Graniterock's director of geology and sustainability Jon Erskine had the summer adventure most people never dream about, running 55 miles in South Africa!
This conversation takes us near Cape Town for the Comrades Marathon with Jon, a dedicated long-distance runner outside of work.
Get immersed in the rich history of the world's oldest ultramarathon that pays homage to South Africa's fallen World War I soldiers, and discover the challenges that come with it, such as running on dirt roads and digesting curry chicken mid-race.
Further into the conversation, we uncover Nelson Mandela's influence on the Comrades Race. We'll paint a vibrant picture of the race's captivating energy, from the stirring South African National Anthem to the symbolic rooster crow signaling the start of the race.
Hang on tight as we recount Jon's arduous travel from San Francisco to Cape Town, the buzzing energy at the race hotel. Extra leg room, of course, for the journey!
You'll be intrigued by Jon's encounter with the local Cub Scouts at the medical tent after his triumphant, yet painful, journey to the finish line.
Join us for an adventure that is sure to inspire, as we celebrate Jon's achievement and the powerful human spirit that pushes us beyond our limits.
Graniterock's director of geology and sustainability Jon Erskine had the summer adventure most people never dream about, running 55 miles in South Africa!
This conversation takes us near Cape Town for the Comrades Marathon with Jon, a dedicated long-distance runner outside of work.
Get immersed in the rich history of the world's oldest ultramarathon that pays homage to South Africa's fallen World War I soldiers, and discover the challenges that come with it, such as running on dirt roads and digesting curry chicken mid-race.
Further into the conversation, we uncover Nelson Mandela's influence on the Comrades Race. We'll paint a vibrant picture of the race's captivating energy, from the stirring South African National Anthem to the symbolic rooster crow signaling the start of the race.
Hang on tight as we recount Jon's arduous travel from San Francisco to Cape Town, the buzzing energy at the race hotel. Extra leg room, of course, for the journey!
You'll be intrigued by Jon's encounter with the local Cub Scouts at the medical tent after his triumphant, yet painful, journey to the finish line.
Join us for an adventure that is sure to inspire, as we celebrate Jon's achievement and the powerful human spirit that pushes us beyond our limits.
Is the caller there?
Shanna Crigger:Yeah, Hello caller, You're on Long time listener.
Jon Erskine:First time caller.
Shanna Crigger:Is that you, John? Yes, that's me.
Jon Erskine:Yes.
Shanna Crigger:I mean just when most people talk about what did you do this summer? I think running 55 miles in South Africa is not what most people have in mind for a summer vacation. Summer fun doesn't usually involve such extremes. I just think it's awesome that you did that. So take a minute to introduce yourself in your position, what you do at Graniter ock.
Jon Erskine:Well, my name is Jon Erskine and I am Graniter ock's director of geology and sustainability. Actually, I mixed that up sustainability and geology. But more importantly maybe is that I'm the multi-time champion of Graniter ock's rock and run. I was the inaugural champion, wow yeah, but I think it's time for the next generation to take over there. So I don't know if I'm going to run it this year.
Shanna Crigger:Oh, really, because you want to let other people win. Yeah, exactly, I'm a giver. Yeah, you're a giver. You can let somebody else have the limelight if I have enough rock and run titles, right.
Jon Erskine:So this was just like oh, I don't know, five and a half rock and runs all at once. Yeah.
Shanna Crigger:Five and a half rock and runs. That is crazy. So 55 miles. You went all the way to South Africa to run 55 miles, yeah.
Jon Erskine:Why not?
Shanna Crigger:Why not? So how long have you been a distance runner? So for some background on kind of who you are, and this isn't just something that you did one time yeah, you're an Ironman athlete. You do a lot of long distance stamina type of running and swimming and biking. So talk about your background a little bit.
Jon Erskine:Well, I started running in high school. I was originally a soccer player and then every day coming home from soccer practice, I was like beaten up basically, you know from soccer practice, and then I saw these people running and I'm like, hey, well, maybe I could try running. That sounds better. You're not getting slide tackled and things like that.
Shanna Crigger:And so I started Kicked in the shin.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, so I started my sophomore year in high school and I just picked it up really easily and I loved it. It was great fun. And you know, high school across country is all about the team, you know, and that's what's really the best part about that. And I think there's a continuum there too, because that's what this Comrad's experience is all about. It's that South African running community, that whole race. It's just it's such a feel of community that was incredible and that was what the draw of the race was when I first started learning about it. And that's what was so rewarding is that. It was true.
Jon Erskine:It's like so many times you have these expectations about wow, can something really be as good as you hope it's going to be? But oftentimes they don't really live up to it. And this really was that and it was really. It was the challenge. But the more and more I learned about the race and the history of the race and sort of the South African running culture, that was really the attraction.
Jon Erskine:So it's just this continuum between, like that, that, my comrades from high school across country, literally to the comrades of the race, and it's like you know, the race itself is so interesting. I mean, it's the oldest ultramarathon in the world and an ultramarathon is anything that's longer than 50 kilometers, so 31 miles right, and it was started in 1921. And you know, that was the thing that first drew me to the race. Is the name Comrad's, like. I don't remember exactly where I first heard about it, but it was probably five or six years ago when I kind of thought, you know, I've done marathons, I've done Iron Mans, and I was kind of thinking about, well, I'd like to do an ultra right. And I was talking to a friend of mine and and her family is actually from South Africa who mentioned this race the Comrad's.
Jon Erskine:I was like, what's the Comrad's? Just the name itself is kind of yeah, the friends. Well, it turns out, it was started in 1921. And it was started by a soldier from World War One this is after World War One and he wanted to commemorate his fallen soldiers, his comrades right from the war. And he didn't want to just put a statue in a park or anything like that. He wanted to be, you know what we call these days immersive right or an experience.
