0.0 kmRun-walk is running
Walk breaks are a strategy, not a failure. Many finishers run 4 minutes, walk 1, from the first kilometre to the last.
Fuel for the legs and the head
Motivation for the 4 a.m. alarm, tips from the road, jokes for the water table and the running news worth talking about on the bus.
The 5AM club · Thursday, 1 October 2026
Motivation on tap.
A new one every morning at 5, and a fresh one every 10 seconds while you’re here: 503 of them, all Mzansi.
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Only the disciplined ones in life are free. (Eliud Kipchoge)
Today's 5AM · 2 / 503
From the road
Tips that get you to the finish.
Build slowly
Add distance gently, roughly no more than 10% a week, and take an easier week every month so your body can catch up.
The talk test
On easy runs you should be able to chat in full sentences. If you can’t, slow down. Easy days make the hard days work.
Get fitted for shoes
Buy running shoes at a running shop where they watch you run. Comfort beats looks, and your feet will thank you at kilometre 30.
1–4 of 50
General running tips, not medical advice. If something hurts, see a professional. New tips roll in every 30 seconds.
For the water table
Runner jokes. Groan responsibly.
500 jokes, lekker and clean, some in isiZulu, Sesotho and Afrikaans. Tap for another, then rate it. The best ones get read out on the bus.
I told my gogo I was running 21 km for fun. She asked who was chasing me.
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Running news · a new edition every morning
Achievements worth shouting about.
Good news only: South Africa first, then Africa, then the world. Men’s and women’s results, records and personal bests.
Mzansi laces up for race Saturday as Asia crowns its speed kings and queens
Eight races across five provinces this weekend, a record-breaking finale to the Asian Games and a Swiss double in Berlin.
Race Saturday: eight races across Mzansi on 3 October
From the Blouberg Marathon on the Cape coast to the Shikumba Marathon in Limpopo, the Chamberlain Capital Classic in Pretoria and the Bay Run in Gqeberha, Saturday is packed. Mpumalanga has the Edamini race in Schoemansdal and the Glen Aggy Trail Run, and Tulbagh hosts Run The Cape on the trails. Pick one, pin that number and go.
Source: RunningCalendar ↗
Winfred Yavi wins three golds at the Asian Games
Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won the women’s 5000 m (15:10.18), 10,000 m (32:39.18) and 3000 m steeplechase in Nagoya, the steeplechase in a Games record of 9:04.36. Bahrain’s Shitaye Habte won the women’s marathon in 2:27:31, and Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita took the men’s marathon in 2:10:49 on home roads. Athletics ran from 23 to 29 September.
Records fall in Nagoya: an Asian record of 19.88 for Boonson
Thailand’s Puripol Boonson ran 9.90 for a Games record in the 100 m and 19.88 for an Asian record in the 200 m. China’s Zhang Jiale set an Asian record of 78.27 m in the women’s hammer, and Japan’s Ko Ochiai ran a Games record 1:44.48 in the 800 m.
A Swiss double in the Berlin wheelchair races
Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday in 1:23:28, and Catherine Debrunner won the women’s race in 1:35:01.
Source: NBC Sports ↗
Coming up: Kaapsehoop on 7 November, Soweto on 29 November
The Kaapsehoop 3-in-1 in Mpumalanga is next on the Run Mzansi calendar. In Johannesburg, the African Bank Soweto Marathon returns on Sunday 29 November, starting at 06:00 from the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec, with a half marathon and 10 km on the same morning.
Source: Gauteng Tourism ↗
Comrades 2026: Kusche breaks the Up Run record, Steyn wins a fifth title
George Kusche ran 5:15:56 to break an 18-year-old Up Run record, and Gerda Steyn won her fifth Comrades in a record 5:44:53.
Source: Comrades Marathon ↗Fastest marathon ever run on African soil, in Cape Town
Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa won the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on 24 May in a course record 2:04:55, and Dera Dida led an Ethiopian women’s podium in 2:23:18.
Source: Sanlam Cape Town Marathon ↗SA men’s 4x100 m relay sets an African record
South Africa won silver at the World Athletics Relays in 37.49, a new African and national record.
Source: Akani Simbine ↗Comrades 2027 is the 100th running
A Down Run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on 13 June 2027.
Source: Comrades Marathon ↗Sawe runs the first official sub-two-hour marathon
Sabastian Sawe won London in 1:59:30, and Tigst Assefa set a women-only world record of 2:15:41.
Source: ESPN ↗Earlier editions (1)
Xaba flies in Gqeberha, Africa owns Copenhagen, Assefa rewrites Berlin
A golden week on the roads: a South African queen of the 10 km, African world titles in Denmark and the third-fastest women’s marathon in history.
Glenrose Xaba wins the Spar Women’s 10 km Challenge in Gqeberha
On a wet Saturday morning (26 September) at Pollok Beach, Glenrose Xaba won in 31:17, just five seconds outside her own South African 10 km record of 31:12. The SA marathon record holder (2:22:22, Cape Town 2024) keeps stacking wins in the Spar Grand Prix.
Source: IOL ↗
Tshepo Tshite runs a personal best on the world stage
At the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen (19 September), Tshite clocked a personal best of 3:55.66 for the road mile to finish 10th in a world-class field.
African world champions in Copenhagen
Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich won the women’s half marathon world title in 1:05:15, a women-only world record, with Kenya’s Veronica Loleo second and Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru third in a national record. Eritrea’s Dawit Seare took the men’s 5 km title in a national record 12:56, and Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw won the women’s 5 km in 14:41. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei ran a half marathon personal best of 58:26 for bronze.
Berlin Marathon: Assefa’s third title, Adola’s personal best
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won Berlin for a third time on 27 September in 2:11:04, a course record and the third-fastest women’s marathon ever. Guye Adola won the men’s race in a personal best of 2:02:50, ahead of Gemechu Dida (2:03:19) and Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay (2:03:59).
Source: 2026 Berlin Marathon ↗ · Marathon Handbook ↗
European record in the half marathon
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s world half marathon title in Copenhagen in 58:06, a European record. France’s Agathe Guillemot (4:22.74) and Germany’s Robert Farken (3:51.80) won the road mile titles in world-leading times.
Coming up: Chicago on 11 October, Kaapsehoop on 7 November
The Chicago Marathon, a World Marathon Major, expects more than 55,000 runners, with defending champions Jacob Kiplimo and Hawi Feysa returning. Closer to home, the Kaapsehoop 3-in-1 in Mpumalanga is the next race on the Run Mzansi calendar.
Source: NBC Chicago ↗
Brag board
Got a PB? Finished your first 10 km? Tell us.
Every week we shout out the crew’s wins on our socials and on the bus. Big or small, every finish counts.