Author: Modern Athlete

Thanks to a number of high profile race wins over the last few years, medical student Annamart Laubscher has made a name for herself in SA trail running, and yet she still sees herself as an amateur runner lucky enough to share the trails with the best in SA. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Take a look through the 2016 and 2017 results of some of the high profile trail races in the Cape and you’ll see the name Annamart Laubscher pop up regularly. Having already won a number of races in the previous few years, in 2016 she won the Sanlam Cape Town Peace Trail Run as well as the Jonkershoek and Marloth races in the Mountain Challenge series, and the Bastille Day Trail Run, and she added a second place in the Redbull Lion Heart Challenge. Then in 2017 she retained her Peace Trail, Jonkershoek, Marloth and Bastille titles, added the Old Mutual Two Oceans 24km Trail Run and Lion Heart Challenge titles, and in December rounded off a great year with first place in the Ultra Trail Cape Town 35km.

Along the way, she beat some of the leading names in women’s trail running in SA, but Annamart remains incredibly humble about her achievements, even showing surprise at being asked for an interview. “Those women have a lot more kays on their track record and a lot more racing experience, and I am just a junior compared to them, just a plain Jane runner, so I still look up to them,” she says.

FITTING IT ALL IN
The other really impressive part of 23-year-old Annamart’s racing success is that she only runs when her hectic medical studies allows. She is currently in her sixth and final year at Stellenbosch University, and this year is based at the Worcester Provincial Hospital. “Tygerberg Tertiary Hospital is over-staffed with students, so I applied to do my sixth year externally, and I chose Worcester. Being here means a lot more self-studying, which is more taxing time-wise, but practically you learn more, which I think will better prepare me for my two internship years and community service year. It’s the harder route, but I think it will pay off.”

One of the bonuses of working in a provincial hospital is that Annamart will not only rotate through the different departments, but can also volunteer to work extra hours so as to gain experience, which should help her decide if there is a specialist field she would like to pursue. “I don’t see myself being just a GP for the rest of my career, but I’m still deciding about a speciality direction. They say you only really know during your internship years,” she says.

However, those extra hours can put a dent in her training time, as does the often hot weather in Worcester, but she says she has adapted her running plans. “Time is a challenge these days, but it’s cooler in the mornings and evenings anyway, so not such a problem being so busy during the day. I just try to run most days and stay active, because I have always found that running augments my studies. It’s a good balancer to get outdoors after working and studying indoors.”

MULTI-TALENTED JUNIOR
Born and raised in Somerset West, near Cape Town, Annamart’s sporting career began in 2008, when she was in Grade 7, with mountain biking, road cycling, and both track and cross country running, which led to multisport as well. As a junior she earned Boland and Western Cape colours on track and in cross country, was runner-up at the SA Triathlon Champs in 2009 and 2010, won her age group at the WP and SA Duathlon Champs in 2011, and went on to represent SA and finish 16th at the World Duathlon Champs.

However, she had to cut back on her sport when she began studying in 2013. “It was hard to fit in swimming, and dangerous to cycle in the Parow/Bellville area, so I turned my focus to trail running. When it came to racing, I started with 10 to 12km, then upped it to the middle distances around 20 to 25km, but I was scared of going further until last year at Ultra Trail Cape Town, when I did the 35km. I think I paced myself well, and actually enjoyed it a lot, because you can relax a bit more over the longer distance, as you go at a slower pace than 10km.”

Looking ahead, Annmart says her 2018 racing plans are very similar to 2017, but it will depend on her studies. “The last year of medicine is very demanding, and I want to finish my degree well, so I don’t want to be over-ambitious with my racing goals. Of course, it would be amazing to take a gap year in 2019 to travel the world and see where my running takes me, but we have to do our three years working for the government straight after studies, so a running gap year is just not possible. Still, even though I have no idea where I will be placed next year, I will carry on running.”

Images: Jetline Action Photo, Wildrunner Events & courtesy Annamart Laubscher

One second he was a talented schoolboy athlete showing a lot of promise, the next he was a World Champion, and now 17-year-old high jumping prodigy Breyton Poole is about to jet off to Australia for the Commonwealth Games! – BY SEAN FALCONER

Being selected to represent your country at the Commonwealth Games is one of the highest honours a South African athlete can achieve, and this April the best of our athletes will be in action in Australia – and one of the most excited will undoubtedly be Breyton Poole. Having been crowned World Under-18 Champion last year in Kenya, he has been included in the senior SA team for an international meet for the first time, but he actually didn’t believe it at first when he heard he had made the team.

