Johnathan said he found the experience unique as he does with every race. “You learn a little bit more about yourself and gain more experience on how to better prepare for the next race both physically and emotionally. Being back in the racing environment is so hard to describe, you have to be there really understand how amazing it is.

“It’s been exactly two-and-a-half years now since I made the spontaneous decision to start running. Having never really run before besides the odd school sports day. I entered an 8km fun run and the rest is history.

“Running has taught me so much about myself and what I am capable of. I would’ve never thought after running my first marathon (4hrs49mins) that two years later I would take 1hr40mins off that time. It has been such an incredible journey already in what feels like the longest time because of the countless friends and memories I have made on the road,” said Johnathan, who is excited to participate in more races next year.  

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