Reaching the finish line
The Comrades Marathon took place last weekend, as many of us watched the runners painstakingly inch closer to the 89.8km finish line in Durban.
I would peek in every now and then as the rest of the family watched the events unfold on TV, before the power went out of course.
I take my hat off to those people. I mean the only marathon I have ever done is an all night video game marathon and I could not even make it to the end of that.
I was surprised to learn that dozens of runners from eMalahleni attended the Comrades such as ordinary average Joes and Janes with amazing endurance and mental discipline. We walk by them in the street and stand in line with them at the bank. It makes me wonder about other hidden talents ordinary citizens of eMalahleni might have but we never knew about.
Imagine the guy behind the counter at a supermarket was a musical genius and could conduct a symphony orchestra if given a chance to learn. Imagine the woman in the accounting department had a secret desire to paint and in an alternate universe she had her artwork displayed at the National Arts Museum.
Imagine if my brain was not out to sabotage my creative thoughts every chance it gets, I would be writing a column for a local newspaper by now… wait a minute.
The struggle continues, but the key word here is opportunity. It is really great to see sports programmes for underprivileged children but what about the music programmes, and performing arts, for example?
Ok I get it a ball is more accessible than a guitar, and an open field costs less than a theatre but somewhere along the line that one child that has a dream to play the ukulele deserves a chance to run the race as well.
However our small city is producing national and internal stars all the time. I wonder if there is a ukulele championship music battle thing?
Well done to all the runners who participated in the Comrades Marathon.