Shanna Crigger:Engaging.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, engaging. He wanted you to feel the suffering that the soldiers on the field did in a way that you can experience yourself. So he started this race in 1921. And this goes from Peter Merrittsburg to Durban, and so Durban, this is on the east coast of South Africa, the Indian Ocean, and they're 55 miles apart. So that first year in 1921. I mean, go back to 1921. I mean you can get about Graniter ock's history in 1921, right, yeah. There are no asphalt roads.
Shanna Crigger:I was going to say dirt roads. Yeah, they were running on dirt roads.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, they didn't have running shoes, they were all in rugby boots, right? Oh wow, rugby boots. They didn't have aid stations. They ran from hotel to hotel eating curry chicken. For some reason. That was like the food of choice at the time was curry chicken. They didn't have porta bodies, they just went in the woods. You know, yeah, crazy. But for some reason, 15 people said, hey, this is a great idea. I think I'll run 55 miles, right?
Shanna Crigger:And this is without all the goo in the electrolytes and all the tools yeah, exactly, and the watches, yeah.
Jon Erskine:So it was something like eight of them actually did the race and it just became a thing right. And then it continued, but it was very, very small for many, many years, you know just on the order of like 15, 20, something like that. But it grew and grew and grew over the years and now there's 20,000 people who do the race, but this is, it's about 90%, south Africans. There was only 163 Americans.
Shanna Crigger:What? 163 Americans out of 20,000 people? That is crazy.
Jon Erskine:And again, to me that was like such an appeal is like whoa, I am going someplace where other people haven't gone to, I'm going to experience something that's really unique, right, and that was just is just such a draw to really try and experience. Like this race that means so much to a different culture that you know I don't know anyone who's just run it before and just something so unique was so appealing to me. So, but but I learned over the years that like it's such a core part of the running community there it's like South African running is all about ultra running. Like he was explained to me over time that if you're a runner in South Africa, you have either run the comrades or you will run the comrades.
Shanna Crigger:Are you serious? Yeah, exactly.
Jon Erskine:It's just it's, you know, and and there are many reasons for that you know, of course, that you know South Africa you can't, you can't get away from, like this street of slavery and apartheid there. It's everywhere you go in South Africa. But that's sort of a key element, though, of the race itself. It's like you know, at the very beginning it was just for for white guys can run it. Right, women weren't allowed to run it.
Shanna Crigger:Back in the early, like the 1920s. Yeah, exactly Wow.
Jon Erskine:But then so it started in 1921. In 1923 was the first woman to run it, like this was. This was like 60 years before women were allowed in the, you know, the Olympic marathon, for example. But women are like, hey, I'm going to go do that, right, cool, you know. And then in like the fifties, like blacks started to run in and two, but they weren't allowed to run in it officially because of apartheid, like you, it was against the law for blacks and whites to run together to do anything together, any sort of sporting event, any sort of public event, because of apartheid, right. But the blacks said, hey, look, we're going to do this, right. And then it kind of went along in the years and it actually became the first integrated sporting event of of anything in South Africa in in 1975, I think it was right. And then that then it becomes even more interesting because that was at about the time that that blacks and whites started to be able to compete at like similar levels. Right, they were starting to be like the first real black runners who can compete with the top white runners.
Jon Erskine:But imagine yourself at this time when, you know, in apartheid South Africa, if you're a black person, like you had to have basically like a little passport to get from. You know your home. You're only able to live in certain areas. If you wanted to work in another part of the city, for example, you had to carry around some identification. If you didn't have that identification, you could be arrested. You couldn't. You couldn't just go train whenever you want, like you know I can, you know I could run wherever I want. Like I never even thought about, like there are places I can't run.
Jon Erskine:But this just intrigued me is like how do you know, how do people do that living under those, some circumstances like that reach that sort of level. So again, it's really, really intriguing. But then you know another thing that's just a fascinating part of the story is like in the 1970s, so you got it, south Africa didn't even have television at the time. Like it came late to South Africa and there are many reasons for that. One reason is simply because well is a very poor country, so they didn't have television. But then also the government, the apartheid government. They didn't want outside influences, that sort of like the Soviet Union or China or something like that. They don't want people, they didn't want messages coming in from other countries saying hey, you're bad, we're gonna criticize you. Putting people's ideas into people's heads, giving them an image of what life could be like in other countries right, yeah, exactly.
Jon Erskine:So there was no television, right. But then finally they said okay, television started in the late 70s, early 80s. They didn't want outside programming, so you need to have content. Hey, there's this race. This race is 55 miles long, it's 12 hours long. Let's put it on television, right. So it was on television. It was one of the first televised events. But here's the thing so it was an integrated race, it's 12 hours long and blacks and whites are running together and competing together, shoulder to shoulder.
Jon Erskine:Shoulder to shoulder. So it became very symbolic of like an integrated community, like, yeah, you and I can do this together. Right, we can achieve. And there was this very, very famous photo. So there was this guy who won the race like eight times. This guy named Bruce Fortis, right, just the legend of the comrades.
Shanna Crigger:South.
Jon Erskine:African, south African right, he's a white guy, right, and there's this legendary photo of him handing a water bottle to his competitor in the race, and then that was on television. So it became like this subversive thing, right, like, look, maybe we can start to question apartheid, like, because people can actually do this sort of thing.
Shanna Crigger:It can be together. Yeah, Right, so.
Jon Erskine:Zonoh was backfired against the government by putting this on TV and that's when the race became from, you know, 1500, 2000 to like 10,000 and 15,000, because people could watch yourself. You know, watch people like you do this and compete and do this. And then that continues to this day, right Like when you go to an ultra marathon in the United States or any place in the world. I mean, it's like a very athletic community that does this sort of thing. The special thing about comrades is like it's like an every person's Everest, if you will Like you'll go there and you'll look at most of the people in the race and you're like you're running 55 miles.
Jon Erskine:They're like hell yeah, I am, because you know they don't let anything get in their way, and that's the spirit of the race is, like you know, don't let these challenges stop you from doing what you want to do. So, yeah, so it's just an incredible sort of symbolism there. And, you know, another part too is that like and this really struck me, I was learning all about this as I was getting ready for this race, which was just, you know, extra motivation, like I'm training a lot to do this race.
