Author: Modern Athlete

When Maria Ghisleni first took up walking, she saw it more as an opportunity to keep fit and healthy while getting some fresh air, instead of just doing Jane Fonda-esque aerobics in the gym, but soon the racing bug bit and today she has quite some record to show for her efforts.

I began to walk 15 years ago but only started race-walking seven years ago. I progressed from the usual power walking that everyone knows to the race-walking style that everyone finds so strange (including my children). There is a big difference between walking and race-walking. Race-walking flows, the feet roll continuously, the knees straighten on heel contact and remain straight until under the body. And of course, the rule that most people are aware of: contact with part of one foot on the ground at all times. It’s a beautiful but technical sport that can be mastered and enjoyed by all.

I have always enjoyed any form of exercise. At both primary and high school level, I participated in numerous sports such as athletics, hockey and netball. Thereafter I started my teaching career and had less time to participate in team sports. I kept fit by going to the local gym. Jane Fonda was the favourite in those days and we all had to slog away till we felt ’the Burn!’

A number of years and babies later, I joined the Bedfordview Health & Racquet Club. One of the classes offered at that time was a ’walking and exercise class‘ on the fields. This appealed to me, to be out in the open air. Walking and exercising on the field progressed to faster walking on the road. We then heard about organised walks on Sundays. These were organised by Run/Walk for Life and would vary in distance. The challenge at that time was to see if I could complete the distance.

Like all walkers, I thoroughly enjoyed the companionship on these walks and obviously, I did a lot of walking and talking. However, I noticed that there were some fast walkers who would fly past me. Their walking styles were very different compared to my half marching/plodding walk. They seemed far more efficient and much lighter on their feet. But at that time I was more focused on distance than style and continued to challenge myself by walking longer distances.

OFF TO THE RACES
I entered the Brenner’s Toyota Walk (now known as the 702 Walk the Talk), which was held at the Johannesburg Zoo in those days, and completed my very first 21km. My goal thereafter was to walk the 42km. For this I did some training and surprisingly, finished as second lady in 1998. The bug had bitten; I then wanted to see if I could win the race if I actually did some dedicated training. Three years later (2001) I won the marathon, and did so again in 2003 and 2004. My best time was my 4:26 in 2007.

I have also competed in a number of 30km and 50km races, and even in the well-known Cape Times Big Walk 80km. My friend and old training partner, Monica Risk, and I decided we would do the 80km together in 2003. We went with the casual attitude that we were going for a whole day’s walk. We did a minimal amount of training and walked and talked the whole way. Monica still managed to finish in third place and I finished fourth. Our times were not the greatest, but we created some very happy memories and we solved the whole world’s problems along that 80km walk.

By then I had improved a great deal on my walking technique and had become far more serious about my walking. In 2004, I joined the Wanderers Walking Club run by both Barbara Nell and Gail de Zabo. There my coaches gave me a training programme and worked on my technique. My goal had altered: distance was no longer important. I now wanted to improve on my speed as well as my style. I wanted to break 30 minutes for a 5km and 4:30 for a marathon. They helped me to achieve both. They encouraged me to compete in track events, which meant joining CGA Masters. At Masters one is able to compete in five-year age categories. The fast track work helped to improve my times on the road and, as it is a judged race, I was forced to focus continuously on my technique. I must admit that I still struggle with the mental side of going around a track 12 and a half times for a 5km. 10km and 20km races are not raced on the track but on a fairly flat piece of road, usually a 2km lap. Under Barbara and Gail’s continued guidance, I have grown from strength to strength.

VITAL SUPPORT
However, I do have to make mention of a person who in the past four years, tweaked my technique to make it what it is today. It’s still not perfect, mind you, but walking is like yoga: there is always room for improvement and to strive for perfection. This is a person who has always supported me and encouraged me in my training and has been at all my important races: my husband, Vincent.

An ex-runner, Vincent began walking with me in 2003 when I desperately needed a training partner to train my longer distances with me. I had been selected by CGA to compete in the 20km SA Road Walking Champs. My husband first ran next to me and then, as he got fitter, did more and more walking. He found he quite enjoyed being out on the road again and his old running injuries did not worry him when he walked. He improved in leaps and bounds and picked up the race-walking technique far more quickly than I ever did. Within two years he was top of his age group (45-50) and had fantastic times: 23:17 for 5km and 1:44 for 20km.

