PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA – A runner in the Algoa Bus Bay to Bay Challenge was stabbed and robbed in full view of horrified runners and spectators in Port Elizabeth‘s notorious Victoria Drive at the weekend.
Theresa Matthysen, 41, from Despatch, was stabbed three times in the back and robbed of her shoes and watch by two men while running the last leg of the 50km relay event on Saturday.
The attack on a stretch of a Walmer road in which numerous motorists have been stoned, has shocked race organisers, who now plan to change the route of the event next year.
“There was about 8km left of the race near the Walmer Township when I saw two guys coming towards me,” said Matthysen from St George‘s Hospital yesterday. “I tried to avoid them, but the one guy just grabbed me by the neck and I felt a funny feeling on my back.
“They dragged me off to the side of the road and grabbed my takkies, and the one struggled to get my watch off, so I helped him.”
Matthysen, who had just been passed the baton, said she was about 0,7km into the last leg of the relay race when the attack took place.
“It happened so fast. I thought they just punched me on my back. I only realised I was stabbed when two guys who saw it happening came to help me,” she said.
The two men who witnessed the incident alerted the organisers and called for an ambulance.
“I just heard them say: ‘Oh my goodness she‘s been stabbed; call an ambulance‘,” said Matthysen, who was rushed to hospital.
Her husband, Johan, and son, Ryno, were still in shock last night.
Johan said he was about 800 metres away from his wife when she was attacked.
“She was just given the relay baton and I was driving closer to where she was running when I got a phone call to say she had been stabbed,” said Johan. “I was so angry, but we just tried to make sure my wife was helped first.”
Matthysen is nursing serious damage to the left side of her vertebrae caused by the stab wounds on the left side of her back.
“She doesn‘t have full control of her left leg and will have to undergo physiotherapy,” added Johan.
Matthysen said her leg was still numb, but she knows she will be able to walk again.
“I don‘t know if I‘ll run anytime soon, but I believe my leg will get better,” she said.
One of the event‘s organisers, Michael Zoetmulder, said the attack took place near the Animal Welfare Society in Victoria Drive.
“We will change the route next year and use Mount Pleasant to avoid using that road,” said Zoetmulder.
“We wanted to bring the race closer to the people, but if this is what happens, we will have to change it.”
Roy Heine, chairman of the Charlo Athletics Club and race convener of the Bay to Bay committee, said he was “horrified and disgusted” by what had happened.
“It just spoils the fun of athletics. We were trying to bring sports closer to young people in previously disadvantaged areas, yet this is what happens,” said Heine.
“We are all absolutely shattered by it and will definitely change the route next year.”
There have been no arrests.
Matthysen has run in a number of competitive races, including last year‘s Bay to Bay Challenge and the Cape Peninsula‘s Two Oceans Marathon in 2004. She was also a regular participant in the popular Great Train Race that is the forerunner of the Bay to Bay Challenge.
“She‘s a dedicated runner and recently took part in the Kowie 27 in Port Alfred,” said Johan.
The Bay to Bay Challenge, from Jeffrey‘s Bay to Port Elizabeth, includes a 100km walk, a 100km ultra-marathon, a 50km marathon and the new 50km six-person relay.
The relay race started near Van Stadens, while the 100km run and 100km walk started in Jeffreys Bay.
– By Rochelle de Kock | The Herald Online