Author: Modern Athlete

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

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

When it comes to breaking off a piece of chocolate, you might have that feeling of guilt that it will put a dampener on your training and runner’s lifestyle, but don’t fret, because it actually relieves the stress put on your body after the hard miles. Just remember, it’s all about moderation… – BY ESMÉ MARÉ, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

Running helps to build strong bones, strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness, burn energy and help maintain a healthy weight, but it can also place stress on your body. Some runners therefore turn to certain foods to help reduce the stress placed on their body and to help improve performance and recovery, and thus both dark chocolate and chocolate milk have become very popular amongst runners.

Come to the Dark Side
Chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavanols, which may reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress. Studies have shown that consuming moderate amounts of chocolate can boost heart health, while lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Other research suggests that these flavanols can ease inflammation and lower the risk of potential blood clots. However, not just any chocolate will do!

The darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant content and more heart-healthy benefits. Dark chocolate has a lower glycaemic index, which means that eating dark chocolate won’t make your blood sugar levels peak. Choose a dark chocolate 70% or higher, which will help keep your blood sugar levels stable. Just remember to take note of the calories, as chocolate is high in fat, contains sugar, and it’s very easy to over-indulge.

Drink Up!
Chocolate milk may help give you more power and help you run longer if you drink it before your workout. It can also improve recovery if you take it after your workout. The chocolate milk helps replace fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise and contains calcium and vitamin D, which will help in strengthening bones. Chocolate milk also contains the perfect ratio of carbohydrates to protein to improve recovery after exercise. The carbohydrates will replenish the depleted glycogen stores and the protein will help rebuild muscle.

It is worth mentioning that the benefits from chocolate milk are from the milk and not from the chocolate. The chocolate only adds to the flavour of the milk and the amount of cocoa in the flavouring does not contain sufficient amounts of antioxidants to be of benefit to the athlete. Therefore, any flavour of milk can be used.

Moderation Reminder
Even though chocolate can help your running performance, you still need to consume it in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet, because chocolate and chocolate milk are high in sugar, fat and energy, and excess consumption can still lead to weight-gain. To put this in perspective consider that four Lindt 70% dark chocolate squares equal one slice of bread and two heaped tablespoons of peanut butter, or 250 calories. To burn that many calories, you would need to do one of the following sets of exercise:
• 69 minutes of walking
• 29 minutes of jogging
• 21 minutes of swimming
• 38 minutes of cycling

Image: Fotolia

Dumisile Mthalane transformed her body and her life when she discovered triathlon, and after her recent successful outing at the Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town in February, she reckons everybody should start preparing now to be part of the event next year!

Looking at the harbour sea water as she prepared to dive into the swim leg of the Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town, Dumisile Mthalane admits she was panicking a bit. “Everyone had told us that the water in Cape Town is freezing. I come from Durban, where we swim in water of 20 to 21 degrees, so when I heard the water in Cape Town was only about 14 degrees, I started to panic, because I had never swum in water that cold before, but I actually found it OK,” she says.

“In the end the swim was lovely, especially since the water in the harbour is nice and flat, with no waves. After that the bike leg had amazing views, plus we had a bit of wind to cool us and sometimes push us from behind. Then the 10km run was also great, all run in the Green Point precinct, with lots of spectators and more than enough nutrition on the route. I never once felt dehydrated.”

Unsurprisingly, after enjoying such a great day out, Dumi says she can’t recommend this event highly enough. “It was very well organised, all the way from registration to the finish line, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the great atmosphere, with all the spectators shouting your name, and I also love that the event caters for everybody, whether you’re just starting out with triathlons and want to try a sprint distance, or doing the longer standard distance, for those of us who want to push it up a bit or improve our times. It’s a great event, and I hope to see even more people joining us at the start next year.”

Getting into Triathlon
Dumisile’s adventure began when her weight really started to hold her back in 2014. “I felt heavy, and would huff and puff from climbing just one flight of stairs,” says the 35-year-old project manager. At this point she weighed 82kg, with a body fat percentage of 36.9 and cholesterol of 6.9 mmol/l, and says that her weight had gradually crept up over the years. “It started when I moved to varsity in Joburg. I stayed in residence, where the food was not the healthiest, and because I didn’t exercise at all, I gained a lot of weight.”