MASTERS CHAMPS
In 2007 we trained together, coached by Gail and Barbara, to compete in the World Masters in Italy. Unfortunately, Vincent picked up an injury about a month before we were set to leave for Italy. Race-walkers, like runners, continually have to guard against injuries by stretching, building up core and muscle strength, and increasing mileage gradually. Vincent’s injury still aggravates him whenever he does really fast walking and he has now decided to cycle instead.

In 2008, we were awarded SA Colours for race-walking, a proud moment for both of us. In 2009, we competed once again at the World Masters in Finland. My goals, as always, are personal. I always focus on myself in a race and set myself times. Should I get a placing, that’s a bonus. My personal goal is more important than beating someone or coming first. In Finland I achieved my goals in both the 5km and 20km. I did my best times in both these races and had the added bonus of achieving a bronze in the 5km (26:38) and a silver medal in the 20km (1:54). I did not reach my goal in the 10km (55:48) race as I had done better times in SA. Another added bonus was that I was privileged to be part of the SA walking team, consisting of three members, in both the 10km and 20km. In both events, the team placed first and we won gold. Finland was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.

TRAINING REGIME
My training is very similar to that of a runner’s. It consists of five stages:
•    Base phase (establishing a foundation of fitness).
•    General phase (building on the foundation, including some faster and longer distances).
•    Strength phase (building muscular endurance).
•    Specific phase (workouts tailored according to your goal).
•    Finally, the taper before the race.

Just like runners, walkers do speed work and hill work, although the gradients of our hills are less, to ensure that we maintain our style at all times. I train at least six times a week and even do double sessions on certain days. Most of my training is done in the Bedfordview area with the Bedfordview Club. Every Tuesday afternoon, I train at Wanderers on a grass track. There my style is checked by my coaches to ensure that I have not picked up any bad habits, which is very easy to do. I go to gym at least three times a week.

FOLLOW ME
My advice to all people who wish to become active is to try walking. Everyone can do it! Should you already be a walker but wish to increase your speed, then I suggest you learn the race-walking technique, either by attending a race-walking clinic or joining a club such as the Wanderers Walking Club. You might enjoy it so much that you’ll decide to become more competitive (whether it is for yourself or amongst others). There is a whole new world of race-walking awaiting anyone who wants to try.

What are my future goals? To walk faster and improve my times. How is that possible at the age of 50, you may ask. I just have to look at my coach and mentor, Barbara Nell, a Springbok walker aged 55, whose times are still way faster than my own, and I reason to myself that if she can still walk at that speed then I still have room for improvement. I hope to do well at the next World Masters in Sacramento in 2011. God willing, I will be there to compete and have another opportunity to achieve my personal goals. And who knows, maybe you could be there. Whether you are a runner, walker, long jumper or discus thrower, all Masters (30 years and onwards) are welcome to compete at the World Masters Athletics. Hope to see you there.

We live in a country with a road running calendar like no other, but running every race can become costly. Modern Athlete spoke to race organisers to find out what goes into organising a race and what costs are involved.

Exactly 32 years ago, it cost R2 to enter the RAC Tough One, a hilly 32km race in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Up to a couple of years ago the entry fee for a standard half marathon was R30, a 32km would cost R40 and a marathon about R50. Over the years, like most other things, entry fees have escalated.

These days it is not uncommon to pay R50 for a half marathon, R60 for a 32km and R70 for a full marathon. Some larger, more popular ultras (50km) may even cost about R150 and the accompanying half marathon could cost entrants up to R100. Some runners complain that races have become too pricey, while others don’t mind paying, but want value for their money.

Many times runners complain, but they have no idea what goes into organising a race and how much it costs, says Vreni Welch, one of the country’s well-known faces in road running. Vreni has been the Rand Athletic Club’s secretary for the past 28 years and has been involved in organising the RAC Tough One as well as some of Gauteng’s biggest races.