Shanna Crigger:Right, we're gonna get into that, but yeah, I wanna hear about it.
Jon Erskine:But having this sort of motivation is just incredibly powerful. All right, so Nelson Mandela right, he was a runner Like he was Was he really?
Shanna Crigger:Yeah, he was a runner. I don't think a lot of people know that.
Jon Erskine:No, he wasn't but, like you know, I'm old enough to remember apartheid, remembering Nelson Mandela just incredibly charismatic person, incredible, true leader of people, right, symbolic, and he realized the importance of these sort of grand sweeping you know communal gestures right when he was in his prison cell and we went to like a mock-up of his prison cell it was oh, you did.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, it was seven foot by eight foot, which is like one of our tiny conference rooms. It was smaller than that and he would jog back and forth in his conference room, in his prison cell. You know, just kind of back and forth. And it was for two reasons. You know one. He said it was to keep my mind fresh. You know, I'm in prison. I think he was in prison for like 30, 40 years or something. Yeah, a long time. And it was also resistance. It was to his guards to say, hey, look, guards, you will not break me, I cannot be broken. I will run back and forth in this prison cell. So when he was released in 94, I believe it was, he went to Comrades to the Comrades in 1997, because he realized the symbolic importance of the race and he handed out medals.
Shanna Crigger:Oh, so he didn't run? No, he didn't run.
Jon Erskine:But there's this great audio. Like he was very charismatic and he talked like this and he just had this beautiful voice, just awesome cadence, and he was like he was eight years old at the time and he said today I'm proud to announce that next year I will be running the Comrades and I'm just like ah, Like, I just like listened to that. I'm just like ah.
Shanna Crigger:You've actually just gotten goosebumps.
Jon Erskine:Total. I mean, the whole thing is just goosebumps. It really is. So I was incredibly motivated to do this race and I like doing the training and watching and you can go online and you can see these YouTube videos and there's a couple things about the race is that it's 55 miles but it's 12 hours long.
Shanna Crigger:You have to start and finish it within the top.
Jon Erskine:You start at 5.30 in the morning. You've got until 5.30 PM to finish this thing and at 5.30 PM they make this human chain across the road and you see all these videos of people sprinting to get across the finish line. And that's the thing. Is a huge percentage of the people. They finish between 11 and 1 half and 12 hours because they're going to get it done.
Shanna Crigger:Right under the wires.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, so they're going to do it. So that's goosebumps right there, but then even more powerful, I think, to me is that the way they start the race. They start with the South African National Anthem, of course, and then they have chariots of fire.
Shanna Crigger:Nice, yeah, of course, chariots of fire. Right, it's a run, it's a race, yeah exactly.
Jon Erskine:But then they have something called the Shojo Liza, which is just, it's incredible. It's a song in Zulu and the lyrics are something. I don't know what the lyrics are, but they translate into basically like look, life has many hills. You must keep going, do not let the hills stop you. And it was the song that these Zulu, these farmers and workers and things like that. They would sing. This song, you know, going out to the fields, it was like a spiritual song to get them going. So watch these YouTube videos and you'll see thousands of people at 5 30 in the morning, like pitch black, dark, like singing the Shojo Liza. And it's just. I mean, I swear to God you watch these goosebumps. It's total goosebumps. I'm like whoa.
Jon Erskine:I am going to be there and I'm going to be part of this People singing this song right Incredible.
Shanna Crigger:How was it live in person?
Jon Erskine:Incredible, Like is it really just dying, I mean people were just I mean you could, the tension building up because everyone knows it's coming. Like you get your pin drop and then it's thousands of people and they're all just chanting and like you could feel the music, like overcoming people of you know, just feeling the energy from it. Like I've never been to a race with that much like spirit, that much it's spiritual is what it comes right down to, and it's energy Like the only thing I compare it to is like the New York City Marathon they play, you know, start spreading the news Totally different, but you know it's just an incredible start. And then they start the race with maybe the best part is they actually have a rooster, like a rooster crows and that's the official start to the race. It's like I don't know how they get the rooster crows.
Shanna Crigger:How did they tie that?
Jon Erskine:But anyways, and then off you go.
Shanna Crigger:So yeah, so.
Jon Erskine:I was just so excited to experience all these things. So then you know, we got to South Africa. It's a long way there.
Shanna Crigger:I want to hear about that too. Like you flew from where to where and how long did it take? You left San Francisco on a direct San Jose.
Jon Erskine:Who knew? Yeah, san Jose to Atlanta. It started out it was the cheapest flight in the most direct. Who knew? But you go to San Jose, to Atlanta, to Cape Town.
Shanna Crigger:Atlanta started to Cape Town. Yeah, so two flights, two flights. Wow, yeah, it was. Was it 18 hours?
Jon Erskine:It was about 24 hours 24. 25, actually Dang. The long section from Atlanta to Cape Town was like 15 or something like that.
Shanna Crigger:It was a long, long day. We need full disclosure. What's the price of a plane ticket to?
Jon Erskine:Japan, not as bad Cape Town. Well, we splurged for an extra three to four inches of leg room, which you should, I mean heck you're going 55 miles and be on an airplane for 18 hours.
Shanna Crigger:Yeah, you need to splurge, but what are those?
Jon Erskine:tickets. It was like $1,800. Ok, which is like you know, so it's up there.
Shanna Crigger:But, yeah, but doable.
Jon Erskine:Right, so yeah, so you get to Cape Town. Get there like a week early.
Shanna Crigger:A week early.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, just to get over the jet lag. I mean it's like nine hours, but it's also winter there, right, so it's summer here. The race was on June 11.
Shanna Crigger:Winter means what as far as temperatures?
Jon Erskine:Well, in Cape Town it's like cold, it is seriously. It rains a lot. I remember I was going out.
Shanna Crigger:Like a parka type of thing, oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah.