“The funny thing is I was actually in maths class when I got a phone call from my mom, and I thought this might be serious for her to phone me during school, so I answered ‘skelmpies’ under the desk, because I sit at the back of the class.” he recounts. “She told me I made the final team, and I thought no, she must be joking, but she said it was just on TV – she had taken a photo of the final team on the screen and sent it to me in class. I was just so shocked!”

Speed Jumper
That will see the youngster competing against top-level senior jumpers in Australia, and many will see his inclusion in the team as a good way to get top-level experience, given his age (he turns 18 in late March) and the fact that he is still growing. At 1.73 metres tall, he is actually quite short by high-jumping standards, and when he won his World Champs title last year, the second-placed jumper was some 20cm taller than him. When they stood on the podium for the medal ceremony, Breyton was still shorter than him, in spite of being on the higher step on the podium! However, he says the whole question of his height simply doesn’t bother him.

“It’s an age-old thing now for people to ask if I am not too short to be a high jumper, and I’m used to it now. My height doesn’t hold me back, because I’m a speed-jumper. When I started working with my coach, Bennie Schlechder, he immediately shortened my run-up to just nine steps, because the taller guys need a longer run-up, whereas I am quite ‘rats’ and do better with a short run. That’s why I do more speed work in training these days. And the fact is, being short has actually motivated me to jump even higher to prove those people wrong.”

And that he certainly can do! He went to Kenya with a personal best of 2.18 metres, and when he reached 2.14 he had already won the competition, but he wasn’t even close to being finished. “My coach told me the competition is not over just because your competitors are finished, and since I had worked to peak for that competition, he said I must go on and see if I can beat my PB. I was feeling elated at having won the World Title, and thought what the hell, let’s go for it.”

“I cleared 2.16, then skipped 2.18 and went for 2.20. Having set a new PB, I felt I still had more in the tank, so I jumped 2.22, and then cleared 2.24 on my third attempt! That was quite nerve-wracking. I’m not sure if they showed it on TV, but I went on to attempt 2.27, which would have put me at the top of the junior rankings for the year, but I didn’t clear that height. That didn’t matter, because I was just thrilled to have won, and achieve my goal of a new PB!”

Big Jump
Breyton, who started high jumping in primary school after initially doing gymnastics, went on to jump 2.25 in November last year, in a league meeting in Cape Town, and that meant he qualified for the Commonwealth Games, but the selectors still had to make the decision whether to send a youngster with no senior level international experience. “It’s a big thing for me, because I’m taking a massive jump straight from the under-18 youth ranks, past the under-20 juniors to the senior team, and I will actually miss the SA Under-20 Champs while I am in Australia, but hopefully I can compete with the seniors,” says Breyton.

Besides the Commonwealth team, Breyton has already qualified for the preliminary SA team for the World Under-20 Champs in July, but is quick to point out that he is not just focusing on athletics at the moment, as he needs to make sure he doesn’t neglect his schoolwork. He is busy with Matric at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, and is determined to study business or marketing at the University of Stellenbosch next year. “I will continue jumping, but I want to study before any thoughts of going full-time with athletics. That said, if I can perform well this year, I might get some invites to jump overseas. I have jumped the qualifying mark for the Diamond League, so let’s see what happens.”

Images: Roger Sedres/ImageSA

Having won six SA titles, represented her country more than 10 times, and become a regular on podiums throughout the country, Nolene Conrad has established herself as one of SA’s leading female long distance athletes, but running has brought her more than just success, it also saved her life. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Nolene Conrad is the picture of health and fitness as she bounds into the dining hall for our interview at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS), where she works as Athlete Manager for Elana Meyer’s Endurocad and interns on the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon organising team. The 32-year-old recently returned from a month of high altitude training in Kenya to prepare for the World Half Marathon Champs in Valencia, Spain on 24 March, clearly the trip paid off: She clocked a blistering 1:13:05 to finish first woman and ninth overall in the Peninsula Half Marathon in Cape Town on 18 February, just 17 seconds off her PB.