Entry fees for road running races are still minimal compared to events such as Ironman and many cycling races. An entry into the Ironman 70.3 costs about R1 200 while, depending on sponsorships, you could pay anything between R2 200 and R3 500 to compete in the full Ironman. And when it comes to our country’s cycling races it is not uncommon to pay more than R250 for a 105km cycling event. “These amounts are realistic. Road running races are still cheap compared to cycling, adventure races, duathlons and triathlons,” says Vreni.

CLUBS VERSUS EVENT COMPANIES
In most instances running clubs organise their own races and do everything from start to finish. This includes finding sponsorships, printing and distributing entry forms, ordering Coke, water, t-shirts and medals, setting up water tables and taking care of every little detail. “It can take up to five months to organise a race and about 400 people are involved. Most times we just break even,” says Vreni.

Event organisation companies sometimes get involved when clubs are too small or inexperienced to organise their own races or when the race is too big, says Andrew Bell, co-owner of Top Events Event Management Company in Cape Town. Top Events is known for its excellent organisation of several races, including the BDO Peninsula Marathon & Half in February in Cape Town and the Safari Half Marathon in Wellington in May. The Safari attracts close to 10 000 athletes while another 10 000 people usually participate in the day’s festivities. Companies like Top Events usually charge a management fee and/or claim between 15 and 25 percent of the sponsorship.

These event companies usually organise a race in its entirety, but sometimes they only help with certain aspects such as the printing and distribution of entry forms. Sponsorship has become extremely hard to find. “We had some long-standing contracts last year. If it wasn’t for that we would have gone under,” says Andrew.

He points out the following:
•    Top Event’s budget for the recent Peninsula Marathon in Cape Town, which is seen as a medium-sized race, was just under R300 000. The upcoming Safari Half Marathon is classified as a big race and their budget is about R900 000. The medals alone cost R122 000. A small race could cost between R25 000 and R40 000 to organise.
•    Medals and the traffic department are usually the two biggest expenses. A decent medal costs between
R6 and R8 while the traffic bill for a race like the Peninsula Marathon could add up to R26 000. A race announcer costs anything between R2 000 and R3 000 and at bigger events, two announcers are usually needed.
•    A race such as the Peninsula Marathon takes about six months to organise.

RACE DAY HEADACHES
Most clubs and organisers try to keep entry fees as low as possible, but as time goes by, expenses go up. Things can go wrong because organisers start taking short cuts. A shortage of water or no medals are usually the biggest complaints amongst runners, says Andrew.

“In summer when it is extremely hot or when the route is very tough, we always try to order more water. Also, in times such as Comrades 2000 and Comrades 2010, we know there will be an increase in numbers and we try to increase our resources. Organisers just hope and pray it doesn’t rain on the day and that everything goes well,” says Andrew.

When organising a race it is very hard to predict how many runners will actually show up on the day, says Vreni. “We usually work on the previous year’s numbers plus a 10% increase. We try to encourage athletes to pre-enter and try to cover our costs with pre-entries; anything over that will help with incidental costs. But often we work on a loss. There are no set entry fees for the different distances. Clubs look at what the others are charging and just hope they will get their numbers. We can only hope and pray for good weather on the day and that everyone involved arrives on time and does what they are supposed to.”

The following items all contribute to race costs:
•    The printing of entry forms costs about R5 per person. “It is heartbreaking to see entry forms lying on the ground after a race,” says Vreni.
•    Most clubs make use of volunteers or companies to set up water tables free of charge, but sometimes this incurs further costs.
•    Metro police officers need to be stationed at every traffic light. The traffic bill is usually the most costly, as traffic officials can charge up to R200 per hour.
•    The delivery of ice early on a Sunday morning outside of working hours can cost a club up to R2 500 – often more than the ice bill.
•    Three to four marshals are necessary for every 1km in the city.
•    It costs a minimum of R150 to hire one portable toilet. Nowadays more races have toilets on the route, which adds to costs.
•    Cones for races can be very expensive and many are needed. For example, 890 were used at the 2009 RAC Tough One.

Organisers sometimes get frustrated with runners who complain about everything. “One year we handed out very nice toiletry bags, but many athletes complained because it was empty!” says Vreni.

