Road Running: The ABAX Milkwood Run

ABAX Milkwood Run: This is easily the most beautiful half marathon in Cape Town, South Africa and possibly the world.

The race, which also has a 10km and 5km option, starts and finishes at the Soetwater (Sweetwater) resort in Kommetjie, which is 32 kms Southeast of Cape Town.

Soetwater resort is home to camping sites and other holiday accommodation and is one of those holiday places that run in families, visited from one generation to the next. Coloured (mixed-race) people from Oceanview to Bonteheuwel have been visiting Soetwater since their grannies grandfather’s time.

There are 2 tidal pools and plenty of fishing spots.

It is also one of the last remaining undeveloped stretches of pristine coastline in the peninsula.

Let’s hope it stays that way.

The Soetwater beaches are home to endangered plovers and oystercatchers and provide shelter for moles and otters, amongst other wildlife.

Which is another of the reasons I love to do this race. The Milkwood Run has been ‘green’, i.e., environmentally conscious long before it was cool to be green.

It’s a bring-your-own event, which means the hosting club, Harfield Harriers, will provide water and Coke at the water tables, but no plastic sachets are used, and runners need to bring their own, reusable cups. They even sell a cup when you enter the race.

Which was such a contrast, compared to the hundreds of discarded red water sachets we saw on the 27 For Freedom Race yesterday.

The best part of this race — instead of receiving a medal — you get a plant at the finish.

Coolest. Ever.

My trees have all died. RIP.

But last time I ran it,  I received a spekboom. Nothing kills spekboom which is one of those indestructible, carbon-positive plants that is very fashionable with the hipster environmentally aware crowd.

Mine is still alive after almost 2 years, so I’m taking it as a good sign.

Spekboom (Portulacaria afra), translated verbatim from Afrikaans, as ‘bacon/pork tree’, is a native South African succulent. It is a small, leafy shrub, well-adapted to dry and semi-dry regions, and can be found growing everywhere, from rocks to coastlines.

Spekboom can store large amounts of water in its thick, fleshy leaves, which makes it an important source of moisture and food for wildlife, especially in our semi-arid climate.

Of late, spekboom has been used for carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change. In English, that means that spekboom is capable of absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making it a promising option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

If you don’t have one, plant one!

Spekboom is also used for medicinal purposes, and its leaves and stems are eaten by both humans and livestock.

It is an important food source for many species of animals, including elephants, which are known to eat it in large quantities.