Jon Erskine:And the ocean. There is just it. I was going on this run along the bike path, along the beach, and there's this retaining wall, the sea wall and the waves crashing, and literally I could wave come over like crash on top of me as I'm on this run. Are you serious? It was pretty crazy, but then OK. And then the race itself, though, is in Durban, which is on the Eastern Coast.
Shanna Crigger:And how far from Cape Town to Durban.
Jon Erskine:It was like an hour and a half long flight. It's 1,000 miles.
Shanna Crigger:Oh, another flight, OK Right.
Jon Erskine:But then the eastern part of South Africa, where Durban is. It's hotter, it's humid, but it's winter, so it's manageable, right? So it's like the upper 70s.
Shanna Crigger:Oh yes, manageable.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, but the area there is known for sugarcane and pine apples. So you get off the plane and it felt like Hawaii. It's what it got. It's that the humidity, the way everything looks like the sugarcane fields. I'm like whoa, this is amazing.
Shanna Crigger:But it wasn't like Hawaii, yeah, it wasn't like hot Hawaii, like a West, no, it was.
Jon Erskine:But it's humid for sure, but it was manageable because it's the winter there. So, yeah, so that was the setup getting ready. So we had a couple days to just kind of get ready for the race. And it was really cool too, because I'm one with a tour group, so yeah, so there was some Americans there and then there was some Europeans there, but it's really fun because everyone's like getting ready for the race and telling stories and just met some incredible people ultramarathoners from all around the world, et cetera. So it's really cool to kind of see how everyone's doing and getting ready. But maybe the best part though so you're getting ready, you do some training runs the day before.
Shanna Crigger:And you're in a hotel, or where are you staying?
Jon Erskine:So you're staying at the race hotel, which is right along the ocean there, right along the Indian Ocean. It's really close to where the race finishes. And it was really amazing, though, and people kind of said, hey, the day before the race there's like a strand along the beach right in front of the hotel, because it's the official race hotel, and you'll see runners out there just getting ready. You've got to go check it out. So I did, but before I even got there, before I went outside the hotel, I heard it Like you can hear all this singing going on, and I'm like what the? And I looked out the window and this is like 7, 8 in the morning, and there's thousands of people on this strand. And the thing is again, it's this theme of the comrades is that to run in the comrades, you must be part of a team, Like you must be part of a team.
Shanna Crigger:So you don't go as an individual.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, you can, as an American, as a foreigner. As a foreigner, you're allowed to be individual because, obviously, but if you're South African you must be part of a team and you must wear the official uniform of that team. So imagine, thousands of people all in there. They're like it's like a parade of like. Each team will have hundreds of people and they're kind of marching along and they sing. They had each team has its own song.
Shanna Crigger:This is all the day before.
Jon Erskine:This is all the day before, and then they stop and then every once in a while they'll stop and they'll sing their songs and they do these dances and routines. It's amazing like what is going on here. The energy level was just 11. Right, if you've watched any of the women's soccer tournament, if you've seen the South African women's soccer team, they do a similar sort of thing before they go out in the field, like songs, dances. It's a cultural thing and it's communal and it's like a lot of the ultra-marathon in community in the United States. It's like the sort of rugged individualist or something like the Marlboro man. It's like you're in the mountains by yourself. There it is team, it is community, which is just so cool and so powerful, right, so that was the day before the race getting nervous.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, but then Adrenaline's pumping, yeah, the adrenaline's pumping and then, like ah-ha, and then the day of the race. It starts at 5.30 in the morning.
Shanna Crigger:So what time did you get up?
Jon Erskine:And it's a point-to-point race. So I woke up at 1.30 in the morning.
Shanna Crigger:What, yeah, 1.30 to run at 5.30.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, 1.30 in the morning, John, how much prep do you need? Well, so here's the thing because you've got to drive from point to point. You've got to drive 55 miles to get to Peter Merrittsburg, which is where the race starts, right.
Shanna Crigger:And you're driving. Did you go a car? Did you take a-? Oh, you got a bus.
Jon Erskine:Everyone's on a bus, ok so there's public buses, there's the we had a private bus for the tour group et cetera, which is a great thing to do, but you're down in the hotel lobby getting breakfast at 2.00 in the morning. I woke up at 1.30 to have breakfast at 2.00 in the morning. The place is electric. I mean because the whole it's the official race hotel.
Shanna Crigger:Everybody's awake.
Jon Erskine:Everyone's a race at 2.00 in the morning. You know it's like a rave or something for runners right Like, and so everyone's having breakfast A race with power bars.
Jon Erskine:Right With power. But it's like hmm, there's bacon. Oh, yes, please, potatoes, yes, please, like everything I could just stuff down my throat because it's a long day. Right, I knew I was going to burn about 5,000, 6,000 calories on the day. Oh, my gosh, yeah. So I just did the math. I'm like OK, time to eat here. Right, you got time to digest on the bus. Right, you get on the bus, you drive out there and like there's hundreds of buses like all converging down to Peter Merrittsburg, which is a small town. But then again, I mean, peter Merrittsburg is a really interesting place as well. I mean, it's a tiny little town. I've never even heard of it.
Shanna Crigger:On the coast as well, or is it? No, so it's inland.
Jon Erskine:It's inland, ok, but here's the thing it's like. So Durban is really interesting because it has a very large Indian community right.
Jon Erskine:And that's because the sugarcane plantations and stuff like that they came over in like the turn of the century. But what I didn't really know is that Gandhi was an attorney in Durban before he became Gandhi. You know the civil rights activist, you know humanitarian and what I learned is that, well, you know he, he was an attorney. He got his law degree in the UK and then he was a young attorney. He was like well, where am I going to go practice? Well, he came to Durban because there was a large Indian community there. But then, ok, so one day Gandhi is going to go to the capital. So he gets on the train and he's heading up the train to go to Pretoria, which is the capital. The train conductor, you know, takes a look at his ticket and Gandhi had a first class ticket. He said, well, how can an Indian person have a first class ticket? This must be a forgery. So he kicked him off the train in Peter Merrittsburg Exactly, and I'm standing there, and later he says that that experience, you know, of being treated that way, was one of the critical turning points in him becoming the Gandhi that we know.