In that kind of form, 2018 looks set to be another great year for her after a brilliant 2017 season. That included finishing runner-up in the Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon, ending third overall on the points table of the Spar Grand Prix Series, and taking 12 minutes off her marathon PB at the Valencia Marathon in November, clocking 2:35:21, the fastest time by a South African woman for the year. She also added still more podium positions and national champs medals to her collection at various SA Track and Field and Road Running Champs, so it’s hard to think that there was a stage when the doctors didn’t think she would make it past the age of 21.

OXYGEN STARVATION
While growing up in Cape Town, Nolene was diagnosed with asthma at age 13, and was constantly in and out of hospital. “My asthma pump became my lifeline, and I slept with one under my pillow, as I often woke up during the night unable to breathe. One night when I was 16 I had a really bad attack, and when I tried my pump, it gave two squirts and ran out. I went to find the spare, and it was also finished, so I woke my parents in a state of panic,” says Nolene. “We didn’t have a car back then, so they called an ambulance, which took some time to get there. I passed out and woke up in the ambulance on a nebuliser, then spent a week in hospital, where the doctor advised me to do some physical activity, like swimming or running, to grow the capacity of my lungs. He said my asthma was getting worse, so I would probably not make it to my 21st birthday if I didn’t start exercising!”

The very next week a determined Nolene went back to school and through a friend joined the Cross Country team, with her first 4km race coming soon after that. “That first season was a struggle, and I needed medical attention after every race. I would collapse and they would need to put me on a nebuliser. The teachers actually suggested I rethink being a runner, but I was adamant I was going to persevere, because of the doctor’s warning, and because I was scared of suffering the same fate as my uncle, who died of asthma.”

By the end of that season she managed to finish a 4km race for the first time, and says that gave her hope that she was on the right track. “I had just been pitching for races, but now I started training regularly and joined the training group at Pen Tech under Tobias Philander. I trained hard for six months, and while I still got attacks, sometimes induced by exercise, they were not as regular. And when the next school cross country season started, I began finishing in the top three regularly. That’s when people started noticing me, and my coach told me I had real talent. I was also part of the MacSteel Micro Development Programme with the Sport Science Institute, which also helped me greatly with my asthma.”

MAKING HER MARK
By the time Nolene finished school, she was receiving offers of scholarships from colleges in the USA, but she made the hard decision to turn them down and stay in SA, because she wanted to run for her country. She took a gap year to focus on her running, before starting her studies in sports management at UWC in 2005. That year she won her first senior SA title in the 3000m steeplechase, breaking the SA Record in the process, even though still a junior, and that paved the way for her selection for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

“I was young and inexperienced, but it went well, and it was a great opportunity to see what it was like on the world stage, so it was great for my running career,” says Nolene, who went on to run in the African Track and Field Champs in 2007, as well as the World Student Games in 2005 and 2009. After completing her studies, with a cum laude pass, Nolene was then recruited by the University of Johannesburg to run for them while doing her Honours degree, which she then followed up with a PGCE in education. While at UJ, she won the SA Cross Country Champs 8km title as well as a second SA 3000m steeplechase title, and represented SA at the World Half Marathon Champs and World Cross Country Champs.

After UJ, she began teaching at Vorentoe High School in 2014, where her then coach, Hans Saestad, was Principal and Head Coach, and she taught and coached there for three years. In those years, she added the SA 10km and 10,000m titles as well as third steeplechase title, and made the SA team for the World Half Marathon, World Cross Country and African Track Champs for the second time each. But even better news was that running in Gauteng really seemed to agree with Nolene. “I was getting less asthma attacks, and I think I finally outgrew it – the last time I had an attack was in 2015, and I no longer even keep a pump for emergencies.”

COMING HOME
In 2016 Nolene returned to the Cape when Elana offered her a job at Endurocad. She says she loves the work, even though it is quite a job to manage 50 athletes, which includes looking after their entries and kit, scheduling camps and travel arrangements, and making sure they are in an academic set-up with skills enhancement, so that they are prepared for life after sport. “Working alongside Elana is a dream come true, because I looked up to her as a junior, and I learn from her every day. She is an awesome boss, because she was an athlete and knows how hard it can be to balance work and training, so she gives me the freedom to do things in my own time, like a gym workout at 10 in the morning.”

She adds that working with young Endurocad athletes has led to her own dream of starting training camps for girls from disadvantaged communities. “I feel there is so much talent in those areas, and I want to show them the benefits of training and sport, and that they too can achieve what I have. We need more girls in the system, and my camps will eventually feed into the Enduroad system, but much as I would like to start this year, I have too much on my plate for now. I’m in the prime of my athletic career, so I want to focus on my own running and chase faster times.”

