There's something very special about first-time events. And I don't mean doing something for the first time, like your first kiss, or your first marathon - that's a subject for another day... I'm referring to "the inaugural" experience - being there the first time a running event is staged.Whenever you do an event for the first time, it is special. However, if its a race that's been staged umpteen times before, the organisers might treat it in a slightly less special way. With a brand new, inaugural race everyone involved is excited and a little stressed, and more often than not the organisers will go the extra mile to make the day stand out just that little bit more.
What's more, when you're there at the very first race, and it turns out to be a continually great event, you can always, years down the line, be that old grey runner who gets welcomed at the finish as the one who's done every edition of the race since its inception.
What got me thinking about this was the Frontrunner Half Marathon that we did in New Plymouth a week ago. The race, staged together with the Wells Half-Ironman was a brand new sporting event on the NZ calendar. Nothing really exciting happened, but it was enough of a reason to at least make sure that we bought the (very nice) race T-shirts.
We've been lucky enough to experience a number of these events. Our very first marathon happened to also be the inaugural running of the Waterfall Mall marathon near Rustenburg. The special touch for the day was having a bunch of celebrities in the field - Comrades legend Bruce Fordyce, TV personality David Vlok, Gladiators lass Fire (or was it Ice?)... And they ran with us back-of-the-packers, sharing stories and jokes. I'm sure this helped the hours pass much quicker, and before we knew it our first marathon was behind us.
When trail running started gaining prominence in the 2000's in South Africa, we were also privileged to participate in the first Montrail Gauteng Winter Trail Series, a six-week series of 8-12km trail runs intended to introduce runners to the sport. The organisers managed to obtain huge sponsorships for the series, and we were treated to amazing spot prizes including buffs, technical clothing, shoes etc at each race. So being there for the inaugural event can have other fringe benefits as well!
Of course first-time events may also be prone to a couple of small (or not so small) hick-ups. In the case of the Frontrunner Half, they got the distance way wrong, and we ended up running an out and back course where the turnaround came about 700m too soon. It did make for a very impressive finishing time, though... :)
When we did the Cape Odyssey in 2008, it was the second running of the event. Despite the fact that it was supposedly "bigger and better" than the first, and despite it being special in its own right since it ended up being the last time the event was staged, I couldn't help feeling a touch of regret for not being there the year before as well. I'm sure the novelty of being part of the "Inaugural Cape Odyssey 5-day Trail Run" must've been very very special.
Of course the thing with an inaugural race is that it only ever happens once. If you missed it, you missed it. Never again. There are many wonderful running events that I still want to do, but where I've already missed Race Number One. So what do you do then? The best alternative, I'd say, is to try making sure that you're there when a special edition of the race gets run... With that in mind, here's a small dream list that I wouldn't mind completing (these are just a few - there's many more... yet another topic for another day):
- The 10th Kilimanjaro Marathon in 2012
- The 20th Augrabies Extreme Marathon in 2019
- The 30th Vienna Marathon in 2013
- The 40th Western States 100 Miler Endurance Run in 2016
- The 50th New York Marathon in 2019
- And even the 100th Comrades Marathon in 2024
How's that for a challenge! Guess the only outstanding piece of the puzzle is my winning Lotto ticket...!
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