A Winelands marathon goes virtual

The Winelands Marathon has been one of South Africa’s most popular road marathons since its launch in the 1970s but, as is the case for many road events in 2020, has been forced to bow to COVID pressure and move from real to virtual for this year.

From the time that colourful Helderberg Harriers founder, Robbie Dallas-Orr,  gave birth to the the club’s Winelands Marathon in the late 1970s, to last year, when a relative unknown local athlete, Tanaka Hove, held off favourite Ben Matiso to win an exciting race the Winelands has been steeped in memories of athletes’ determination, endurance and success.

None more so than when the young UCT athlete, Isavel Roche-Kelly raced to a South African marathon record of 2 hrs 42 min 27 sec in 1981 – a time which has stood as the race record for 39 years – or when Mtata-based Mluleki Nobanda broke the 2 hrs 20 min barrier to set a men’s race record of 2:18:27 in 1996.

While the mass of moving colour through the vineyards and strawberry fields of the farms around Stellenbosch will be absent this month, the virtual equivalent of the Winelands has attracted a four figure field, and just there is just 24 hours left for would-be participants to enter and stand a chance to win a range of prizes.

For less than R100 for all three distances – 5km, 10km, half marathon – to be run virtually next weekend, runners will earn a limited-edition cap, a multifunctional tube scarf and a water bottle.  In addition, they will be in line to win a range of enviable prizes, including running gear and accessories, including multisport GPS watches, generous hampers from sports retailers and many more.

Those wishing for a last minute dot com entry can do so on www.topevents.co.za before midnight tomorrow (Friday 13 November).