That’s why Nolene headed to Iten, Kenya in January, taking good friend Caroline Wöstmann along to continue her return from a long injury lay-off. “Training there is so amazing, because there are so many routes, including gravel surfaces that are easier on your legs, and it’s very safe, with lots of friendly faces. I felt like I needed to get away from work to focus on training and prepare properly for this season, and I did 160 to 170km in mileage for three weeks. I feel that I am in great shape now, and I’m really looking forward to the World Half Marathon Champs.”

“We’ll be running on part of the same route as the Valencia Marathon, where I ran my PB in November, so I already know the course, and now that I know from previous experience what to expect at the Champs, I am going into these Champs better prepared. I consider my previous two World Half Champs outings as highlights of my running career, first in Bulgaria in 2012 and then Wales in 2016. I finished 34th in Cardiff, and this year I’m not just going to make up the numbers, my aim is to at least make the top 20.”

COUNTING BLESSINGS
With a packed calendar ahead for 2018, including another big city marathon and an attempt to run a 2:30, Nolene says she never takes her success, or her health, for granted. “My career has paid off to the extent that I was able to buy my first car, and later I was able to build my parents a new house, and I have been lucky to have people who believed in my talent, like my parents and siblings, as well as friends like Vonney Dreyer who are like family, and of course my various clubs and sponsors,” she says.

“You can’t always change your circumstances, but you can change your attitude and how you approach life. If I had given up in those first cross country races, I don’t think I would be here today, and even if I had survived the asthma, I wouldn’t have received a free education, or travelled the world and seen incredible places. I genuinely believe I would not have made it to 21 without running.”

Images: Roger Sedres/ImageSA, Jetline Action Photo

Born near Berlin in then East Germany, Katrina Muller escaped an oppressive communist regime and eventually ended up in South Africa, where she later took up running. Today, she is often seen at races in the Cape wearing her distinctive Running for Luca kit, named in honour of her daughter, and several running friends also race regularly in the distinctive shirts, to raise awareness of Children with Down Syndrome. – BY PJ MOSES

Born into a loving family home near Berlin, life was fairly good for Katrina until she got to high school and started to see the oppression that she and her fellow East Germans were living under. “The eighties were a turbulent time and I was becoming more and more active in showing dissent, along with many young East Germans. We were tired of being oppressed. Because of my activism, by the time I was 22 years old, when I was a young mother and my son Ivo was three, I knew I had to get out of the country, because they had threatened to take my son away if I tried to defect,” she says.

“In 1989, just a few months before the Wall came down, I took Ivo and escaped, with nothing to my name and only the clothes we had on. We travelled via Hungary to Hamburg, where we lived for 10 years, and then I decided to see what the rest of the world had to offer. We visited South Africa and I fell in love with this amazing country, and two years later in 2001, I returned to SA, over the Easter weekend, and I have stayed here since.”

BLESSED CHALLENGE
Katrina later married a South African and in 2008 her daughter Luca was born. As she says, life blessed her with a beautiful child, but also the tough challenge of raising a child with Down syndrome. “I was chosen to have Luca as my daughter. I think it has helped me become a better person, because I am more understanding, more compassionate, and just a little more patient than I used to be. She has been my blessing, and I appreciate what she has given me. I asked Luca one day what she wants to be when she grows up, and without hesitation she replied, ‘I want to be Luca.’ That melted my heart, because that is exactly what I want for her, as well as her younger sister Charly and my eldest Ivo. I want them to be the best version of themselves that they can be.”

Katrina says that taking up running was one of the things that helped her with the worries she had over Luca’s future, as well as helping her get into better physical shape to care properly for little Luca. It started in 2014, when she was helping the Down Syndrome Association of South Africa raise funds at the Cape Town Cycle Tour, and decided to enter the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge to raise further awareness of Down syndrome.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into, because I had never run longer than 3km before, and back then even that felt like I was running a marathon! At the Spar race, I started right in front, where the elites are, which was a terrible mistake, because by the time we got to 500 metres I was already exhausted. It was tough, but I finished in one hour 14 minutes and was captivated by the whole vibe and the amazing feeling running gave me.”