The bottom line is that the cost of organising a race is no small money, but at the same time a small budget is no excuse for bad organisation.

YOU CAN HELP KEEP RACE COSTS DOWN

He has had tea at his house with sporting legend Martina Navratilova, the well-known Williams tennis sisters count amongst his friends, and local sporting stars such as Ryk Neethling, Corn? Krige and countless others have found relief from their injuries under his experienced guidance. And on top of that he speaks a bit of German, Russian and fairly decent Chinese. Richard Sutton has the international sporting world on fire with his fusion of treatment therapies and training methods. Though he has lived and worked abroad for the last ten years, Richard is a homegrown boy who wants to return to his own country and share his expertise with local athletes.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact job title for Johannesburg-born Richard Sutton. It seems he does it all. His treatments and training methods can best be explained as a fusion of kinesiology, physical therapy, visceral osteopathy and sports science. Quite a mouthful! But one thing is for sure: Richard has had amazing results and success internationally and locally over the last ten years.

His tennis clientele includes five former number one players, 14 top ten players, 22 top 20 players along with a host of other top international players. Most recently, with his guidance and support, China’s top player, Li Na, achieved amazing results when she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and broke into the top ten – something that China has been trying to achieve for decades.

Li was one of two Chinese players in the semi-finals and both had an extensive history of injuries. With Richard’s help these injuries were resolved.

THE START OF GREAT THINGS
When Richard was growing up, his idols in the sporting industry all had kinesiology backgrounds. After completing his national service in the navy, a career in sports therapy was a natural path for Richard to follow. He studied sports science in the UK before continuing his studies in clinical kinesiology in the USA. “There was always something that drew me back to South Africa and after my studies, I decided to come home and set up a practice here.”

He leaned towards specialising in golf mechanics together with the treatment of movement-related pain disorders. “I was very lucky and quickly started gaining recognition. Truthfully, golf was not my primary passion, but I found it incredibly stimulating and an excellent base to start from,” he says.

Richard has worked with a broad spectrum of sportspeople, ranging from elite rugby players to swimmers and runners. He found a love and passion for tennis when, through his extensive golfing network, he was introduced to and started treating two former Davis Cup players. One thing led to another and soon Richard was on tour with South Africa’s current Davis Cup captain, John-Laffnie De Jager.

“I specialise in repetitive trauma injuries, which means anything that is of a neuro-mechanical nature that comes about through over-exposure to the same movement.”

ROAD TO INTERNATIONAL STARDOM
While travelling and working abroad, Richard’s fascination with pelvic asymmetry and associated pain led to another major career breakthrough. At the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, tennis legend Martina Navratilova was introduced to Richard. She had a lower extremity injury referred to as ’heel pain‘ syndrome. Martina had struggled with this injury for some time and had seen countless professionals with little success. “After three treatments she had full resolution,” says Richard. Martina managed to play pain-free until her final doubles match at the US Open in 2006, which she won.

BIG NAMES
Richard has worked with some of the biggest names in the local and international sporting industry. These are just a few:
•    In 2005 he helped SA tennis player, Wesley Moodie, with his physical development. During this time Wesley captured a Wimbledon doubles trophy and stormed his way into the top 55 singles rankings/top 20 doubles.

•    In 2006 Richard signed with Russian tennis star, Nadia Petrova, and was appointed as the Russian National Therapist for the Hopman Cup. In this time Nadia peaked at a personal best of three in the world.

•    In 2007 Tommy Haas, German-American tennis player, achieved one of his best years as he managed to stay injury-free after working with Richard. Tommy peaked at a top ranking of sixth in the world.

•    Richard has also worked with South Africa’s top tennis players, Wayne Ferreira, John-Laffnie De Jager, Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard.

•    Other SA sports stars include Corn? Krige (rugby), Ryk Neethling (Olympic gold medallist, swimming), Kobus Visage (rugby) as well as Roger Wessels and Tjaart van der Walt (both golf).

