Roman Mars: Sports are political everywhere obviously but South Africa has been a particularly stark example of that. 99% Invisible was produced this week by Ryan Lanora Brown edited by Delaney Hall original music by Swan Rau sound mix by Martin Gonzalez fact checking by Graham Haysha Kurt Colested is our digital director and the rest of the team includes Chris Perrupe Jason Delion and Mitt Fitzgerald Christopher Johnson Vivian Lei Lajma Dawn Jacob Moltenaro Medina Kelly Prime Joe Rosenberg Sophia Klatsker and me Roman Mars special thanks to Isaac Inguenya Roxy Thomas Bob De La Mott Dachin Mudley and Tommy Nitski.
If you live in South Africa, you definitely know someone who runs ultra-marathons, probably lots of someones. Here, ultras are the stuff of a whole country’s new years resolutions and mid-life crises. They’re the kind of thing that a totally ordinary, not-athletic person wakes up one day and decides they’re going to do -- and then does. In one of the most economically unequal countries in the world, extreme distance running is a sport that feels like it includes everybody. And improbably, that inclusiveness happened during one of the darkest, most divided moments in South Africa’s history – during the final years of apartheid.
The Comrades