BITTEN BY THE RUNNING BUG
She followed that up with her first 21km at the Slave Route Half Marathon, and did her first 42km at the 2015 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. That race is her favourite running memory, because Luca and Charly were in the crowd next to the finishing straight. “When I saw them, I got very emotional. I took them from their Dad and held their hands as they joined me on the run to the finish. The crowd cheered loudly for them and I felt so proud! They both received medals, too, and it is a cherished memory for me. Marathon running is never easy, but these moments make it all worth it.”

Katrina’s goal now is to run more marathons, including the Berlin Marathon, which is obviously close to her heart because that’s where her roots are. “I want to run through the Brandenburg Gate on race day, with crowds cheering my every step, because in the years before I escaped East Germany, armed soldiers would have shot you down if you even tried running there. Just imagining it now gives me goosebumps.”

Images: Jetline Action Photo & Courtesy Katrina Muller

Regularly eating fish as part of your diet can benefit your running, because it’s great for your heart and can improve your physical performance. – BY ESMÉ MARÉ, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

You may already know this, but it’s worth repeating that fish is high in protein, low in fat and offers a wide range of health benefits. White-fleshed fish are generally lower in fat, while oily fish such as salmon, pilchards, sardines, mackerel, herring, trout and fresh tuna are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are considered essential, as the human body cannot make significant amounts of these nutrients, and they can also provide a variety of performance-enhancing effects for athletes of all levels.

1 Great for heart and lungs
Fish is low in saturated fat and high in omega-3, which can lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood and protect against heart disease. Eating fish regularly could also make the lungs stronger and healthier with age, while omega-3 can relieve asthma-related symptoms and improve lung functioning during and following exercise, by reducing various inflammatory mediators.

2 Clearing blood vessels
Eating fish can significantly lower blood pressure through the vasodilation of blood vessels, improving blood circulation and preventing blood clots. This will ensure that hard working muscles have a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood and nutrients needed for performance and recovery.

3 Improves protein synthesis
Omega-3 fatty acids combined with an anabolic stimulus such as running can improve protein synthesis and lean body mass function and quality.

4 Contains essential nutrients
Fish provide us with iodine needed for optimal thyroid functioning, selenium that aids in the production of enzymes to prevent cancer, plus zinc, potassium and vitamins A and D.

5 Increases muscle strength and performance
Omega-3 fatty acids help to improve muscular strength, physical performance and functional capacity.

6 Reduces muscle damage and soreness
Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce exercise-induced muscle damage, delayed-onset muscle soreness and loss of physical function, which otherwise can have a significant effect on adaptation to training.

7 Strengthens the immune system
Moderate exercise boosts the immune system, but excessive exercise may place stress on the body and weaken the immune system. Omega-3 fatty acids help improve the body’s reaction to exercise-induced stress, with potential benefits for the immune system.

8 Strengthens bones and joint functioning
Research reveals that omega-3 fatty acids and exercise may work synergistically to improve bone health, reduce the risk of hip fractures and promote a higher bone mineral density. A regular intake of fish can relieve the symptoms experienced with rheumatoid arthritis and could also prevent osteoarthritis.

EXPERT TIP
It’s important to obtain omega-3 fatty acids from natural food such as oily fish. Dietary supplements such as fish oil capsules might be an option if your diet is low in food sources containing omega-3 fatty acids, but should not replace a healthy diet. If you eat fish to gain the heart-healthy benefits of its omega-3 fatty acids, baked or boiled fish is better than fried, salted or dried.

Image: Fotolia

Here are a few things I would highly recommend if you would like to make a substantial improvement to your running in the quickest possible time, whether you’re a newbie or have been running for a few years. – BY TRAD CRUIKSHANK

I’ve been running for seven years. I started running because I wanted to run the Comrades Marathon, a bucket list thing, but then the proverbial bug bit and after a few months of building a basic fitness, running became more enjoyable. From that point there were small personal bests here or there, but after four years I realised I had reached a plateau. My times were not improving, I didn’t feel any fitter, and my body composition was kind of fit but flabby. So what do I think were the main changes that helped me break that plateau and get to the “next level?” I’m no super-athlete, but considering my first marathon time was 4:45 and my most recent time was 2:43, I think I can make a few suggestions.

1. Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity, both with exercise and diet.
It’s what you do most of the time that is important and not what you do some of the time. Consistency is doing what we set out to accomplish long after the mood has left and staying committed to build ourselves over a long-term period. This theory applies to long-term training, over years, just as much as it does to our day-to-day training. The correct training needs to be applied consistently and evenly. The alternative is the weekend warrior who doesn’t train for five days and on the weekend tries to make up for it by running too many kilometres, a prime example of how to get injured and never improve your running times.

