Palapye Half Marathon

I don’t know whether there is a tradition here in Botswana with regards to having a race on May Day/Worker’s Day, but the Palapye Half Marathon happened on the May Day weekend this year. I was quite keen to see what the standard of racing is like in Botswana, so I was looking forward to it.  There was also a 10 km and a 4 km on offer, as well as the severely Facebook-hyped after party, so it promised to draw a large crowd.

The route was a tour de Palapye, starting at the four star Majestic Five hotel (well, close to it). From there we followed the main national road, the A1, for about 7 km and then came back through the village finishing back at the Majestic Five. 

The route.

The half’s field was about 50 people and from the gun a group of about 15 to 20 guys sped off at a cracking pace, most of whom were never to be seen again (at least by myself).  Amongst them was a duo of ladies running in socks and a couple of guys in track suits. I am currently preparing for an ultra-distance trail run and thus my aim was to run negative splits and hopefully run a sub 90. I was going steady and soon caught a couple of the sprinters.  Although it was at less than two kilometres into the race, everyone I caught kicked the moment I pulled alongside them and I can only conclude that Batswana runners definitely like a good fight.

After 6 km I caught two guys and I ended up running “with” them for the next 10 km. The first one I caught was the guy in the tracksuit pants and sneakers. He tucked in behind me, seeking some shelter from the head wind that we ran into for the first 7 km. I dropped him every now and again (not intentionally), but he kept coming back (he had some loose change in his pocket and thus I could hear him speeding up). The other guy was just in front of us. He was sporting regular race attire and was long and athletic with a giant stride (slightly taller than me – unusual for locals – and with a massive stride). As Tracksuit and I were closing in on Giant Stride he kept the distance between us at about 5 m. As I started to close the gap between us, he kicked hard and opened it to 15 metres. In about 2 minutes I would close the gap again and at 5 metres off he goes. He did this every time I closed the gap. Every.single.time! This literary carried on for close to 10 km! At one stage I backed off and Tracksuit came past and joined Giant Stride. But as I caught them, same thing. Of course no one can keep this up and as I started my final push at 16 km I dropped both of them (and finished with a margin of at least 5 minutes), but their sheer determination and athletism impressed me.  

I finished strong just outside the 90 minute mark. I did still have the legs to jog the 10 km home so I was happy with my preparation. The winning time was a very fast 68 minutes for the men and 1:26 for the ladies. The 10 km was won in 30 minutes and 35 minutes respectively.  Thus there are some very decent runners in Botswana. But there is room for a massive amount of development since running currently does not draw a significant number of participants (I have met less than 20 other runners on the road over the last 5 months and then mostly soccer players jogging).

I will definitely support the event again. I do think there is room for improvement since, despite being sanctioned by the Botswana Athletics Association, the following marred the experience:

• the half and 10 km started 40 minutes late because “the officials from Botswana Athletic Association” have not yet arrived,
• the start line, route and finish was not clearly marked,
• adequate marshals were not provided: intersections and railway crossings were not manned and traffic was allowed to proceed as normal,
• the section on the A1 (the main carrier through Botswana) was downright unsafe: traffic was not controlled and no cones or signs were placed to warn other road users that a race was in progress: trucks sped past me less than a metre away, and,
• marshals did not have flag to indicate the way.
• Lastly, I also think pretty much everybody likes a carbonated sugary drink after a race.

I will convey these thoughts to the organisers and hopefully next year the event will attract double the number of people.