Jon Erskine:Right. So it didn't start like right then and there, but that became his thing right. And then there I am like at the starting line, like that's the train station where Gandhi was kicked off the train. And again it's like the people of South Africa. They know all the symbolism of the race, you know. So again it's like it's a race of hope. That's. The whole point is that it's long, it's hard, it's a challenge because it's so symbolic of life itself and there are many hills in it, just like the shows of the song itself. The race is really, really hard. You know, it's like the race, it's 55 miles alone.
Shanna Crigger:Walking, biking any, I mean traveling 55 miles is hard, much less running it.
Jon Erskine:Right, but the thing is so you're starting an altitude you start at 70 in our feet above sea level and then you run down to Durban, which is at the coast. But the thing is you go up quite a lot. You go up a total of 3,800 feet which is that's a lot. That's like higher than Mount Diablo, it's like Fremont Peak. It's like you're going up right 3,800 feet. The climb. That's a big climb, but then you gotta go down and you go down 5,500 feet. You're going down over a mile.
Shanna Crigger:How did your knees and ankle, how did your joints handle? That Because I know as a runner, going down can be harder than going up.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, it's like everyone thinks, oh, there's a lot of climbing.
Shanna Crigger:No, it's the downhill like you can see, it's the downhill. It's definitely the downhill that hurts more than that.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, and believe me, I knew, you know that that's gonna be the challenging part. It's the downhill.
Shanna Crigger:But you don't know until you know right and like so, and you don't wanna slow down right Cause you're like you're gunning for your time.
Jon Erskine:Right, exactly so I did. A lot of my training was like I'd go to Nicene Marks, which they have a big, long downhill. I would sprint on the downhill just to try and get you know, get your legs acclimated to that sort of Are you talking to incline at Nicene? They incline, yes, miles, and miles, and miles to just sprint downhill right.
Shanna Crigger:Yeah.
Jon Erskine:So, but you know there's so many cool things about the race and another thing is that they have all these traditions, right. So there are different medals for the race. Like you, for example, the winners they get a gold medal, and there's something there's the silver medal which is, if you run in seven and a half hours, you get a silver medal, and only like one or 2% of all the people who run it every year get the silver medal. But you know they have all these metrics online about. Well, if you've run a marathon in X, you could do, you could get the silver medal, and I'm like looking at the numbers, this is like in my training. I'm like you know what. This is right on the edge of possibly what.
Shanna Crigger:I could do.
Jon Erskine:The seven and a half hours, the silver medal, that could be it, and to me like, as a runner, that sort of challenge of something on such a big stage and something that's just on the edge of what you can do if you have a good day and you're fully committed that was just candy.
Jon Erskine:Like I love that sort of challenge. You know I compared it to, like you know, dangling a laser pointer dot in front of a cat, like to me that's just. I am chasing that goal Because you can't get that out of yourself unless it's a big stage, unless it's a big motivational, I can't at least.
Shanna Crigger:Right now I think those people so everything's teed up right, it's ready to go.
Jon Erskine:I'm like go time, right. So you know I'm at the start, it's 5.30 in the morning, you know it's pitch black right, and there's all these people in my corral. So I qualified, I got an A corral, so I'm at the very, very front of the race.
Shanna Crigger:Really, I'm very good. That's amazing yeah.
Jon Erskine:And again I'm this American dude, like standing around, like surrounded, you know you know all the South African runners. Like people from all over the world, I'm just like I am fish out of water.
Shanna Crigger:I'm John Oskine Grant at Rock. Hey, hey, what's up Yo?
Jon Erskine:Santa Cruz, california, yeah right exactly, you heard of it and again that's like so cool, I'm fish out of water. I love that. I wanted that experience of just be totally out of my element, see what I can do, but then okay. But then what's really cool is that? Okay, it's winter, right, so people tell you it's going to be cold at the start, so bring, like throw away layers, right. That's very traditional in a race in the United States, so I had a long sleeve tech shirt, not my rock and run shirt.
Shanna Crigger:Okay, do not leave your rocket or brand shirt in Africa, south Africa, no, no, no.
Jon Erskine:And it had like an old cycling jacket that I was like, okay, so I was just going to throw these, like at the start of the race, right. So I'm sitting there in the crowd and I'm like, okay, it's kind of warm, I could probably get rid of this tech shirt right now. So I start to take off my tech shirt and as I'm taking it off, I see this person like walking up to me and like, as I take it off, this guy says to me can I have your shirt?
Jon Erskine:And I'm like yeah sure, but I don't really think much of it. It wasn't a special shirt, it wasn't like he was looking for souvenir, but it's because it's poverty.
Jon Erskine:You know, it's like yeah, exactly, and that's another element of this is all I mean to him. This is a valuable tech shirt. I mean, like you know, minimum wage in South Africa is like $360 a year. Like unemployment is like 35%. Like in the villages it's 55%, right, and so that's part of it as well.
Jon Erskine:Again, it's that challenge of like these people have nothing but they get it done right, and that's so cool to me, right, the race itself understands that and they have, for example, they have a charity group where they have 800 people that they put up overnight in like a YMCA. They give them a free cut, a free meal, free transportation, like it's all free, and people who can't even afford that. Like they get this race done. And to me, again, that's just like incredible, right, yeah, for sure, and you know, like, and I knew this. So, like the Expo, for example, you know you go to the Expo, you get your number and stuff like that. Like I had learned about another tradition, which is like people from foreign countries will bring a pair of running shoes, like you know, old training running shoes.
Shanna Crigger:Oh, old ones yeah Cause.