•    Richard was the Executive Director of Physical Development for the Chinese National Olympic Tennis team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

LIFE IN CHINA
An important part of Richard’s career was spent in China when the Chinese National Tennis Federation approached him to work at the National Olympic Training Center in Beijing. China had never performed well at any of the previous Olympics and had never won a singles match. Also, all five members of the Olympic team were injured. In 2008, eight months after Richard joined the team, China achieved their greatest results in singles tennis; this included going to the semi-finals and a bronze medal at the Olympics.

“While in China I consulted in many other kinds of sports, ranging from gymnastics to judo.” China’s success in Beijing was unmatched, with a medal count almost twice that of any previous Olympics (100 medals, including 51 golds).

PRACTICAL EXPLANATION
So what exactly makes Richard’s treatments and exercise programmes so different from others? “Perhaps it is the way I integrate different therapies/philosophies and the fusion of east and west that has given me the edge the last ten years. I try to see the broader picture at the end, before I even start.”

Richard evaluates hopeful athletes and only then makes a decision on a recovery path, and which manual therapies and/or exercise interventions to use. “I normally only take on injured individuals and depending on the level they are at, I make a decision whether I will take over their training programme. I will treat them in any way that is required within my scope of practice and concurrently initiate a progressive integrated and functional training programme. Initially my goal within the Chinese team was to eradicate injuries, then to make sure they don’t get injured again and lastly to make sure they excel at their given sport through the re-education of movements as well as the facilitation of performance through improved power, endurance, co-ordination, speed and other relevant physical abilities.”

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
The international sporting industry is competitive and to be successful one has to achieve results. “It’s one thing to work with an individual and they remain the same, and another thing to work with them and they improve. That is what determines great or average people within this industry. I work seven days a week, months on end. Success is not a nine-to-five job. You are hired for results. If you do not deliver, you will get fired. High-level international sport is brutal; there is a lot of money at stake and the pressure is high, but it suits my personality.”

RICHARD ON RUNNING
Most runners suffer from ankle, hip and lower back problems, and often a combination. “When exposing your body to high volumes of stress, it stands to reason that your body will break down, normally at the weakest point, and when the physical and psychological stresses are the greatest,” says Richard.

Running programmes are generally not well balanced; a lot of time is spent on the road and too little time is spent on strengthening and balancing supportive structures. “If runners focused more on the inclusion of core exercises, flexibility/mobility training and functional movement development, they would get better results and their injury rate would be lower.”

Richard’s advice to runners who are serious about their sport is, “Balance your programmes better with the inclusion of core, flexibility and functional strength training. Additionally, focus on good nutrition, improved recovery strategies (massage, ice baths, etc) and proper warm-up and cool-down practices. Good programme structure, consistency and discipline go a long way to ensuring personal success.”

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN
Sport and South Africa are in his blood. “I started feeling fit for the first time when I joined the navy. It was like a drug. I realised the power it gives you mentally, physically and emotionally,” says Richard, who himself matches his elite athletes on every level while training.

The international sporting scene has been good to him, but he admits to getting tired of living in hotel rooms. “I love what I do. If I don’t have pressure, I don’t do well. For me the beauty of the international sport scene is if you don’t get a result, you are out. That means one needs to constantly find ways to make it happen. The only thing that counts is whether you make a difference.”

For now, 37-year-old Richard will continue travelling, training and treating Asia’s foremost sporting hero Li Na, and other top international athletes, but he hopes to settle back in South Africa within the next two years. “This country is in my blood and I would love to be home more and make a difference here.”

Peter Taylor of Cape Town has been running the Old Mutual Two Oceans 56km Marathon barefoot for the past 26 years, to raise funds for SA Guide Dogs for the Blind. Not surprisingly, his bare feet have elicited many a quizzical response…

A few years ago, Peter Taylor was 40km into the Comrades Marathon and staring up at a major 4km climb when he had a momentary sense-of-humour failure. When he passed a group of men standing around a braai with beers in hand, and they asked him where his shoes were, instead of his standard reply of, “My wife took them along with the Porsche,” he told them he’d forgotten his shoes at home and carried on running. Next thing he knew, there was a 14-year-old lad running next to him carrying a togbag full of shoes. “Meneer, we have all taken off our shoes and in the togbag I have size 7, 9, 10 and 11 pairs of shoes. You can have the pair that fits – and you don’t need to return them.”

