Author: Modern Athlete

Irafaan Abrahams and Faizel Jacobs come from different backgrounds, but together they founded Lace Up For Change, a running-related NPO established in 2016 to make a difference in the lives of the homeless in Cape Town. – BY SHANAAZ EBRAHIM-GIRE

In 2012, Irafaan was teaching at a high school in Mitchell’s Plain, an area fraught with social ills and poverty, and was driven by a need to help those around him, especially the youth. Having always been involved in sports, he rallied his friends and family in a bid to raise awareness of the educational and financial challenges faced by schools on the Cape Flats, and set out to raise R1 million by participating in running events around the world.

Over the last few years, he has run the New York, Chicago, Boston, London and Amsterdam marathons, and by engaging the community, exceeded his fundraising target by raising well over R2.5 million for local schools. Remarkably, he did so in spite of a medical condition that sometimes makes running hard. “Very few people are aware that I suffer from Angioedema, which flares up when I least expect it. However, when I started running, I felt empowered and knew that I would not let my condition define me. Running was liberating,” says Irafaan.

Meanwhile, Faizel’s running journey was no less inspirational. After beating cancer and being forced to live with a permanent stoma, he was invited to run the Chicago Marathon in 2016. “I was asked to participate as part of a team fundraising for an oncology wing for a children’s hospital in Palestine. At that stage, I had only participated in 10km road runs, so I was very nervous, but also extremely excited. After just three months of training, I found myself pounding the streets of Chicago and successfully completed the marathon,” he says.

MUTUAL CAUSE
The two runners came together in 2016 to establish Lace Up For Change, an amalgamation of their mutual vision of uplifting and empowering the most vulnerable in society. At the time, Irifaan was working with a local NGO, Islamic Relief South Africa, which initiated a ‘boeber and blanket’ distribution during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Boeber is a sweet, cardamom-flavoured hot milk drink that is a favourite amongst Muslim families during the fast.

Taking the idea further and adding running to the mix, The Boeber Run has become the flagship Lace Up For Change activity. The team goes out monthly to different areas, to complete a 5km run and give back dignity and respect to ‘the forgotten people;’ the countless faces living on the streets. “We have an amazing group of volunteers from the running fraternity who have rallied behind our cause. Through their networks, they manage to secure donations of hot meals, fresh fruit, boeber, sandwiches, sanitary towels and toiletry packs. The team meets at a central point to do our 5km run, before we begin our distribution drive,” says Irifaan.

Faizel adds that the run is also bringing new people to the sport. “Our Boeber Run has become a catalyst for many people to start running. Every week we have new people coming out to walk or run, because they want to be part of the camaraderie, and because they enjoy the excitement and spirit of the drive. Many have now taken up running permanently. We are also overwhelmed by the phenomenal response we have received from the youth. What started for some as an exciting opportunity to run late at night has now become a mission to roll up their sleeves and make a positive change in their community.”

BACK TO SCHOOL
A recent development saw the Lace Up For Change team launch a bursary fund in March to support homeless children and adults and help them complete their schooling and vocational training. “The bursary fund was an idea we had for a long time. We realised that we needed to move beyond just doing a weekly drop of food and clothing, and that we needed a more sustainable, long-term plan to assist the homeless,” says Faizel.

“During one of our Boeber Runs, we came across a young girl, Hajierah, who dropped out of school because she did not have a school uniform, school shoes and the basic necessities like stationery and toiletries. She is a really bright young woman and dreams of becoming a doctor, so that she can help her community. She became the first recipient to receive funding to complete her schooling career. I will never forget her look of utter disbelief when I handed over her uniform and school shoes.”

He adds that all runners in the Western Cape are welcome to join the weekly Boeber Run. “We want to see people put aside their perceived notions of poverty, because there is nothing more fulfilling than being able to serve the less fortunate. We sincerely thank all the volunteers and sponsors who support us. Lace Up For Change is just getting started, and we look forward to rolling out more development programmes and making running more meaningful.”

To find out more about Lace Up For Change, visit www.laceupforchange.org.za or go to Facebook: www.facebook.com/LaceUp4Change and www.facebook.com/BoeberRun.