2. Run solo to improve or social to enjoy.
The South African race calendar is set up for athletes to fail, with races every Saturday and Sunday in many areas. Going to a race implies that there is an expectation of a time, or challenge to beat someone, but consistently running harder that ideal means you never give your body a chance to peak for a performance. You may gradually improve your results using this method, but in reality there are much faster and better training methods to achieve your goals.

The same goes for running too easy. Big social morning runs are great for a chat and coffee, but often these groups accommodate all types of runners and incorporate more walks and water breaks than may be necessary for you. There is, of course, a place for social running groups with motivation and structure, but if you really want to improve, the best thing you can do is run to your own effort and requirements every run.

3. Listen to those with experience.
If they look like a runner, talk like a runner and smell like a runner, they may still know nothing about running… Many runners share advice and what works for them, but you should look for runners in your club or running circles who have improved over a period of time, or have consistently great results, and ask them what they’ve been doing. These runners are not always naturally talented, but most have just worked out the system, worked hard and are a great wealth of knowledge.

For example, I had maxed out on my marathon PB at 3:25 before I asked a good friend with over 20 years’ running experience, Drew Fisher, to help me out. It took some time, but at a target race a few months later I ran a 2:56 just doing the ‘right things.’ Find a mentor or coach to assist you and your improvements will far outpace your expectations.

4. Do you run to eat or eat to run?
Everyone running a marathon burns between 2000 and 3500 calories, which is about the average recommended daily intake, so why is it that some people never seem able to lose weight. The answer is partially due to understanding diet properly, which I believe a sports-specific dietician could assist with, or a mental misperception that “because I run so much, I can afford to eat more.” For weight-loss, or running that personal best, diet is simply as important as training. You cannot afford to have a burger, chips and milkshake after every run. Your body requires protein, and glucose for muscles to recover, but pure sugar and oily fatty food will just clog your system while providing no benefit for the body to recuperate from the hard effort of running. In other words, your diet is the most important factor for recovery.

Final Word
Some people assume they are born fast, or that running is easy for them, but in reality they have to work hard all the time to maintain that level. I truly believe everyone can run well, but if you want to be the best runner you can be, it takes the effort to understand and work at it.

Since breaking the magical 10-second barrier in the 100m for the first time on 1 July 2015, Akani Simbine has dipped under 10 seconds on a further 14 occasions. No other athlete in the history of South African sprinting can lay claim to that, and this year the 24-year-old sprint sensation is looking to add some titles to his name. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER

Akani Simbini has one thing on the mind: He just wants to race. “That’s what we are here for. I don’t want to see a situation where the top athletes avoid each other until a big championship. I remember the days of Carl Lewis, Ben Johnson and Linford Christie. Those guys raced each other time and again, and people came out to watch and were excited about the sport then,” he says. “We must do the same now, and I want to line up with Trayvon Brommel, Christian Coleman and Julian Forte as well as our own sprinters.”

Disappointing Year
When you meet Akani, you are immediately impressed with his quiet, yet confident demeanour. At 174cm, he cuts a figure that you immediately notice, whether he has just stepped off the track or is relaxing in casual clothes. There is an aura around him, and he oozes confidence, knowing full well that he is one of the best sprinters in the world… and that’s why 2017 was a bit of a disappointment, in his books. “After 2016, when I got to the final of the Olympic 100m and finished fifth, for me 2017 was about the start of my medal and title campaign.”

The year definitely started with a statement of note as Akani clocked 9.93 in his opening race in Pretoria in March, something the South African public was not used to seeing. Traditionally, sprinters open a season with a low 10 and then try and bring that time down as the season progresses, but not Akani – he believed he could go under 10 from race one. However, shortly after that race he picked up a niggle in his hip flexor that would just not go away.

“At World Champs in August it was really bad. I would take my second step out of the blocks and I would feel intense pain, and for the rest of the race in round one I was thinking about the pain. Normally we don’t think about anything in a 100m race. We execute. So for me to be thinking about the pain, that was bad.” Akani clocked 10.15, his worst race of the season, but still progressed to the semi-finals. “Even in the semi I felt that pain, but was able to control it better.” He duly ran 10.05 in lane one to secure a berth in the 100m final, where he again finished fifth. “That final was so weird. Bolt getting beaten, Gatlin getting booed, and none of us seeing Gatlin come flying through on the outside… That was not how I saw my World’s going down.”