Jon Erskine:I mean good condition, because again it's like look, I can get my fancy carbon high tech shoes over here, but first of all, you're not gonna find that in South Africa and most people can't afford that, right? So I brought, you know, a nice pair of shoes, and there was, like this little bin where you make a donation of your old shoes. Oh, wow. And to me, again, that's just like it's so symbolic of like I've done all this training and I've finished with all the training and now I'm transitioning to the race and I'll put my shoes in this bin, and it's just very, very powerful, right, it's that circle. And then, as I'm standing there though like I'm right next to the official there's like a it's the charity section, right. And so they have every year they have a different charity and they have this thing that's called AMI beads. I don't even know how to pronounce it, but anyways, they make like still bracelets with beads. I've got it in my cubicle right now and like I'm not like a bead guy.
Shanna Crigger:You know like the stomach thing.
Jon Erskine:But the woman's like, hey, you know, would you buy one of these, cause they're for charity, you know it helps support the kids, and I'm like, okay, cool, it's like $2.
Shanna Crigger:I was gonna say $10, $20, $2.
Jon Erskine:$2, right, $2. I'm like, yeah, sure, cool. And then she's like will you wear this during the race Because it will show the children that you are supporting them, and I just like, of course.
Shanna Crigger:And. I'm just like I freaking, started balling you know right there, Like of course I will yeah.
Jon Erskine:So, yeah.
Jon Erskine:So there's that element there as well. So then I'm at the start. Okay, boom, the shows are, laser goes off, the rooster crows were out running, right. But then as I'm running and first of all I gotta say it's really funny because it's 5, 30 in the morning and it's winter, so it's dark. The United States, it's like you know all these attorneys and things like that, You'd have lights everywhere. Like there was none of that. You know you're on your own. You're running like elbow to elbow, potholes and stuff, and it's like, hey, figure it out. You know like maybe a couple of people had headlamps but like not everybody, not everybody.
Jon Erskine:I mean you're is like okay, here we go and again that's pretty cool. I like that sort of you know, cowboy sort of yeah, just get it done right.
Jon Erskine:So then I'm out running though, and like running along, running along, running along, and I see a woman and she's like I don't know, she's like four foot nine or something. She's tiny, 80, 90 pounds, just this teeny African woman, and she's carrying a basket, yeah, like like like Yogi Bear picnic basket sort of thing, in her right arm, and I'm like what? Okay, I don't think much of it, she's running.
Jon Erskine:And she's running and I kept on seeing her and I kept on seeing her and what I eventually realized she was doing is she was taking like. I took my cycling jacket that I was still wearing at the time and I threw it, and she was running along and collecting people's stuff.
Shanna Crigger:And she was carrying it because again, she's going to give it away to her friends and family or to herself, but it's value.
Jon Erskine:These are not throwaway, disposable things. This is something of value. And I don't know what happened to her at the end, like, but I saw her at least halfway through the race still carrying the basket.
Shanna Crigger:And it's like piled over with.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, it didn't it didn't look like more in there, and she's running my speed, you know she's like we're moving yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, so it's just again. It's just super inspiring. But this is crazy.
Shanna Crigger:So what was your time? So you went back to the seven and a half hour. You get a medal, did you? Get the seven and a half hour barrier.
Jon Erskine:There's more to it than that, so anyways a really cool tradition again it's this whole community thing is that they have what they call buses. So you have a bus driver which is like an official designated person who will set a time to meet your specified time, right. So there's a bus driver for the seven and a half hour group. He's got a little sign and a flag and there's like literally a hundred or 200 of us following this bus driver down the road.
Shanna Crigger:You know which is setting the pace for you. He's setting the pace.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, exactly, and pacing on a 55 mile run is a big frigging deal. Right, you go out too hard, you are going to die. You know you will pay for your going too fast at the beat. It's not just like oh, I'm going to get winded and I'm going to slow down, you will die.
Shanna Crigger:Right.
Jon Erskine:So everyone tells me yeah, and the beginning of the race. You're going up, up, up, up, up, uphill, right, and that's the thing. Like the whole mental part of it is wow, I am an hour into this race and I've got a long way to go. Hours. And it's this constant mental battle between OK, I'm here to try and achieve this pace, the seven and a half hour pace, the silver medal, but it's a long way. So it's this constant battle between how you have to focus on what it is you're doing at that exact same moment.
Jon Erskine:So it's like the ultimate mindfulness, like you can't think about what is coming down the road. You must think about right now and you must commit to it if you have any chance whatsoever of getting that seven and a half hour right. So we're cruising down the road. But then it's also very inspiring, because then you'll see people on the side of the road like who say stay on the bus, stay on the bus. Which is like very, very. It's like okay, cool, yeah, we're staying on the bus, you know. So we're cruising.
Shanna Crigger:It means like stay with your pacer, right, right, your group of hundreds of people or 100, 200 people, something like that.
Jon Erskine:And yeah, and then there was one of our Americans was in there too, which was really really cool. Yeah, so we're going down the road and then the sun's starting to come up, right. So then you start to see people and then at a certain point, it's just like packed five and six deep, 40, 50 miles, like all the way down the road, and people are having barbecues and there's music and partying. It's like wharf to wharf.
Shanna Crigger:I was gonna say wharf to wharf.
Jon Erskine:Way, way, way longer, right, because, again, it's a big cultural thing and it's so important. So we're going along and it's like okay, so I'm eating constantly. Like I said, I knew it was gonna be a 5,000 calorie day or something. I'm like constantly having my gels and all kinds of things like that. Just stay on it, stay on the food, stay on the food, stay on the water. You go through the aid stations, though, and again it's like this is South Africa, right? It's not like US aid stations, where you're gonna get Gatorade and Power Bars and gels and stuff.
Jon Erskine:It's like delicious boiled potatoes with salt really, really good. And oranges orange slices like a soccer game or something Like okay, and they put salt on the orange slices, like yeah.
Shanna Crigger:I mean, who knew? Oh interesting. Yeah so whatever. So different kind of food, yeah, different kind of food.
Jon Erskine:And again, it's like everyone else is kind of adjusted to that. That's what you do in these races apparently Not me, like I'm carrying all my gels and stuff.
Shanna Crigger:So you brought stuff from US to help get you through.