Images: Courtesy Faizel Jacobs

In between studies, looking after stray animals, avoiding rhinos and promoting women’s safety while out running, Naomi Brand is carving a name for herself on the global stage of ultra trail running. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Muddy… That sums up the conditions during the Addo Elephant 76km Ultra in the Eastern Cape earlier this year, which made it that much harder for the athletes trying to place in the top three in order to win selection for the SA team for the World Ultra Trail Champs in Valencia, Spain on 12 May. ASA had decided that the leading women needed a sub-8:00 in order to be considered for selection, but the conditions soon made that unlikely, says 29-year-old Pretoria-based ultra runner Naomi Brand, who finished second woman and third overall.

“The roads were like rivers, and we were knee-deep in mud at times. Under the circumstances, the race director wrote to ASA and convinced them to extend the qualifying time by 35 minutes, so three women qualified, but even with the extended time, the men still had to run under seven hours, hence only one qualified,” she says. “As a result, I had to wait a month to find out if I had been selected, and in the meantime I had been invited to run the Madeira Island Ultra Trail 100km on 28 April, but when I heard I was in the World Champs team, I knew immediately I couldn’t do both. So I downgraded to the marathon in Madeira and will use it as a warm-up for World Champs, then stay in Spain for two weeks to acclimatise.”

“The World Champs will be 85km long, and the whole race is basically uphill, but I am so excited about going, because it will be my first time representing SA. I’ve been so close before, and unlucky at other times, like in 2016 when I qualified for the SA B Team at the SA Champs run with the Hout Bay Trail Challenge in Cape Town, only for ASA to cancel our trip to the Grand Trail des Templiers Ultra in France. I am therefore going to make the most of this opportunity!”

RUNNING PEDIGREE
Naomi has been running since her primary school days and says it is part of her lifestyle, not just a sport she takes part in. She has run at provincial and national level in cross country and road running, won the Maties Best Cross Country AthIete award while at university, and was identified as one of the top 10 upcoming female athletes that took part in the Comrades Marathon in 2015. However, her focus is currently on ultra trail running. “I am ranked the third-best long distance and ultra distance female trail runner in SA at the moment by ITRA, and I work and train hard to achieve my goals. I also love to share my running experiences with the friends I’ve made through races and training around the world,” says Naomi.

Naomi’s selection for World Champs is richly deserved. She had a solid 2017, winning the Addo Elephant 100 Miler in a time that took five hours off the course record, and she also won the Chokka Ultra Trail 70km and Karkloof 100 Miler races. Towards the end of the year she added a third position in the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km, which she says was particularly satisfying. “I had done about 800km of racing in the build-up to UTCT, so was a bit tired. The medics wanted to pull me off the course a few times, because I was so pale, but I have been anaemic for years, hence often collapsing at the finish of races. After Addo I saw a sport physician who diagnosed haemostatic hypertension, which is common in athletes, and suggested I wear compression socks. I think I now know what the problem is and am better equipped to handle it.”

Of course, this condition has not been helped by ultra training done on top of the long hours that Naomi puts in doing practical work at Onderspoort Animal Hospital in Pretoria for her veterinary studies. She first studied animal science at Stellenbosch University, then did an honours in wildlife science at Kovsies in Bloemfontein, worked as a field guide for a year, and then started at Onderstepoort. She is now in her final year of studies, which will be followed by a compulsory service year. “I applied to be placed at the Animal Rescue Unit in Phillipi, Cape Town next year, which will mean I can be close to my family again. But I actually want to work with wildlife, specifically elephants.

BIG ON ANIMALS
Naomi’s passion for animals stems from her days growing up on the family farm near Velddrif, on the West Coast. She says the family did a count recently and worked out that they had 68 different pets or animals that they cared for through the years, including a caracal kitten and penguin chick, so no surprise that her oldest sister Adri is also a vet, while middle sister Alae (also a very talented runner and triathlete) is a doctor. She even had a little hedgehog until recently, but it had a tumor and unfortunately didn’t make it, so now she just has her cat and dog.