Having decided enough was enough, Dumi started running in order to lose weight. “I love to be outdoors and I have the beautiful Durban Promenade on my doorstep, so it made sense, but I didn’t enjoy running, so I moved to cycling,” she says. “However, my diet was still not great, so I wasn’t seeing results. Even when I added trail running to my exercise programme, the weight-loss wasn’t happening. Frustrated, I visited a dietician and went from eating three meals a day to eating five, with adjusted portion sizes. That’s when I started seeing my weight drop at last,” she says.

“Then in June 2015 I volunteered at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Durban, and was so impressed by the athletes. I thought I would also like to see if my body can go the distance in a triathlon. Because I couldn’t swim well, I started lessons with stroke correction a few months later, and I set a lofty goal for the year of my 35th birthday: To do the Ironman Durban 70.3.” And so in August 2016, she took on her first multisport event, at the 5150 Bela Bela Triathlon in Warmbaths, and she says it was a nerve-wracking experience at first.

“I was so scared I would be cut off during the swim leg, because I had no confidence in the open water, even though I had done a few sessions in the sea. Fear of being in the middle of the water surrounded by lots of people swimming faster and better than me, and not being able to touch the ground or a wall, terrified me. But I made it, and I was incredibly proud to win my first triathlon medal! Then I entered my first Ironman 70.3 event in Durban, taking place in June 2017, and having entered, there was no turning back! I enjoyed the training and became far more confident when swimming in the ocean, and I completed that 70.3 in a time of 7 hours, 58 minutes and 38 seconds.”

Change of Focus
These days Dumi says her focus has shifted completely. “My training is no longer about weight-loss, because I found something I love doing, and activities that make me happy. Training for races and collecting medals are much more exciting goals.” Nevertheless, nutrition remains a major part of Dumi’s regime. “I eat healthily because I need to fuel my body with good, nutritious food to perform well in training and races,” she says.

“I used to eat three meals a day, but often I would get so hungry I would buy junk food to fill me up until I got home for supper. Now I eat five smaller meals, so there’s no need to find unhealthy fillers, and I prepare my meals based on my training demand for the next day. I also cut out juice and fizzy drinks, and I drink a lot of water now. I train too hard to be on a bad diet, as poor food affects my energy levels.”

To those who also dream of accomplishing a sporting goal, Dumi says: “Have a plan and stick to it. Remove ‘I can’t’ and ‘I don’t have time’ from your vocabulary. I also find having a buddy or training with a group makes you disciplined, even on days when you don’t feel like training. You become accountable to your training partner, you motivate each other, and it becomes more fun. Do something that you love and enjoy, and I promise you, you will meet your goals. You will see results.”

Make it Fun
She adds that you need to focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle every day, but you should still make it enjoyable. “If it’s fun, you are more likely to continue with it, and Discovery Vitality has made this healthy lifestyle more fun. I have Vitality Active Rewards and this pushes me to train in order to meet my weekly targets. My team members and I check up on each other achieving our targets, so it goes back to the idea of accountability – you’re in it for the team.”

“I'm a Discovery Vitality member on Diamond status, so the rewards help a lot in that you get cash back and discounts on many of the items that you need to achieve your goals, such as training gear, fitness devices, healthy food, travel discounts, gym memberships and so on. Added to this, the annual health screening tests make you aware of your health status and if you’re not within healthy ranges for things like cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, you get a wake-up call to change your unhealthy habits.”

Since starting training, Dumi says she is more energetic and more focused. “I now look after my health, as I know the consequences if I don’t. I'm doing things that I never thought I was capable of. I am trail running in breathtaking places that I never knew existed; I have met incredible like-minded individuals and made valuable friendships. I feel so much more confident, and it’s amazing to focus on something, see great results, and as a bonus, have fun doing it!”

Ready for the Next Challenge
Besides the Cape Town event, Dumi has also done her first international event this year, at the Ironman 70.3 Dubai. “It was also an amazing experience, with the race village full of athletes from all over the world. The organisers really went all out. The best part for me was getting through the swim, because the water was very choppy and a lot of swimmers pulled out, but I told myself I am going to keep going. I decided that they can cut me off if I don’t make it in time, but I won’t give up, because if I keep pulling out of races when the going gets rough, I will never know if I am winning or losing.”

In spite of swallowing a fair amount of salt water and feeling a bit sick when she came out of the water, Dumi powered through the bike and run legs to add yet another tri medal to her growing collection, as she continues to smash old boundaries and new goals for herself, which include the Ironman 70.3 Turkey this coming October. She now sports a leaner frame at 69kg, and dramatically lower cholesterol levels, and says her achievements have attracted the support of friends, colleagues and family. “They are thrilled that in the process of pushing my body to new limits, I have found new happiness and joy.”

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.”