Two Mercedes-Benz SA-supported road races going back-to-back over two weekends are quite a unique feature for any province, and Border are surely particularly proud of what Mercedes-Benz offers the region in all aspects of life.
The MBSA Gallop over 17km and 5km is in fact the third sponsored event on the annual calendar, with the Home Run having taken place earlier in the year and the one that is perhaps the flagship race attracting a huge turnout of close to 1,400 runners just in the 15km and many more hundreds in the 5km.
The Gallop is the “infant” in the series and does not conform to everyday race style running, given that while it starts on the tar of the N6 at Python Park and finishes at the same venue, after approximately 2km it veers off onto gravel farm roads, which offer what many would refer to as “proper” hills.
The loop undertaken at that juncture is a real test for any runner, regardless of fitness, but it is also scenic and stimulating.
The first Gallop race was run in 2019, and it drew a positive first field of in excess of 450 runners in the 17km and hundreds more in the 5km.
2019 was, however, when racing drew to a halt, and it was not until 2022 that the race was able to return amid much scepticism still.
Yet about 350 athletes braved the unsure climate and ran to ensure the race was back, now attracting an anticipated 1,200 runners this weekend.
The 2019 race saw a superb dice between Yanga Malusi, who has gone on to represent Western Province on the roads, and Zuko Kupiso, who beat him on the day by six seconds.
Kupiso, a brilliant runner, has sadly faded from the running scene since then.
Other top men to have been prominent are Cwenga Nose, Habtamu Mishamo, Anele Dlamini and Malixole Kalideni.
Dlamini ran 54:48 to win in 2022, Malusi 55:19 in 2023 and, incredibly, Nose also clocked an identical 55:19 one year later.
Among the women, Hanlie Botha has recorded the fastest time of 69:39, while Lusanda Bomvana has run 71:26.
The 2026 race calendar has picked up further momentum of late and many more races, to whet the appetite, are set to follow, from 10km to marathon running.
With the launch of the 100th Comrades Marathon having taken place this week, there is bound to be a new emphasis on qualifying in the hope of gaining entry to not only Africa’s largest participation road race but to what seems sure to become one of the most controversial build-ups to any event on the South African calendar in recent history, given the impasse between the Comrades Marathon Association, KZN Athletics and Athletics SA.
It is messy, but what better way of dwelling on solutions than going out into the country atmosphere that surrounds Python Park and working out a personal strategy in the quest to race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on June 13 2027?