Long Season Ahead
As a result, 2017 was a bit of a letdown for Akani, but he feels that it has prepared him well for 2018. “It would have been nice if the hip flexor had given me grief in a Diamond League instead of at World’s, because I am convinced I would have come back with a medal, but the experience has made me so much stronger, and now I just want to race.” That said, he admits 2018 is going to be a long campaign, but he says he’s ready. “I start in March and race all the way through to September, and this year I want titles. The first is the Commonwealth 100m Gold in Australia, then I want the African title in August. I am the fastest man in Africa, but want the title to go with it, then a few Diamond Leagues, but the big focus at the end of the year is the Continental Cup in Ostrava. I want those titles.”

The Continental Cup is the old World Cup, a competition held over two days that sees continent take on continent, which means that Simbine will need to win the African title, as the continental champion will represent at the meet. In the meantime, he will race on the 8th and 22nd of March in Pretoria and Paarl at the new Athletix Grand Prix meets, and defend his title at Nationals in Pilditch on the weekend of 15-17 March. He adds that we can expect a replication of 2017’s ‘FillUpPotch’ campaign for the Nationals in Pretoria. “Most definitely! It worked. I have never raced in front of such a big crowd in South Africa, and we want to do it again. We want South Africans to see we have world class athletes competing here at home.”

Akani Fact File
• 100m PB – 9.89sec
• 200m PB – 19.95sec
• 15 sub-10sec in the 100m – most by any South African
• Only South African to go sub-10 (100m) and sub-20 (200m) on the same day
• First South African since readmission to reach both the Olympic and World Championship 100m finals

Images: Roger Sedres/ImageSA

The race slogan for the GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run in Europe sounded stunning: “Three countries, two runners, one week – the dream.” And for two obsessive runners, a seven-day trail run in a team with your spouse, from one Alpine town to the next, sounded as close to a romantic getaway as it gets! – BY BEN SAMWELL

Amanda and I got into the GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run in much the same way as many other races, including the Comrades, 4 Peaks and Hobbit: Totally naïve and ill-informed. I thus had my doubts whether we would be able to complete this 265km race with more than 15,000m of vertical ascent as a team – although we had completed a significant amount of road running events together, we had a less than convincing trail running history as a team.

However, we did train hard, completing many on-road hill repeats of up to 120 metres in the dark of the Gauteng winter, with some more technical training through Kloofendal Nature Reserve, and we also tried and tested new winter gear through the cold months. In June we went for a recce to Switzerland to get a feel for the Alpine trails and in a week completed the 100km Eiger Trail over three days, with Grindelwald as a base, as well as a couple of day trails with Zermatt as a base. Trails to Gornergrat and Hornli Hut on the Matterhorn were true highlights, and we got the first sense of what an Alpine climb of 1 500m over 10km was all about – maybe not as technical as we are used to in South Africa, but much steeper and more relentless than what we could imagine.

We decided to name our team Attitude at Altitude, to remind us to keep going when the going gets tough. Back in South Africa we managed to increase our mileage to 100km per week, which included around 3500m of climbing per week for a four-week period in July, our best effort given our long working hours. Then in August we rounded our training off with the SOX Trail Run in Wilderness and the 35km Magaliesberg Challenge. We were not fast, and knew we were up against the odds to finish, but decided to fall back on our biggest strength, our ability to pace ourselves cautiously and maintain our pace for as long as possible.

Nervous, but Excited
The event started with registration and a pasta party in Fischen, a small town in Germany where the residents entertained us with a traditional street festival including a bierfest and a flag parade for all 40-odd countries represented in the event. Things got a bit more serious during the race briefing, which included a warning that every water table over the next seven days would also be a checkpoint, and in true German style, if you were even one second late in arriving at a checkpoint, you would be disqualified as an official finisher.

We started stage one in a light drizzle, nervous but excited, knowing the first day should be manageable, as we were well rested and the 42km route only had a total ascent of 2200m – just 250m more than the Comrades marathon. The first half was on good paths and we could manage our time well within the time limits, despite some nervous stomach issues. We crossed the border to Austria on a beautiful climb via a narrow ridgeline that left us breathless and in awe, especially when we saw two mountain bikers carrying their bikes down the same path! We finished stage one in Lech, a beautiful town nestled in the Alps, very relieved that the first leg was done and we were still in reasonable shape.

