Author: Modern Athlete

It is
isn’t often that an athlete finishes first in an SA Champs event to claim a
first national title, and then feels guilty for winning, but that is what
happened to 400m hurdles champ Annerie Ebersohn at the 2013 SA Track and Field
Champs in Stellenbosch last April. She was drawn in a lane outside of her
friend, clubmate and training partner, Wenda Nel, the defending champion, and
expected her big rival to come up on her inside during the final, but was
surprised to see no sign of Wenda at the finish line.

“It was a
bittersweet race for me, because once I crossed the finish line I realised
Wenda had fallen. Yes, I was happy I had won, but at the same time I had taken
the title from my great friend. Also, the question in my mind was, would I have
won if she didn’t fall?” says Annerie. “Later that night Wenda sent me a long
message saying that I must never feel bad for doing well, even if it meant
beating her. Since then we keep the jokes flowing about who is going to beat
who! We have reached a similar level now, and despite Wenda being my biggest
rival, she is also one of my biggest supporters, alongside my family and
training group.”

When the
going gets tough, Annerie also turns to her family for moral support,
specifically her two brothers, Robert and Sias, who both play Super 15 rugby
for the Cheetahs. “There are tough days where I feel like giving up, but then I
just pick up the phone and call one of my brothers, and they give me the best
advice! They always tell me, we are not the type of people that quit!” says
Annerie.

TRAINING DAYS

Annerie
only started athletics in grade one because it was something to pass the time
with, but by the time she was 10 years old, she was competing at SA
Championships at primary school and youth levels. “It took me a good five years
to win at the age of 15 for the first time, though,” she says. In those years
she was based in Bloemfontein and coached by DB Prinsloo, but after school the
opportunity arose to go to Tukkies to further her athletics career and study
law. However, it didn’t quite go to plan, at first…

“I never
realised how tough it would be, and in my first year in Pretoria, my athletics
went backwards. I asked my new coach, Hennie Kotzer, why the training programme
was not working for me, and he told me he had a lot of faith in his programme
and that I must just keep going. It honestly felt as if I was in a ‘hell camp.’
Also, I had no friends or family there at first, which made it more tough, and
I am very grateful to the friends I made, as they were a great help with my
studies. Juggling athletics and a law degree is no joke!”

By the
time Annerie reached her second year at varsity, Hennie’s sometimes offbeat
methods began to prove successful, and her athletics began to flourish. “My
coach is a little bit crazy!” laughs Annerie. “Some days, when the weather is
bad, he will still make us train, whether it be stair-work or running in the
rain. We usually rest on Sundays, but if the coach says we’re training, then we
don’t rest. One specific time we trained for 21 days in a row!”

HITTING THE BIG TIME

But it
worked, and in the same season that she claimed the national title, Annerie was
also selected for the SA World Champs squad that went to Moscow in August, where
she says she saw a different side to the sport. “Most of those athletes run for
a living, it is their profession. Athletes in South Africa need to have a back-up
plan, as most of us won’t be able to afford to ‘just’ run. This is unfortunate
for me, as I would love to keep running until I can no longer run anymore,”
says Annerie. Nevertheless, her future goals include competing at the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in Scotland, and she has high hopes that ASA and SASCOC will sort out
their differences to make this possible. She is also aiming to get a medal at
the World Student Champs in Korea in 2015. “Then of course I would love to go
to the Olympics in 2016!”

ANNERIE’S PB’S

200m                24:24

400m                53:25

400m
Hurdles    55:87

There are now six runners who have achieved the
magnificent feat of running 40 Comrades Marathons, and three more should do it
this year, including Alan Robb, revered both locally and internationally as one
of the most loved South African runners of all time. He is the leading Comrades
gold medallist with 12 golds, and known as
much for his four Comrades wins as his famous red socks to show his support for
Liverpool Football Club. Though he emphasises that he takes it one year at a
time, many believe that Alan could become the first person to achieve 50
Comrades medals.

Come Comrades day on 2 June, Alan will once again be
running in the colours of his first athletics club, Germiston Callies Harriers
(GCH). He his first Comrades in 1976 in Callies colours, having already
finished third in 1974, and went on to win the next two years as well. In 1978 he also became the first person to break the
sub-5:30 barrier, winning in 5:29:14, and he added a fourth win in 1980, as
well as a second place in 1982. Today at the age of 58 he still runs remarkable
times, finishing the Comrades last year in 8:34.

“I joined Callies in
1974 and left the club in 1992, mainly because all the guys I trained with had
stopped running. I lived in Woodmead and started running with a group of guys
from Rocky Road Runners, but I always kept in touch with Callies, attending
many of their functions and runs,” says Alan, who in recent years also participated
in the colours of the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club. “In January I decided to rejoin
the club permanently and have already run a couple of races in my new colours.
I am really looking forward to running Comrades in Callies colours, as I feel
that’s where I belong and that’s where I was taught to run.”

