The death of two Comrades Marathon runners last year could be a message from God that he was displeased with running the race on a Sunday, a Christian runner has suggested.
Hansie Louw, who until last month was the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party in the Western Cape, said in a statement at the weekend that he was asking all Christians to withdraw from the race.
”Last year, two athletes died during or after Comrades. Was this a message from above? How many athletes will run with this type of threat?” he said.
Louw, emphasising that his was not a party position, said that two years ago he had called for a boycott of the marathon when it was announced that the race would move to a Sunday.
Last year he did not run he race, but this year he entered hoping he could run the race on Monday June 16.
However, ”The Comrades Marathon Association has now announce[d] dates for future races as well — all on a Sunday! So from me and many other Christians, it is now a final farewell. On June 16 I will run the Comrades distance in Cape Town and will enjoy and celebrate Youth Day with my Christian friends.
”May Comrades soon be dead and buried! Christ will live forever.”
Asked whether he really thought God would resort to such drastic measures as killing runners to get his message across, Louw said: ”It’s difficult to understand [or to] interpret that in that way, but it’s also not impossible. There’s no definite association to that, which is why I put it as a question.”
The runners who died last year were Michael Gordon (34) of Gauteng, who suffered a suspected heart attack just before the finish line in his first Comrades, and Willem Malapi (48) of Worcester, who went into cardiac arrest due to an electrolyte imbalance.
Athletics South Africa (ASA) announced in 2006 that the race would no longer be run on June 16, Youth Day, moving instead for the next three years to the closest Sunday to that date.
The decision to shift the date followed a fierce debate about the appropriateness of staging an event of the magnitude of the Comrades on June 16, one of what ASA called the most ”significant and sanctified” days in South Africa’s history.
It announced this week that the 2009 down run would take place on Sunday May 24 and the 2010 up run on Sunday May 30. This year’s marathon will be an up run on Sunday June 15. — Sapa