Stage two seemed to be a bit easier, just 24km with a total ascent of 2000m, but it proved one of our toughest days to manage within the time limit. The first climb of more than 1000m started after only a small trot through town, and soon became a tough, technical single path through the forest, with the last couple of kilometres through snow to the top of the mountain. I realised that we were in some trouble, with no experience of snow, and for the first time really having to get to grips with running poles. The views were spectacular, but the pressure high on the difficult terrain. We managed to make the first water table with around five minutes to spare, but made up time on a pleasant snow-covered downhill. After a spectacular traverse, we climbed another tough hill to reach the last water table surrounded by snow-covered peaks, and then a gentle downhill brought us to the end of a longer-than-expected day in St Anton.

Stage three to Landeck (40km with 2000m of climbing) was a muddy affair through misty mountains, with the previous week’s rain making the steep single tracks quite slippery. It was another tough day of climbing and our bodies started to take strain, and knowing that stage four was the longest stage was a taxing thought even as we celebrated the completion of stage three.

The Longest Day
Stage four took us across the border to Samnaun in Switzerland, with 47km of running and nearly 3000m of ascent. I could sense the strain of the previous three days as it took more effort to get out of bed, and sensed the doubt in my wife’s face as we waited for the start. This was really going to be a deciding day, given that we constantly ended close to the back of the field, and the risk of this being our last official stage was high. We decided to approach it the same as all the other stages: Start conservatively, take each section on its merit, and run where possible to reduce our average time.

The day started with a pleasant run along a river for a few kilometres. A 1600m climb followed, initially meandering through a forest and then ending with a monster of a climb up a ski slope to the first water table. Following a well-deserved downhill, another long, steep 1000m climb followed, which took us to an 8km pass at the top of snow-covered mountains with beautiful lakes. Again, our lack of experience on snow was evident, but the scenery was so spectacular that we enjoyed every moment.

The last climb over a snow-covered mountain top with icy winds, wet clothes and short pants made us realise the need for really specialised gear when it really counts. Needless to say, we expanded our frame of reference of cold weather and inadequate clothing, but enjoyed the run downhill to a warmer finish area in the valley, delighted to have completed this brutal stage.

Hanging Tough
Having survived stage four, we did not expect the fifth stage of 37km with 2100m of ascent to Scuol in Italy to be that difficult. We were wrong! The first climb reminded us of Sani pass, while the second was another typical Alpine snow-covered mountain top, and the third was a killer of a climb – like The Wall at Sky Marathon – on a moon landscape that ended with teammates pushing their partners to the top. Following a long and knee-breaking downhill, we finished in the most beautiful Alpine town on a pedestrian bridge over a large river in Scuol. Having survived another day that was longer and tougher than expected, we were finally thinking it may just be possible for us to complete this race, and we were determined to survive the last two days.

We studied stage six of 44km and total ascent of 1700m well, and realised there was a nice gentle downhill over the first 7km that we could make up a lot of time in. The route then turned up an impressive mountain pass that is very popular among mountain biking enthusiasts, carved out of the cliffs with sheer drops into the valley. This was a spectacular run that took us to Prad in Italy, probably our most enjoyable stage, and we celebrated the fact that we were actually going to start the last stage.

We were determined to give everything on the last day to make sure we finished. After all, it was only 31km, with 2700m of climbing. The first technical climb of just over 1300m took us through a misty forest, and

after a pleasant downhill, the second climb started. This was a massive climb of 1400m over 6.5km that climbed through the forest to reach an impressive moon landscape on the higher slopes of Ortler Mountain. We traversed the top of one of the peaks on a short trail, assisted by chains, to reach the final downhill that zig-zagged down the mountain, surrounded by very high cliffs. It was as exhilarating as it was frightening!

The thought of finishing kept us going and we completed the last stage filled with awe and gratitude. Of the 281 teams that started, only 189 finished, and given that we ended in the last 10% of the field on stage one, we were very thankful to have made it! I recall one tough stretch, where a fellow struggling runner told us, “You only have one chance!” This race once again made me realise how spectacular trail running is, and how awesome the people from around the world are that share our passion. So, what lessons can I share after this incredible experience? Don’t let past performance limit your future potential, and never underestimate your spouse!

For more information on the race, go to www.transalpine-run.com/en.

Images: Courtesy Ben Samwell