It took Peter a while to convince the helpful youngster that he always ran barefoot. He had to show the boy that his timing chip was strapped around his ankle and then get fellow runners to back up his story before the boy finally believed him. The response was priceless: “Oom, I am going to tell my dad that you always run barefoot, but he will still not believe me, and after that I am going to have a strong dop with my dad, because sir, you are mad!”

GOING BARE
Peter ran his first marathon in 1984 but admits that he was far from properly prepared for that Peninsula Marathon. “My training consisted of two 8km runs, one 15km run and then a 21km run one week before the marathon. At 30km into the race, I was absolutely finished, so I decided to take my shoes off and walk to the finish. The next minute I was running again and from then onwards, I have always run barefoot. Two months later I completed my first Two Oceans, and today I have finished 23 Two Oceans with a best time of 5:00:04, as well as seven Comrades, at least 15 other ultra-marathons and more than 70 marathons – all barefoot.”

Peter initially ran for Atlantic Athletic Club, then joined Rand Athletic Club when he moved up to Johannesburg in the early 90s. Upon his return to Cape Town in 1999, he joined his current club, Celtic Harriers. His first love in running is the Two Oceans. He has started the race nearly every year since his 1984 maiden voyage, only missing out in 1995 when he failed to qualify (which is a whole story on its own – see next page). Of 25 starts, he has officially finished 23 times, unfortunately missing the cut-off in 1994 and 1997. “To me the Two Oceans will always remain the most majestic ultra in South Africa. Where else can one run around one of the top cities in the world, experiencing support from hardy and wonderful spectators year after year, through rain, wind and sunshine?”

After all these years, Peter’s training hasn’t changed much. “Unless I run Comrades, I stop running after Two Oceans. Not one kilometre until 2 January! Then, after the annual Christmas turkey and a few frosties, I start with 8km followed by a 15km three days later and then a 21km the next week. Thereafter my training consists of one weekly run of at least 28km, always including at least one long hill. Yes, I know, this training schedule doesn’t exactly follow standard running advice, but I believe that if I can complete 28km regularly, with a bit of blood, guts and vasbyt – and plenty of experience – I know I can complete Two Oceans within seven hours.”

Peter works as Parliament’s Representative Facility Manager, looking after the maintenance, upkeep and refurbishment of all parliamentary buildings in the Mother City. The 52-year-old lives in Rondebosch with his wife Sheila and two teenage sons, Travis and Brenden, and prefers only running a small number of races so that he can spend as much time as possible with his family, including being involved in his sons’ school activities and sports. He is also busy putting the finishing touches to revamping his home, having taken it from a single storey to a double storey, and in between that he works on his 12 old motorbikes, the oldest dating back to 1936.

Sheila, incidentally, was one of Professor Tim Noakes’ first sports science students. “She has told me many times that running barefoot is not right, but who listens to their wives?” jokes Peter.

FOR A GOOD CAUSE
In 1986 Peter saw a video of the London Marathon, where many runners completed the race in fancy dress to raise funds for charity, including Father Christmas suits and waiters with trays. “I thought, hey, I can also do some fundraising, since I already run barefoot. At that time there were a few blind runners taking part in the Two Oceans, with running partners to guide them, so I thought it would be a good idea to assist the blind runners. I also wanted to do something for animals, so I approached the SA Guide Dogs for the Blind, and they were only too glad to give their approval.”

But it wasn’t going to be quite that easy. “I was the first person in SA to raise money by running in a race, and I had to first get permission from everybody.” This saw him start with his own club as well as the organising club, Celtic Harriers, who in turn told him that he needed to get permission from the provincial athletics body as well as the various sponsors of the race. Finally, with all the paperwork in place, he set out in the 1987 Two Oceans with his ‘big, red, homemade rucksack’ on his back, asking spectators along the route and fellow runners to make donations by dropping money into the rucksack.

What started out as a small venture now requires his wife and sons to meet Peter along the route to empty the rucksack. “My family normally sees me near Lakeside and then at Constantia Nek to empty the money that I have collected. Besides becoming heavy, the jingle of coins sometimes annoys other runners who are not used to the noise.”