Jon Erskine:So you're going, you're climbing, climbing, climbing, and I gotta tell you what there's nothing like, to the point where you get to the marathon mark 42 kilometers, 26 miles and you're like okay, I'm not even halfway done yet Not even halfway done yeah not even halfway done.
Jon Erskine:It's like I just keep on joking, like, well, hey, one marathon of today is great, miles will do two marathons in a day, right? So you're climbing, climbing, climbing, and then you get to the highest point in the race. And it's funny too, because they name all these climbs. They have these cool names like Polly Shorts. You know Like huh, what does that even mean? I don't even know what these words are. So you get to the highest point in the climb and I'm like okay, I'm in the bus, like I'm doing well, everything's great. Now comes the downhill, like one of. I mean there's many, many downhills, many, many climbs.
Jon Erskine:But here's the big one but here's the big one and it's like it was about. It was basically an hour straight of downhill. It was like over 10 miles of downhill and it's a steep road.
Shanna Crigger:My knees hurt Just thinking about it.
Jon Erskine:But you know, it's not even and it's not even a like it's it's cambered too Cause it's drainage right, it's steep, it's like.
Shanna Crigger:So you're sideways and going down.
Jon Erskine:Sideways and going down, there's like some, some downhills on highway, one Like there's one just north of Davenport, like, if you're better at it, the bottom line is it's steep, it's asphalt, it's it's you know, it's cambered. You're going down, down, down, and I'm like, okay, I am feeling okay, but now this is really starting to hurt. You know, like, okay, and it's, it's the top of my legs. It was like they're quads, just cause that banging, just bang, bang. My knees were okay, but it's like the quads were just really really starting to hurt. So so, okay, still on pace, still everything's going good, very strong. And then I get to like 44 miles, I think it was. And that's when I'm like, oh, okay, okay, I'm doing, okay, I'm doing okay, you know, my heart rate's good, I'm feeling good, I'm in a good mood. But okay, I just I need to take a little. I just, okay, I'm going to walk for 30 seconds. Okay, just walk for 30 seconds. Okay, all good, back to running Back on the, still in the pace group, still doing fine, still on my seven and a half hour pace.
Jon Erskine:And then I'm like, okay, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to run to the aid station and then I'm going to walk through the aid station, right, and then I'm like, okay, and then I'm like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to run two kilometers, and then I'll walk like half a kilometer, right, everything's in Ks, right? They tell you like how many kilometers to go, right, and then you know, and then I'm like, okay, I'm starting to feel bad. Now I'm starting to have to to walk more. You know, it's like, you know, okay, and this is like every so many people are walking at this point and and I'm like, okay, at this point I knew that I was off my seven and a half hour pace but I had a beagle. So you have an, a goal and I had a beagle. My big goal was eight hours. And I'm still like, okay, this is still going okay.
Jon Erskine:But then you start hitting these uphills after that long downhill, and I'm and the sun's coming up and it's starting to get hot, and like I've been trying to eat as much as I possibly can, but like now is when it's really really start to hit the fan, right, and you're going along and you're going on, and I got to this one climb, totally exposed in the sunlight, and I was about. I think I was about. I think I was about. I was about actually. Yeah, I was about 10 K to go. It was about 10, eight or 10 K to go is eight K to go, that's what it was. So it was about five miles to go, like really really close.
Shanna Crigger:Nothing for you.
Jon Erskine:Nothing for me. And then, like then, all of a sudden, it was like All of a sudden, my knees just started to wobble, like it's like the baby giraffe legs, you know that sort of wobbling moment, and I almost had like a black. I was within like seconds of just like falling down on the road. You know like it was that painful, like that just complete, utter exhaustion, like I have given everything I have, like I've trained for months and months and months, and I'm literally just like wobbling and about to fall over here, and like everyone around you is like screaming, like people are walking, people are like this complete chaos. You know, it's like you know I'm saving private Ryan, that sort of chaos going on. But also I've got my sunglasses on, like no one knows what's going on inside my head. And then, but then, at the same time, though it was as painful and as difficult as that was, it was also incredibly beautiful, because it was literally like this is what I came for. Like I came for this moment to really just be like exposed, raw, like what are you? Like? People who do this sort of thing, that's what they want. They want that sort of challenge of just what do you have. How much is it? How much importance is this to you? Like, what have you done? Why are you here?
Jon Erskine:And it was like I told myself at that point, like I want to honor the race, like all these things that motivated. I wanted to honor everyone around me, I wanted to honor people that I knew, or like back home, like thinking about me, like watching me on the app, like in the middle of the night, like it just became this like clarifying moment, this like bolt of lightning, and I'm just like you know, it's for God. This is like as hard and as painful it was. It was just a beautiful experience, cause I'm like, okay, I can still do it. But here's the thing I've got to run from now until the finish, like I can like I'm looking at my watch, I'm doing the math, I'm like I know my paces, I'm like I cannot stop, and that was incredible. And I'm just like, okay, here we go. And it was like every single step, it was a choice, it was a decision, like ouch, ouch, ouch.
Shanna Crigger:So there's nothing easy. Oh gosh, and nothing. I mean, you must have been in so much physical pain as well as mental.
Jon Erskine:I can't even describe it, like the pain was just, it was just debilitating, it was just incredible. But that's the thing. You accept that and you push because of the spirit of the race and because of the spirit of the people and everything I'd worked for. And the realization, too it's like one of the reasons why I signed up for this is, like you know, post COVID, like so many things went away. And just the realization that things go away, like you may never be in that moment again and you have no idea I may never get back here Like it's so far. Oh yeah, I never be in the shape again, like all kinds of things can happen. So I was like go, I did and like that. And I'm like watching my every single kilometer thing. I'm like where the hell is that kilometer sign, what six? Because it tells you like how many, how many?
Shanna Crigger:six to go. How long is that kilometer?
Jon Erskine:sign Five to go and I'm just like okay, there's more hills to go. And I just kept on running, kept on running kept on and I was like I saw my heart rate, like my heart rate was like 130, 140 most of the time. It started to creep up to like 150. Oh, wow, I'm getting to the end. It was 173 by the end, but it was just like and.