HOMECOMING

The change of club came
about when Andre Berrange, vice-chairman of GCH, approached Alan last year to
ask if he would run his 40^th Comrades in Callies colours. Andre says
Alan may not have run in their colours since 1992, but he has always been
associated with the club, so much so that he was awarded honorary life
membership in the late 1980s. “Over the years he has remained in touch with his
contemporary Callies clubmates and was a regular attendee at all our races, as
well as our annual Comrades breakfast and other club functions.”

When Alan announced he was returning to the club, he
was welcomed with open arms by all at Callies. “We saw it as a homecoming for
one of Callies’ favourite sons. It is with great pride that we will once again
see the humble, modest running legend in the familiar blue and white colours
along the Comrades route in 2013 and beyond,” says Andre.

MIXED EMOTIONS

While Alan says this
year’s run will be a milestone in his running career, it will also be a very
sad day. “A lot of people will remember that my wife Merle passed away a week
before last year’s run, and it was only because of my daughter Staci that I
actually ran. My whole world has been turned upside down. Merle and I were
planning to do something special together after this run, but sadly that will
not happen. My motivation to run has been at an all-time low and I have done
very little running. It will be a very emotional run dedicated entirely to
Merle, who attended 35 Comrades with me and was always at the end in the finish
area as a guest of the Comrades Marathon Association. I miss her terribly.”

HONOURING
THE LEGEND

GCH has been planning a series of events leading up to
Alan’s 40^th Comrades. “We felt it was high time that our club’s race
was dedicated to Alan, as a token of appreciation for the honour that he has
brought to the club. This year the timing was perfect to rename our race on 7
April to the Alan Robb 32km and 15km,” says Andre. Typically, Alan acknowledged
this honour in his understated way: “I feel
very honoured to have this year’s Callies race named after me.”

Furthermore, the members of GCH plan to run their own race
and Comrades in red socks to honour Alan, and encourage all other members of
the running community to do the same at both races. Another highlight in the
build-up to Alan’s 40^th Comrades will be a pre-race breakfast where
all his old training mates and legends of road running will celebrate with
Alan, who says this should be a great reunion and good fun.

One second Landie
Greyling will be speeding along the trails, the next she will come to a sudden
stop… because she spotted a dassie! “I just love furry animals, because I often
saw dassies on our farm when I grew up, and I just light up whenever I see a dassie,
or an otter.” Little surprise then that she is affectionately known as ‘Dassie’
to her husband Christiaan and close friends. “Christiaan started it, because
besides stopping to look at dassies, he says I always look so happy running on
rocks, just like a rock-rabbit, or dassie. He even jokes that he was happy to
move down to the Cape, where there are more dassies, which makes training with
me easier… because I will never stop if he has a cramp, but just let me see a
dassie and I stop right there!”

Landie and Christiaan are quite the trail
super-couple: Both were selected for the SA team that went to the World Ultra
Trail Champs in Wales in July, where Christiaan finished first amongst the SA
men, in 32^ndposition, while Landie finished ninth in the women’s
race. The previous year she went to the World Long Distance Mountain Running
Champs in Switzerland as well as the World Short Distance Mountain Running
Champs in Italy. “In 2012 I went to World Champs at very short notice and
wasn’t properly prepared, so I feel that Wales was my first real World Champs.
It was very special to finish in the top 10, but even more special to have
Christiaan there. Very few couples can do that together.”

On home soil, her list of wins and podium
finishes in the last few years includes first at the Salomon Skyrun, Old Mutual
Two Oceans Trail Run and Hobbit 100km Trail Run, and second at the 2013 Otter
Trail Run, after finishing third the two previous years. “The Otter 2013 was a
real highlight, because of how I executed my race, staying up there with one of
the best trail runners in the world, Ruby Muir. Another highlight was winning
the mixed category with Christiaan at the ProNutro AfricanX Trail Run this
year.”

Landie
(29) grew up near Pretoria, where she ran her first 10km fun run aged nine,
then competed in cross-country for her school and ran the 800m and 1500m in
athletics. Having finished school in 2001, she did not know what career path to
follow, so her parents encouraged her to go work overseas and travel while
deciding. “I went to England and worked and travelled for two years, then came
back to study in 2004 at the University of Pretoria. I had always been a
numbers person, so I enrolled for a B.Com Accounting
degree, then completed my Honours in 2007, following which I started working
for Pricewaterhousecoopers to complete my articles.”

While at university, Landie got back into
running in 2007, initially focusing on road running, but in May 2008 she
ventured off-road at an adventure racing event in the Magaliesberg, and not
only discovered a talent for trail running, but also found romance. “I was in a team with
two friends, while Christiaan was in another team. After the race, one of my
teammates knew them, so we hung out for a while, but I had to leave early, so
only spoke to him for about three minutes. A week later I saw him again at a
trail race. I actually drove the wrong way up a one-way road and suddenly there
was a bakkie in front of me, hooting and flashing its lights, so I pulled over to
let it go past. When I parked, the same bakkie pulled up next to me, so I
pretended to scratch around in my car, because I was so embarrassed, but then
there was a knock on my window and the bakkie driver was Christiaan!”