Admittedly, Peter says he doesn’t raise that much money during each race. “Disappointingly, I only manage to collect about R1 500 every year at Two Oceans, and it costs about R20 000 to train one guide dog.” That’s why he has now set his sights on a bigger target. “In 2011 I’ll be running my 25th Two Oceans – provided I finish this year – so I want to get a big company to sponsor me and do a big promotion to get more money. Up till now I think I’ve gotten more publicity than money.”

Nevertheless, Peter knows that his efforts are noticed. He says his highlight was when World Cup winning Springbok rugby captain Francois Pienaar singled him out a few years ago. “Francois ran Two Oceans and raised R100 000 for his charity, but after the race all he could talk about was this overweight, barefoot guy carrying a big rucksack who had passed him during the race.”

EPIC TRAVELS
As mentioned, Peter has only missed running the Two Oceans once since 1984. In 1995, while living in Johannesburg, he left qualifying to the last minute and on the last weekend before     entries closed, he had no choice but to head to Naboomspruit for a marathon being run there. “Off we went, myself, my wife and our six-month-old son, plus-minus 200km north of Pretoria. When we arrived at the Naboomspruit Police Station on Saturday night at 7pm and asked where the marathon would start the following morning, the answer was, ‘I don’t know about tomorrow, but today plenty people ran.’

“I didn’t want to miss Oceans, so I phoned my club secretary and heard that the only other marathon that Sunday was the Ixopo – outside Pietermaritzburg! So we drove non-stop through the night and arrived at Ixopo 20 minutes before the start, only to find out that it was pre-entries only. Luckily I was able to convince the organisers to let me run, but then between 20km and 36km there was one monster hill. Well, my body just said, you don’t have any energy because you did not get any sleep. The result is that I missed the cut-off time. So I got back in my car and drove back to Johannesburg. In 22 hours I had driven 1 900km, run 32km, made my family very upset, and not qualified for Two Oceans. That Easter I ended up going to the Rand Easter Show with my sister from Australia, instead of running in Cape Town.”

Having already missed the race once, Peter was not about to let it happen again a few years later when his sister-in-law decided to get married on Easter Saturday in Johannesburg. “I told her I wouldn’t be there for the wedding, despite the fact that I would be driving up to Jo’burg with my wife and two small kids to repair our house for re-letting after moving back to Cape Town.” So, three days before Two Oceans, he left his family in an empty house in Jo’burg and caught the train to Cape Town, arriving Friday afternoon and running the race the next morning. “Then I got back onto the train, arriving back in Jo’burg early Monday morning to be greeted by my ‘happy family’ and immediately got into the car and drove back to Cape Town so that I could be back at work on Tuesday morning. The best part was being interviewed by a radio station while on the train somewhere around Bloemfontein, trying to explain this all to them…”

STRONG FEET
After 25 years of running barefoot, Peter has pretty damned hard feet, but he says he still feels the mileage. “After Oceans and Comrades, my feet feel a bit bruised, and I do get stiffer because striking the ground barefoot is two to three times harder than for most runners in shoes. I’ve never had an injury from running barefoot, but if the texture of the road is stony or rough, I feel it, although only really on the arch because it is soft skin that never touches the road.”

“I personally believe I’m one of the few lucky people who can run barefoot, because I am a naturally efficient runner. If you pronate just slightly, don’t even think about it. If you’re just going to run a bit, barefoot is okay, but for marathons or ultras make sure you’re an efficient runner, otherwise you’re looking for an injury. And if you have soft or tender feet, just don’t!

“As long as I am able, I will continue to run the Two Oceans barefoot. So the next time you see this big overweight, under-trained ‘Zola’ carrying his red rucksack and raising funds for the SA Guide Dogs for the Blind, remember just how mad he is and throw some money into the bag, as all monies are gratefully accepted… especially notes!”

To support Peter’s fundraising efforts on behalf of SA Guide Dogs for the Blind, contact him at [email protected]. For more information on SA Guide Dogs for the Blind, go to www.guidedog.org.za