Jon Erskine:I got to like one kilometer to go and I'm like I sure to hell hope that sign is right, cause I'm looking at my watch and I'm like I am just barely going to make this. And sure enough, I round the corner and you end up in this giant rugby stadium, like on the pitch and like I made that corner and I felt like I was sprinting with all my life. But my wife, christine, she filmed a video of me and I'm literally just like, yeah, I'm like barely moving, but the effort level was like 11, you know. And I came down and like I was just like yeah, yeah, you know, just totally just screaming and crying and like everything, and I crossed the finish line at seven hours and 58 minutes.
Shanna Crigger:Are you kidding me?
Jon Erskine:Yeah, so I made that goal and that is just. And then, as soon as you finish, like the person gives you the medal. And then it was just like lights out, Like I literally I found I saw like a volunteer's chair that was empty, this plastic chair, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna sit in that you know. And I sat on this like cheap plastic chair and I'm like, okay, okay, I'm all right.
Shanna Crigger:I'm alive.
Jon Erskine:And I think you mentioned beer earlier. I'm like what there's beer at the. You know, if I just go over there I can get pure pretty soon.
Shanna Crigger:Yes, yeah, beer is great.
Jon Erskine:I started to try and lift myself up and I just want. No, that's not happening. And I literally raised my arms and say, hey, can you get the medical tent? And they came over with like an old school stretcher, like the two wooden poles with like the canvas in between. Are you kidding? I swear to God, they lift me up in a stretcher. They took me over to the medical tent and I was in the medical tent for three hours afterwards Three hours.
Shanna Crigger:What did they do in the medical tent IV?
Jon Erskine:Well, you know it was funny because like God.
Shanna Crigger:This is so interesting.
Jon Erskine:Yeah, so I knew like it was really funny because I've had IVs like after Iron Man's before and they make you feel great. But I also know they try and save them because people really need IVs. They really need IVs. So they triage you and they're like do you feel like you're gonna vomit? And I'm like I knew, if I would have answered yes, they would have given me an IV, but it was like no, yeah.
Shanna Crigger:So it was Right and your heart was okay. Yeah, my heart was fine, like I just my legs were not fine.
Jon Erskine:I literally could not support my weight.
Shanna Crigger:Your joints must have been shot.
Jon Erskine:It was the muscles.
Shanna Crigger:The muscles were literally just like I cannot do anything anymore. How about your hips? The hips were okay, but it's.
Jon Erskine:I don't even know how to explain it, but it's just like the top of your thighs, basically like underneath your hips, that top area there. So they took me over to the tent and I got on a cot.
Shanna Crigger:Was your wife dying when she saw you carrying away on a stretcher?
Jon Erskine:She couldn't see, because it's all. They have it all closed off, so you can't.
Jon Erskine:Okay, she wasn't there, but I brought my phone and like because, again, I was like, I usually don't run with my phone, but I'm like, if something happens to me in the middle of South Africa, like what am I gonna do, you know? Like, so I brought my phone with me. I'm like, hey, I'm in the medical tent, you know, I'll let you know when I'm good. But it was so funny. So I was in the medical tent and it was so funny because, like it was being staffed by Cub Scouts. Oh my God.
Jon Erskine:So there's all these Cub Scout kids. And it turned out like the Scout master was like a nurse and she was like, okay, well, you know, I'll help you out. So he's like massaging my legs and stuff. And she's like, hey, you know, Scout kids, can you come over? They're bringing me like strawberry Oreos and like this kid like he had some ketchup and he's like you should put some fake some ketchup for like fake blood on your face. So I'm like, okay, so I put like fake blood on my face from ketchup. You know just kids.
Shanna Crigger:Yeah, these are teenage boys. I know exactly they're Cub. Well, they're even younger. They're like middle school kids or whatever.
Jon Erskine:Oh my God, but then like then you start having this conversation with, like, the Scout master, right, and that was really cool too, because it was like, well, first of all, oh, you're from the United States. You're, why did you come here? Like, how did you know about this? Like, tell me your story. And then, like, you start to kind of peel away the layers of a person, right. And then the South Africans they want to know. Well, what do people think about South Africa? They're very proud of their country, but very protective, you know, and they're like, do people think bad things about us? I'm like no, like I've loved my experience. This is incredible. And I kept on telling them, you know, like, what is the experience about? You know how incredible it was for me. But again, it's like I was in there for three hours and like, every time I'd try and get up, it's just my legs were like not gonna happen. But to have like to connect with, you know, all these people, like in the med tent was, was a really cool experience.
Shanna Crigger:That's a cool experience, because you're talking to all the people that, yeah, exactly so.
Jon Erskine:It's like so like I, eventually I was able to stand up. Like it took many, many times, you know, it literally took three hours, but you know, I knew every single thing I had, like I gave that day and that's what I'm so proud about. You know, like I didn't mean my ankle, but that's fine Because I met my Beagle and I didn't let myself give up. Like a friend of mine always says, you gotta lock the back door. You know, like when people are coming in the front door to rob you, you gotta lock the back door and not let yourself out. You gotta fight yourself out forward. And that's what I did and that's what I'm so proud about. You know, it's not the time necessarily, because no one cares. No one cares if, like, if you're 801 versus 759 or 820 or 8, you know it doesn't even matter. It's the fact that you held yourself to a standard and you held yourself accountable and you did it.
Jon Erskine:And that's what was so powerful and important to me.
Shanna Crigger:So powerful yeah, no.
Jon Erskine:I loved it Absolutely.
Shanna Crigger:Wow Well, congrats, that's all. I can say I'm exhausted just hearing it and listening to the pounding of the downhill and the pain and just that verge where you're like that's what's all about On the edge. Yep, good luck to you. Well, keep us posted. This is awesome. I mean, like I said, kudos to you and all the hard work that went into that and then actually executing on game day.
Jon Erskine:Thank you All right, good times 're fucking bored.