The 2 Oceans - What a day

Wow! That`s all I can say. What an absolutely amazing day 3 April 2010 turned out to be.

It started early, pretty much at 21:30 on the 2nd of April. I went to bed at that time and then lay awake for most of the night. I just could not sleep. The excitement was way too much for me to be able to close an eye. All I could think of was the race. I had done 3 half marathons before this one. All of them went reasonably well, with the exception of the last one where my knee had me hobbling for the last 10 km`s. It was a toughie and I think was the main reason why I had almost 2 years before attempting another one. But this was the big one, the biggest race I had ever entered. More than 11, 000 runners.

So I lay awake, going through every part of the race in my head. The start, the tough climb along Southern Cross Drive, going past Kirstenbosch and finally entering the stadium. I had absolutely no idea how it would go. I knew I had trained well and that I was in good condition but race day is race day and you never know.

With all that running through my head, I got up before my alarm went off at 03:15. I took a quick shower and got dressed in my brand new Adidas running shorts, shirt and cap. Then I taped my toes and feet (and nipples but that`s another subject for another time), put on my shoes and was ready to go.

So at 03:50 the 3 runners Clive, (my Father-in-Law), Mark (my Brother-in-Law) and myself plus our 1 supporter Kyle (my nephew) hit the road and headed off to UCT. By the time we got there it was a hive of activity already. So many people up and about at 04:30! We walked past the finish on the way to the start and I remember not looking at it. I forced myself to look the other way. I`m not sure why I did it, I suppose I wanted to see the finish for the first time when I came around that corner on the field. It was like the promised land, that`s how special that little piece of earth was to me.

We headed to the start, which is roughly 2km from the finish. There were thousands of people already. They were singing and dancing, laughing and talking. It was an incredible atmosphere. Black, white, coloured, indian, none of that mattered. We were all South Africans. I was so nervous. I went for a bathroom break but had such bad stage fright that I gave up (after what felt like 10 minutes mind you!). My Father-in-Law was with me at the start. He`s always so good at calming things down and he certainly did this for me. The time went by so slowly, it was crazy. Then with a few minutes to go, we sang the anthem. A true goose bump moment. With about a minute to go, they played 'I gotta feeling' by The Blackeyed Peas. Everybody just went bananas! It was so cool. Not my favourite song but there, in that moment, it was awesome!



Then the gun went and the race started. Well, race is a bit of an exaggeration cos it probably took 2 minutes to get to the start. It was so slow. All I wanted to do was run but it was a very congested walk in the beginning. Slowly but surely the runners started spreading out and finally I could get into the race.

The race itself went really well. I ran all the way, not stopping once. Even ran all the way up Southern Cross Drive, which is one helluva climb. I felt strong all the way and just kept going. What a great feeling to know that all the hard work paid off big time. I was so chuffed. The crowds were amazing and cheered us all the way.



The most memorable moment came towards the end just before Kirstenbosch. I came around a bend and looked to my left and there, in the early morning sun was Table Mountain, looking absolutely magnificent. I had a moment there. I felt so blessed. Life was good.



The finish was awesome. Coming into the stadium and seeing all the people was such a rush. Everybody cheering and clapping and creating such a buzz. I came around the last bend and saw the finish. This time I took it in and ran the last 100 or so meters just staring at it. When I took up running 2 years ago, on the 1st of April, it was because of the 2 Oceans. I had been to the Expo with my Father-in-Law and Brother-in-Law and so wanted to be part of it. That next week I started running. Now, I had finished and was holding my very own 2 Oceans Half Marathon Medal. The clock read 2:15:30. I had done it.



That was not the end of it though! After the race I got to meet Old Friends. I had met Michelle and Charlene on Twitter and they had become really good friends. Hayley and I had grown very fond of them and we had shared many, many laughs during the last few months. They had become a really big part of our lives. Well, they also did the half marathon and we met up afterwards at Forries for well deserved beers! It was awesome. They were just as I had expected them to be and truth be told, even better! We also met up with Ann, another good Twitter friend and her sister Chantelle. It was so cool meeting these friends in real life.



So, as you can see, it was an amazing day all round. A day I want to re-live over and over again just this time I would love Hayley to be there too. That would have been the perfect day.