Of course, wild animals are unpredictable, and this saw Naomi endure a frightening encounter with a black rhino a few years back while running in the reserve where she worked. “I was actually very lucky, because they don’t see well and can’t gauge distance, but their sense of smell is very good, and when they can’t figure out what something is, they tend to charge. That rhino was extra aggressive and chased me for 2km, which is far for a rhino to run. I only managed to get away when I turned off the trail and he couldn’t see me any more. Then I just collapsed next to the thorn tree I was about to climb in desperation – somehow, when you need a tree to climb, there are only thorn trees around!

Fortunately, Naomi is able to stay calm when in danger, thanks largely to a terrible experience she had just after finishing her Matric exams. She was walking across one of the school’s sport grounds in Stellenbosch, on her way to gym, when she was accosted by a homeless man who wanted money. “When I said no, he pulled out a knife and pushed me down towards the river, where he strangled me, hit me in the face and broke my nose, and told me he was going to rape me and then kill me. I was really lucky that two boys happened to cycle past and saw my stuff on the river bank, then heard the commotion. The guy got a fright when they asked what he was doing, and I managed to run away, half naked and with my eyes swollen shut.”

“The guy was arrested and put in prison, but only for three years, so I always worried that I could run into him again, or that he would hurt someone else. It took me a long time to get over it, and it still makes it hard to head out alone for a run today, even though I carry pepper spray. On the other hand, it was an important event in my life, and where my drive today comes from. I kept thinking this might be the end, and that changes your perspective on how you live your life. I think it changed me in a good way, and it’s also why I am very outspoken about women’s safety, but I decided it wasn’t going to stop me running!”

Images: Xavier Briel

As Gerda Steyn pulled up next to Polish race leader Dominika Stelmach-Stawczyk around the 45km mark of the 2018 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, she did something that had many a pundit thinking back to the days of Bruce Fordyce in his prime. She turned to her opponent and congratulated her on a good run, then went past her and never looked back. Not once! – BY SEAN FALCONER

The famous story of the Fordyce Handshake has become part of South African racing folklore. In the 1980s, the nine-time winner of the Comrades Marathon would pull up alongside the leader of the race, give him a solid clap on the back, congratulate him on a great run and tell him he looked great, crunch his hand in a strong handshake, and then rapidly pull away. The idea was to psychologically tell the now former leader, you may be strong, but I’m stronger, and I’m going to win. And that’s what it looked like Gerda had done to the Pole, but she just laughs when asked if that was her plan. “I actually didn’t shake her hand, because I was worried that she could still catch me again in the last 10km!” explains Gerda.

“Coming down Chappies, I heard she was 800m ahead, and as we got into Hout Bay and hit the marathon mark, I could see her just ahead of me. I kept gaining on her up the Constantia Nek climb and caught her just before the top, and that’s when I said a few words to her, and congratulated her on a great run. She asked me where the other women were, which I couldn’t make out at first, but she repeated, ‘How far behind?’ I told her to relax, she still had a big gap, but that’s when I knew I could win it. Still, I thought she would be chasing me, because she still looked good, so I never turned around again and just ran for my life. I decided I’m going to give it my all, and if she still catches me, she deserves the win. The last five kays were especially hard, and I was not feeling the love in my legs, but that’s how I planned it. The Two Oceans is back-loaded in terms of the hills, so I knew it would be hard and I felt destroyed by the end.”

However, that couldn’t stop a massive smile appearing as Gerda came hurtling down the home straight at UCT, waving to the crowd and punching the air in delight as she broke the tape in 3:39:31. “I was so tired at the end, but that crowd gave me new energy and it felt like I was doing a 100m sprint. Finishing fourth at Comrades last year was incredible, but this is by far the highlight of my running career so far. Actually, of my life!” Remarkably, her winning time not only beat her own previous best for the race by more than 36 minutes, it was also the third-fastest ever by a South African woman at Two Oceans – only Frith van der Merwe’s race record 3:30:36 from 1989 (on the old, faster course) and Azwindini (Gladys) Lukhwareni’s 3:38:56 in 2004 were faster.