“After that trail run, he asked me out for
an ice-cream, but I was seeing somebody at the time, so I said let’s rather go
for a run, because I told him I was looking for somebody to train with. The
next day he phoned me to invite me to join his training group, but I later
found out he actually just got a bunch of friends from his ‘koshuis’ to join
him for a few early morning runs. One by one they disappeared until it was just
us two!”

SUB-HEADER HERE

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant
at the end of 2010, Landie was seconded by Pricewaterhousecoopers to go work in
the USA for four months, where she competed in numerous trail runs, winning the
women’s category in nearly every one! Upon her return, she and Christiaan lived
in the Garden Route area for a year before moving to Stellenbosch and getting
married in early 2012. She subsequently did her Masters degree, specialising in
tax, while lecturing part-time at a college in Bellville, but recently left
that behind to join a Stellenbosch-based company as a tax consultant. Her new job
requires two hours a day in the office, which allows her enough time for
training twice a day.

“I appreciate the time I have for
training, but I am also laying the
groundwork for a career after running. I’ve got a five-year plan and want to
work full-time for this company, as they are investing in me by helping to
sponsor me. Fortunately I have several product sponsors, like Salomon for
apparel and shoes, and supplements from PeptoPro, and thanks to my part-time
work and sponsors, I don’t have to run everything to make ends meet, so while
trail running doesn’t pay that well as yet, I don’t need to turn to road
running for small pay-outs.”

FRIENDLY RIVALRY

Despite work commitments, Landie and
Christiaan still manage to do their early morning and weekend runs together,
and she says it is terrific to have a partner who shares her passion for
running. “Our quality time together is often spent running, which means we
don’t feel that we’re putting our training before our partner.”

When asked who is the faster runner,
Landie laughs and says he is usually five minutes ahead of her these days, but
she has beaten him in a few races. “We did a half marathon a month before our
wedding and at 5km he told me he’s going now, then at 18km I tapped him on his
shoulder and said hello. He was not pleased! But he is such a natural runner –
he works full-time, and if he could train more, I reckon a lot of the top guys
would have to watch out for him!”

Looking
ahead, Landie says she hopes to race the Mont Blanc Marathon,
Grand Raid Pyrenees and Trans-Alps events in Europe in the next two years, then
move on to the longer trail events in the USA. “I want to run the San Francisco
50-miler, which is one of the highest paid trail runs, then do the Western States
and Leadville races as well. Meanwhile, she will continue to race most of the
local events, and says she is really excited about the direction trail running
is taking in SA: “Trail running has grown
tremendously over the past couple of years, and I believe it will continue to
grow as more and more people discover the trails and how much fun it is.”

In 1976 the
late Lionel Whitfield, a prominent member of the Buffalo Club in East London
and staunch supporter of Buffalo Road Runners, expressed to fellow-Buff and
close friend, the late Viv Rex, his desire to start a race to honour his
father, George Washington ‘Washie’ Whitfield. There must have been drinks
involved in the conversation, because somehow they came up with the idea for a
100-mile (161km) race from East London to Port Alfred, to be run at full moon
so that the runners could se where they were going during the night!

Fast
forward to 2013 and Grant Whitfield of Cape Town has set his sights on running
the race named after his great grandfather. “As far as we know, nobody in our
direct family has ever run the race, so when I ran my first Comrades four years
ago, as did my cousin Vaughn Kelly, we began talking about doing the Washie,”
says Grant. “We have no idea why Lionel decided on a 100 miler, since my dad
says he never did any running… except maybe to the pub. He was killed in a car
crash when I was three, so I don’t remember him, but I’ve heard a lot of
stories about him. He was a big chap at six foot five, could drink a beer in
three seconds, and my other grandfather, a small Scotsman, said he could never
keep up with him in that regard.”

FAMILY PLANNING

Having
played rugby throughout his studies in graphic design at UCT, Grant took on his
first half marathon as part of the Men’s Health Challenge. “Then I ran the Two Oceans
Marathon with my two brothers-in-law after being challenged one evening around
the braai by my father-in-law, who was a big runner in Celtics in his day. I
think he must have caught us after a few brandy and Cokes!”

Grant will
be running his fifth Two Oceans and fourth Comrades this year, but says the
Washie has to wait a bit longer. “I must be honest, the thought of running a Comrades
and then doing it all over again immediately is a bit daunting, and I want two
or three more Comrades on my legs before I go for Washie. Also, I’ve got two small
kids at the moment and Comrades already takes a lot of time. So Vaughn and I haven’t
put a date on it yet, but we will get there. And we told my dad he has to come
as our second, because he is a doctor – and we’re going to need him!