My Joburg

Wikipedia Facts

• Johannesburg has more than 1o million trees and is the biggest man made forest in the world
• There are more than 10 million people living in the greater Johannesburg area
• The greater Johannesburg area consists of Ekhuruleni (East Rand), The West Rand, Lenasia, Soweto
• Is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world
• O.R. Tambo International is the largest and busiest airport in Africa
• Johannesburg`s land area is 1, 645 square kilometres (635 square miles)
• The average high for summer is 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit)
• The average high for winter is 17 Celsius (63 Fahrenheit)
• The highest recorded temperature is 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit)
• The lowest recorded temperature is -8 Celsius (19 Fahrenheit)
• Is 2000 metres above sea level
• Produces 16% of the GDP of South Africa
• The container terminal in City Deep is the largest "dry port" in the world
• Johannesburg`s Sister Cities are Taipei (Republic of China), Birmingham (United Kingdom), New York City (USA), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Xi`an (China)

My Johannesburg

• Has the most amazing thunder storms
• Has the most awesome friends in the world
• Houses the best family-in-law in the world
• Has some of my favourite golf courses
• Has the best climate in the world
• Has some of my favourite memories
• Has an energy all it`s own
• Has been our home for 7 of our 9 years together
• Has the worst taxi drivers in the world
• Is the place where we got married
• Is the place where we raised our canine kids and God willing will one day raise our own kids
• Is where I started my career and where I`ll get it back on track
• Is where I plan on staying

Hillsong United in T-Minus 5 hours...

As I`ve mentioned in a few posts, I`m a massive Hillsong fan. Not just a fan as in like them, a fan as in ADORE them.

We attend Hillsong Church Cape Town and it has certainly turned into our spiritual home. We have the most awesome pastor, an Aussie by the name of Phil Dooley. He is both funny, charming and an awesome man of God.

I own just about every Hillsong cd and dvd and live for each new one. I`m just a fanatic.It has always been one of my dreams to go to Hillsong Sydney and be a part of one of their worship nights. I have lived many a worship night with Hillsong by watching their dvd`s over and over again. I`m a fanatic.

So tonight is the realisation of one of my dreams. Hillsong United are in town and Hayley and I will be attending the worship night tonight. This is truly a momentous day for me. It`s one of those dreams that rank alongside going to Old Trafford or Fenway Park. It`s BIG. I am like a little kid checking the clock. Why doesn`t the time go quicker?

Sunday we have a service with Pastor Brian Houston (Head of Hillsong) at Ratanga Junction. This is gonna be awesome because Ratanga Junction is a theme park in Cape Town. How cool is that gonna be?

We will also see our friends tomorrow because it`s Graham`s wedding. For a change everybody is coming to Cape Town for a wedding! So, fair warning, there will not be updates until at least Sunday evening!

I am so excited, it`s gonna be an awesome, awesome weekend!

A Happy Anniversary and a not so Happy Anniversary

Today is the 1st anniversary of the Springboks winning the World Cup in France last year! How quickly the time has flown by. To celebrate, I will be watching the final tonight and reliving all the great moments. What a day that was! Riaan and Sally spent that weekend with us and Riaan and I had an absolute ball, as you can well imagine. I remember walking around the garden at 02:00 in the morning cos I was just on such a high after the win.

Today is also the 1st anniversary of the last time I played golf. Riaan and I played Erinvale the morning of the world cup final. Can you believe that I haven`t touched a club for the last year? It`s crazy to contemplate but a reality unfortunately. Certainly makes the name of this site seem a bit ODD. Hopefully the plans we are putting in place will result in lots of golf with my mates in the new year. I cannot wait.

Mates

So Hayley and I are flying to Johannesburg tomorrow for Gys, one of my buddies`s wedding. We are beyond excited because we are going to see most of our friends this weekend. It is so awesome!!

Since we moved to the Cape last year, we have not seen many of our friends. Riaan & Sally, Dale & Kerri and Andre & Mia have visited us and we also got to see them for Hayley`s birthday (which we got to spend in Jhb) in February. A lot of our friends we haven`t seen though.

Gys and Sanchia, Graham, Eric, Jaco, Louw, Johan & Maria, Quinton & Liesel. We haven`t seen these guys for more than a year and a half. If I`m honest, we miss our friends terribly.