RAPID PROGRESS
It’s been a positively meteoric rise to ultra-stardom for 28-year-old Gerda. Born and raised in the Free State, she had always loved sport at school, trying everything, but had never been a runner. Then at university she took up recreational running with a friend for general fitness, and even did a few half marathons, but nothing serious. Having qualified as a quantity surveyor, she moved to Dubai for work in 2014, and it was there that she began to take running a bit more seriously.

“After two months in Dubai I decided to join a running club to make friends and stay healthy. The first time I joined the Desert Road Runners, I met a large group of South African Expats who regularly come back to SA to run the Comrades. They invited me to join them and I said maybe one day, because I had watched the race on TV with my mom when I was young, but just seven months later I was on a plane to SA to attempt my first Comrades. Around the same time I met my fiancé, Duncan Ross, who works for Emirates Airline and is also a Comrades runner.

It was at that 2015 Comrades that her life began to change, when she met Nedbank Running Club manager Nick Bester two days before the race at a pre-race function. “We chatted when I asked him for his autograph and he told me to go enjoy the Comrades, but afterwards I should train specifically for a marathon, and if I can run sub-3:00, he will train me and help me, and even consider adding me to the Nedbank Development Team.” Having run an impressive 8:19:08 to finish 56th in that first Comrades, Gerda then headed to France a few months later for the Nice Marathon and posted a 2:59:54.

“That was the moment that my running career really began. I mailed Nick that same week, then came to see him in December and he signed me on. Initially he coached me online, sending me programmes via mail, but I was back in SA so often that I could train with the local runners – Duncan works for Emirates Airlines, so it was easy to get flights home – and I was already thinking that if it went well I would quit my job to pursue running.

A NEW CAREER
The focused approach to training saw Gerda post eye-catching times in 2016. She finished 13th in the Dublin Marathon with a 2:51:31, was 14th at Two Oceans in 4:15:44, and then took 14th position at Comrades in 7:08:23. In 2017 she won the mass race at the Great North Run Half Marathon in the UK in 1:17:47 and shot up to fourth at Comrades in 6:45:45, and that led her to decide to go all-in with her running. “I had never known I had a talent for running, because I was never exposed to endurance training, but with the success I was enjoying, I decided to resign my job and see where running could take me. I felt I had nothing to lose, because I can always go back to my job.”

That saw her blitz a 2:37:22 PB to finish 12th at the Valencia Marathon in Spain late last year, and this year, prior to her Oceans win, she won the Standard Chartered Dubai 10km in a huge PB of 34:35, and with Oceans now behind her, the focus has shifted back to Comrades. “It’s a huge dream of mine to win Comrades, but I can’t say for sure now if I can do it this year. If not this year, then next year, or the year after that… I will keep on trying, but will have to see how I recover from Two Oceans first, because it’s a dangerous trap to fall into pushing too hard, too quickly. Luckily we have 10 weeks between the two big races this year, so there is enough time for recovery and no need to rush back into training.

Another factor counting in Gerda’s favour is her balanced approach to training. She doesn’t believe in just doing high mileage, preferring to run a steady, manageable amount of kays and supplementing that with cross-training in the form of cycling, swimming, walking and hiking. “I still run six days a week, but the cross-training helps me to save my legs. It works for me, so I’m sticking to that plan for Comrades. I also incorporate a lot of trail running in my programme, especially when I’m recovering, because the impact is less, and I use steep trails for strength work. I think that should be an important part of any runner’s routine, even if you’re training for a flat marathon.”

MAKING PLANS
Looking ahead, Gerda says she is planning a big announcement soon about her plans for later this year – it sounds like a ‘Big City Marathon’ is on the cards, and she says she is equally excited about pursuing the marathon as she is about ultras, thanks to that 2:37 in Spain. “I went into ultras immediately when I discovered I could run, and while I do believe that ultras can kill your speed for marathons, I also believe it comes down to your training, and how you manage your body. Some women could maintain speed for the shorter distances even though they ran ultras, like Frith, and given my training methodology, I think I can too, so I am certainly looking forward to my next marathon.”

