UVONGO PARKRUN REVIEW
GETTING
THERE
As you can imagine,
Getting to Uvongo in South Africa may be a bit of a trek, especially if you are
travelling from Brisbane, but we were on holiday over the Christmas break and
my brother-in-law and I decided to give this event a go. As it happened, it was
raining quite heavily on that particular day so my brother woesed out and sat
in the car. The event starts on the lawn above the St Michael’s on Sea beach.
The public access is really good even though preparations were underway for the
New Years Eve celebrations so temporary fencing had been erected along the
roads leading up to the start.
PARKING
We
were directed to a parking spot a little way off from the start. We got there
fairly early so sat in the car for a while waiting for more folks to arrive.
The facility is designed to handle many vehicles so parking was easy.
TOILETS
The
toilets were a little bit third world. But for goodness sake, we were in Africa
on the Kwa-Zulu Natal South Coast. We were fortunate to have a toilet facility.
THE
COURSE
I wasn’t really prepared
for this course but I am so glad I did it! I was expecting to run south, but
the run director pointed us north in the direction of the beach. We set off and
headed onto the beach and around a couple of cone markers before trudging back
onto the concrete path. The lead runners were barefoot which I thought would
have been a disadvantage seeing the concrete path ahead of us, but this path lasted for a
very short distance and soon we were back onto a well-eroded, single track with
a clear view of the ocean all the way to Uvongo Beach.
There is one section of
the course which is run on bitumen, before a completely different experience;
the cobblestones of the Uvongo promenade. If that wasn’t enough, we had a
second beach experience before turning back to do it all again.
With this being the holiday
season; there were many first time runners at the event who were probably
holidaying at nearby resorts so I was expecting it to be quite social. In fact,
it was a fairly fast run. The beach section certainly separated everyone out,
allowing the dash to the single track and the inevitable single file to be
manageable. I ended up running amongst a few young runners who had gone out a
bit too fast so as they tired on the track, I had to go around them. The
randomly scattered mole mounds and uneven grass made it all the more important
to watch your footing.
The day we ran, it was
raining so there were no public members anywhere along the track but I suppose
this could have been a little different had the weather been sunny. The cobbled
stretch down to the Uvongo beach is normally quite populated with street vendors
and tourists but at 7:00 in the morning, I am sure this isn’t a problem.
The course is spectacular
and beautifully authentic. It is so different to any parkrun I have run
anywhere else in the world. It is certainly not a course designed to get a PB,
but the beauty is incomparable.
VOLUNTEERS
The
run director was really encouraging. In Australia, I am sure we would have cancelled
the event for the day because of the rain, but in good old SA, we soldiered on
regardless and the director egged us on the whole way. I don’t think they considered the option of cancelling. Marshalls were out on the course and the table was very organized,
even in poor weather conditions.
PHOTOS
I
perused the Uvongo Facebook page and was delighted to find photographic
evidence of me being there After the run, a past student of mine came up to me
and said hi which was really nice. I certainly can’t go many places without being
recognized by past students or parents. This is a total privilege.
THE ALL
IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS
My
fair weather brother-in-law waited for me at the C-Bali Restaurant where we
ordered a cuppa along with the other Parkrun participants. Service was not that
good, but who really cares, we got to look out on the Indian Ocean with a
spectacular view of the Kwa-Zulu Natal coastline. Life at that point couldn’t have
been better.
OVERALL
This Parkrun is certainly
unique. The sand and cobblestones add a degree of difficulty but the coastal
community spirit was fun, especially for the tourists visiting over Christmas. The
Gary rating for this event is an 9/10. Well done team.
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