Everyone has their own Comrades story to tell

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Bo

It always amuses me when I chat to (mostly) non-runners and they ask, “Oh, so do you run the Comrades marathon?” (Runners will know what I’m talking about.)

The ironic thing is that as the Comrades marathon draws closer, I might not be running it, but I still get *goosies* and feel the excitement building. It’s one of the highlights of the year for me.

I’m one of those types of people that wake up at 5am on the morning to watch the start of the race on TV. I migrate to the couch later in the day where I veg with strict instruction that no one is allowed to visit. I follow all the runners I know who are running, every step of the way.

I also confess to being one of those types of people that never miss the excruciating cut off guns. I scream and shout urging runners to hurry up and run faster. I’m a bag of nerves watching the hours count down and in that final 10 minutes, when that last bus of hundreds of runners enters that field, led by the legend, Vlam, I’m overwhelmed with emotion.

In my answer about whether or not I run the race, I do tell people that Comrades blood does actually run in my family. My dad ran the race in the 80’s. How fabulous is this old photograph! I’m so proud of my dad! (He’s the one with the black cap.)

My dad was running the race during the 80’s when Bruce Fordyce was the nation’s hero. I often see Bruce at the races now and wonder how such a tiny man could win such an enormous race 9 times!

I guess, in a way, most South Africans grew up with their own Comrades marathon memories – either as a runner, or a supporter or spending the holiday watching the race on TV. Radio DJ, Ironman and my running friend, Brad Brown (@bigbradbrown), is hoping to capture people’s memories of Comrades in a book. Go check it out at: http://www.mycomradesjourney.co.za/. Maybe you have a story you’d like to share!

21 days to go…. just 21 days! *gulp*

Dear Matriculant, there’s something I need to tell you.

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Bo

I can remember the day I received my Matric results like it was yesterday. I was standing outside the gates of the school staring at the words on the piece of paper. I had passed Matric but with conditional exemption to University. I had failed Maths. I had failed it so badly that even though they had pushed me down to lower grade, I had still failed. If I wanted to do any degree at University, I would need to re-do Maths.

I was 17 years old when I matriculated. How the hell anyone at that age is supposed to know what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives is beyond me!

My parents did not have enough money to send me to University. My dad handed me a cheque for R2000 and wished me well. Whatever I had planned to do from that day on was solely in my hands.

The pressure to do something weighed heavily on me and so, I took the R2000, registered at Technikon SA for the first 5 subjects of the Library Science National Diploma. I figured that I loved reading and I loved books so why not study something that I love. I also started working at the Public Library in Bedfordview. Studying through correspondence was tough but as long as I passed, I got reimbursed for the money I had spent which paid for the next year’s subjects. It took me a full 6 years to finally obtain my BTech Degree in Library Science. By this stage I had also managed to get a job at Anglo American Corporation and a couple of years later, I moved to Standard Bank.

With my library and information background, I have managed to use that skill to not only do information centre work, but competitive intelligence, environmental analysis, strategic analysis and media. You see, it’s not the degree that mattered; it was the skill that I had picked up along the way. I was like a sponge and ensured that whatever I did, I was brilliant at it.

But more than that, the people I met and the mentors I chose right from day one made all the difference to my success. Added to all that has been my attitude and will to succeed. Today I regard myself as a highly successful career woman with a stunning CV with my name on it.

I feel really bad for kids when I see how low their marks are. I was there. I was not a stupid child. In fact, I was getting B’s and C’s for all my other subjects. But Maths was just not my thing.

The lesson is that it’s not the end of the world if you have bad marks. It’s what you choose to do now that will determine your future. And believe me, there is a future. Don’t get caught up in what other people think. Find a skill. Do something you enjoy doing. Even if it’s as simple as reading books. The world out there is nothing like school. It’s better!

I wish you all the best!

18th January 2022 * UPDATE*

I left my job in corporate in November 2018 & started my own business called Conversation Station. I am now a proud & successful business owner. Never stop moving forward. It feels like my life has only just begun! XXX

My high school reunion: Stepping back 20 years

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Bo

I have always found it odd when people talk about their high school reunions. The discussion is usually about how they are dreading it and how much they hated people they went to school with. So when I got the invite to my 20 year reunion, I wasn’t too sure what to think. Was it really that bad as everyone made out to be?

It’s not like I hated school. I didn’t have any bad experiences. I was well-liked by my teachers. I guess the thing that stood out for me the most was my friends. They’re the ones that made those years so fantastic and memorable.

The experiences with them was what played a part in how I viewed life when I left school 20 years ago and how I learnt to value friendship, trust and loyalty.

So I went. Nervous as hell (especially since KK was away and I went alone). It was like stepping back in time… I could not stop smiling.

My bestie from school (and who still is) put together a slide show of everyone: what we all looked like in 1992, what we looked like now, what we were up to…

It was so cool. How weird to see that friends from school were now parents with kids and full time jobs and responsibilities!

I imagined that we would all be sitting around quizzing each other about our present day lives but it was not to be. All we could talk about were memories from school. Stories of rebellion, our favourite and worst teachers, whether or not our headmaster was still alive. It was awesome to laugh and remember back.

No one really cared who was a big shot director now. No one even bothered to ask where I worked. It wasn’t even about who had put on weight, who had gone bald and who had/had not aged well. When we looked at each other’s faces, we saw the 18 year olds we knew from 1992.

I am so glad I went. It’s the latest I got home from a party in a long time and was on a high for so long. A part of me is happy to have seen all those faces and friends, but a part of me is sad that time is flying by so quickly. So much has happened during those 20 years. Ups and downs. We are sadly not the young, innocent, carefree youth we were then.

But for one evening, we most definitely were!

Taking a picture in my head

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Bo

The kennels where my dogs board when we go away happens to be on the same route of the Johnson Crane running race in Benoni. In fact, we run right passed the kennels as we head up to the 17 km mark of the half marathon.

So when I happened to be in the area recently dropping the girls off at the kennels, I pulled over, stopped the car and got out. There was nothing in sight. The hot sun beat down on the empty road, creating a mirage.

As the silence engulfed me, I was flooded with memories of previous Johnson Crane races. My very first half marathon was Johnson Crane. It was also where I hit the wall on that very road where I was standing. But the route where I managed to cut 20 minutes off my previous PB. I realised that out of all the races on the calendar, Johnson Crane is really close to my heart and one of my favourites.

As I stood looking down the road, I was unsure if it was the memories of the runs, or the light breeze that have me *goosies*, but I promised myself that in 2013 I would once again be back to challenge myself on that road, running that race.

The image of that long, lonely road is etched into my memory until then…