Gerda and Duncan are currently living in SA for a while, but will be moving to France in June, after the Comrades. They have been renovating a house in Sainte Foy, in the French Alps region, so she will have plenty of mountain trails to run, hike and mountain bike on. “I enjoy the mountains and I spend as much time outdoors as I can. I don’t like sitting around. In Dubai, there are mountains about one and a half hours’ drive from the city, where it looks like a Mars landscape. We did our best to escape the city often for camping weekends away, but in summer it is impossible to go outside, let alone train, so I am actually fortunate now to escape that heat and am looking forward to training in the Alps… But first I am focusing on the Comrades. Really looking forward to the race.”

Images: Jetline Action Photo, Shaun Roy/ImageSA & Roger Sedres/ImageSA

Discussions with runners normally focus on a specific ‘D word,’ as in “What Distance did you do this week?” But while there is no question that successful running is all about D-words, that particular D is the last in a long line of D’s that should dominate your planning and implementation. – BY NORRIE WILLIAMSON

Successful runners will frequently commence with Dreams, which are the seeds of goals, and goals give Direction, Desire and Determination. Dreaming about breaking 60 minutes for 10km, or three hours for a marathon; securing a Sainsbury Medal at Two Oceans, or a Bill Rowan in the Comrades; representing your province, competing in the World Masters, making the Commonwealth Games team, or going to the Tokyo Olympics… no matter the level, each goal commences as a dream.

That said, dreams tend to be a stretch above your current ability, but the mind is incapable of differentiating between vision and reality, and with sufficient vision comes the ability to change the vision into a goal, and then into reality. Dreaming is therefore the first in a litany of D’s that push and pull us to new performance:
• Dreams become Desires – these provide the craving that will see us search, investigate and learn more about how to achieve that goal.
• That gives us Direction, along with Determination, which are the catalysts for belief that we can achieve the goal, and keep us focused on the Dream.
• The greater the Determination and Desire, the greater we realise the need for Discipline, even when things don’t go to plan, because getting side-tracked to different, possibly easier options, is the biggest destroyer of Dreams.

When multiple World and Olympic Champion, Usain Bolt, was in Johannesburg in January, he was asked what it would take to repeat or exceed his records. Without hesitating, he answered that it would revolve around staying focused on the singular goal, even when things go wrong, having a strong supportive back-up team, and consistency and commitment. He could just as easily have summed it up with Direction, Desire, Dedication and Discipline. These are the founding attributes of achieving any Dream.

Spelling it Out
Now consider where that quintet of D’s originate: They are not found in the weight, height, stride, lung capacity, flexibility, strength or natural speed of a runner, they are born and cultivated in the mind! Running success is not born in the body, it is born and sustained in the mind – and the longer the race, the greater the impact of mental determination. Sprinting involves overcoming extremely intense pain, primarily in the chest, but the race is only nine to 43 seconds at elite level. There isn’t that much time to think! However, as the distance increases, so the pain intensity reduces, but the time available to talk yourself ‘out of the pain’ increases.

From the very first steps of long races, we will frequently find ourselves making excuses as to why we cannot be expected to run to our best. This happens because we have not worked hard enough on our Desire and Determination in the build-up to starting the race. When Desire, Determination and Discipline (in pacing) dominate, the questions are usually easily answered and short-lived.

Even if we commence without that doubt, around two-thirds of the way in any distance we usually start to question our ability to continue. This is why the third lap of a mile is the slowest, or the wall comes at 30 to 35km in a marathon. While it can be perceived as negative, it is also a positive sign. It’s a clear indication that we are pushing our body towards a limit, and a sign that something special is possible. It is easy to quit, but Desire and Determination are the most powerful antidotes to that negative questioning.

The longer the event, the longer we tussle with the option of success and failure: Those debilitating “wall” kilometres in a marathon tease the mind, tearing it between the need to stop the pain, and the need to succeed. In Two Oceans, it’s on the slow poison climb of Constantia Nek. In the Comrades Down run, it’s on the M13 from the Bottom of Cowies Hill to the crowd-encrusted crest of 45th Cutting. These are the kays where we ask ourselves, why am I doing this? This has nothing to do with the amount of distance covered in training. The outcome of the questioning in all these scenarios, from 800m to 100 miles, is down to the D’s underpinning your running: The Dream, Desire, Determination, and Deep-seated Desire to Dominate!