We love it here in the Cape but we also go through days where we miss the get-togethers and the hanging out. Just being able to get in your car and go visit friends, that is not something we have been able to do since we`ve been here. Hayley and I are pretty private people too, so we were never the types to go visit someone in the middle of the week or just for the sake of visiting. Most of our time is spent together and that`s just the way I like it. However, I do miss the friends. Golf on Saturdays with my buddies used to be one of my favourite things. Now, I haven`t even touched a club in a YEAR. That`s so sad! The only reason I haven`t played since then is that I have nobody to play a round with.

That`s why it`s so cool when the friends come to visit us here. We always have the best time together. The bonds between us have remained as strong as ever and we always pick up where we left off.

So, having said all of that this is the weekend that we have ahead of us! Excitement!!!!!!!

Kerri and Dale will pick us up from the airport on Friday night. We`ll then spend the rest of the evening with them and stay over at their new place. We are so excited to see their new place and get to meet Molly and Oscar, their new doggies! Kerri has even penned a song for Molly and it goes something like this: "Mo-ly-ly-lylylylyly-lylylylyly". Dale and Kerri are 2 of the funniest people I have ever met. They have been buddies with Hayley for a very long time and I have been fortunate enough to be able to call them my friends too. They are awesome.

We`ll leave their place on Saturday morning, get a car from Hayley`s folks` place and head to Riaan and Sally. We`ll spend the rest of the day hanging out with them and then all go to the wedding. Now Riaan and Sally are 2 of the other funniest people we know!! Riaan and I have been buddies for a long time and Hayley and Sally get on like a house on fire. They also have the cutest little one, Mia. So Hayley will be even more broody than usual after this weekend.

At the wedding we`ll get to see all our other friends and that is gonna be so cool! I cannot wait! There is the small matter of a big rugby match though. It`s my beloved WP playing the Lions on Saturday. Gys and I are big WP fans and the rest of the guys are mostly Lions fans. The wedding starts at 16:00 and the game is at 17:00. Riaan has already organised for us to watch the game (inbetween the wedding stuff), so I am stoked!

Sunday we`ll get to see the family! Yay! They arrive back from the Drakensberg, where they have been the last week. We`ll go for lunch and spend some great time together before dropping Hayley off at the airport, which is the only downer of the whole weekend, I hate being apart from my wife. I only fly back on Tuesday, cos I have a few business meetings set up. I`ll stay with my awesome In-Laws on Sunday and Monday and no doubt have a great time with them, Lindsay, Mark and the kids.

So there you have it. We`ll probably be a bit quiet over the next few days but at least you`ll know why.

My Prized Possessions # 3

If you ask any boy growing up in South Africa what they would love to be one day, the answer would probably be a Springbok rugby player or a Bafana Bafana (our national soccer side) soccer player.

For me, it was always the former. The Springboks have always been the epitomy of excellence, in my eyes in any case. I remember seeing a Springbok rugby player at my school once, I was so in awe I just stared, couldn`t get a word out.

Unfortunately I was never good enough. I was a decent flyhalf (number 10) at school but that is basically where it ended for me. I was always a better cricket player and pursued that after school.

However, my number 1 side has always been the Springboks. Man, I love that team!

So, it happened that I became mates with a promising young rugby player during the late 90`s. This guy was unbelievable. He had the best sidestep you would ever see and his pace off the mark was incredible. I have always been blatantly biased. So for me, he has always been the best in the world! He went through the ranks and played for all the age level Springbok sides. He started making a name for himself with his provincial team, the Lions, and then made it into the Cats Super 12 side where he was an immediate star.

Then in 2002, my mate Andre Pretorius, was picked to play for the Springboks against Wales in Bloemfontein. We were all euphoric! We travelled to go watch him make his debut. He shined in that game and has shined ever since. Unfortunately he has had rotten luck with injuries but whenever he plays, he is awesome.

In 2007 he won the World Cup with the Springboks and during the tournament he broke the appearance record for most tests at flyhalf for South Africa.

Andre got a terrible ankle injury just after the World Cup and has been out of rugby since November 2007. I`m sure he still has a lot of rugby in him and will no doubt don his beloved Green and Gold again.

So my Prized Possession is this Springbok Jersey that Andre gave me. He played in this jersey against Argentina in Buenos Aires. How cool is that? I have a REAL Springbok jersey worn in a REAL test match by a REAL Springbok legend!

The cool thing about this? Andre is still the naughty little bugger I met 10 years ago. He has not changed one bit as a person and I think that is the greatest compliment I can pay him.