Go Forth and Conquer
As we enter SA’s traditional “ultra season,” do not get caught up solely in Distance. That’s only one small portion of your potential success. The real Determinate of your success lies in the Dreams in your mind, and your mind has to accept the reality of your ability before it becomes physically possible. Work on the Dreams, Desire, Direction, Determination and Discipline, go steady with the Distance, and avoid Distraction – you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

You can’t lose 100 kilograms if you don’t start by losing one… that’s the mantra that 46-year-old Capetonian HR and Training consultant Carl Potgieter adopted in September 2016 when he decided it was time to lose some weight. And then he started walking. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Even though his blood pressure, sugar levels and cholesterol were all still OK, Carl knew he couldn’t carry on like that much longer. “I weighed in at 240 kilograms, and while everything was still working, except for my knees being a bit tender, the doctors were warning me it was likely to go pear-shaped sooner or later. Then again, you tend to avoid doctors when you’re that weight…”

That saw Carl set himself the challenge of losing 100kg, which he openly admits looked insurmountable at first. “When you weigh 240kg, you need to lose 40kg before anybody even notices! But no challenge is ever achieved by starting tomorrow; you need to get out there today, and see it through,” he says. “I posted nothing on social media until I had lost 80kg, and when I got to 100kg lost, I added #halfthesizetwicetheman, in reference to my new goal of getting from 240kg to 120kg – I last weighed that during National Service! Some people say that last 20kg is going to be really hard, but I don’t think so, because exercising is now easier, and if I get to 120, I might go still further.”

Walking it Off
Carl says the biggest factor in his massive weight-loss has been walking. “I live 500 metres from a shopping centre, but I used to drive there if we needed bread and milk. Now I walk. Similarly, the school is just 500m in the other direction, and if I have a meeting there, I walk instead of driving. I initially set myself a goal of walking 3000 steps a day, but now I’m on 9000 steps a day.”

“These days I walk four nights a week, doing 6km quite comfortably, and where my goal used to be to break nine minutes a kay, it became 8:45, and is now 8:30. I’ve been asked if I will take up running, and quite honestly, I can see myself running in the future. I’m not going to run a marathon with my knees, but I love the parkrun concept. A mate of mine is a trail runner and has been trying to get me running, while another mate from school days has also lost a lot of weight and is a regular parkrunner, so I definitely want to get into that.”

Of course, Carl also had to make major changes to his diet, which required huge self-discipline. “Every time you drive past restaurants and fast-food joints, you have to remind yourself of your goal, and I haven’t had a double chilly-cheese burger in 14 months! People think I am banting, because I am following similar principles, but the biggest thing is eating less, eating better, and walking more. I don’t eat when I’m not hungry, I stop when I am full, I don’t just automatically go for seconds, and another trick is to dish up on a side plate.”

The Real Inspiration
When told that his story is inspirational, Carl is quick to say that the real inspiration in his family is his wife, Lesley. “She was born with cerebral palsy, so she has no vision on the right and limited control of her right leg and arm. She was bullied in high school because she couldn’t do normal things, but she never let that stop her, and after school she qualified as a primary school teacher.”

“We married in 1999 and had two boys, Josh and Adam, but in 2009 she had a stroke, which impacted her left side, making it super-sensitive to touch, smell or taste. And in spite of that, she started a cerebral palsy awareness programme, works for reading enrichment projects in Gugulethu and Mitchells Plein, and also does reading enrichment for deaf kids. I drive her where she needs to go, and the boys often go with as well. She is simply unbelievable, and my goal now is to find a parkrun route that is wheelchair-friendly, so that I can take her with me when I walk.”

Meanwhile, he is using his weight-loss for good, in conjunction with his passion for golf. “In December, Four of us from the Nomads Golf Club will do the ‘15 Rounds on 15 Courses in 5 Days Challenge,’ to raise funds for CHOC. We’ll play three rounds on three different courses each day, and we have to walk 36 holes, and con only drive 18. It’ll be a form of speed golf, and we’ll have to push the pace, starting at 5:30am and finishing around 7:30pm – at 240kg that would never have been an option for me! But one thing I’ve learnt on this journey is that everyone faces challenges, not just me with my weight, and that helps me get out there and persevere.”