Author: Modern Athlete

The South African women’s team at the recent IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England, finished in an impressive sixth place, and all three team members smashed their personal best times. Here, South African half marathon champion, Annerien van Schalkwyk, tells of her experience at the World Champs.

Teamwork and determination were the secret of our success in Birmingham. I was fortunate to be part of a talented team including Ren? Kalmer and Poppy Mlambo. The three of us learnt to work together as a team and for the first time in the history of the World Champs, a South African women’s team placed sixth in the team category. Another highlight was that each one of us ran a personal best time. We could not have asked for more!

I had to deal with a few disappointments before the World Champs, but it made me realise that nothing was in my hands. While competing at the Northern Gauteng Cross Country Championships earlier this year, I broke my little toe when I bumped into a fellow competitor. While recovering, I was very emotional and disappointed, but I also realised that my running career was in God’s hands and not in mine.

When I placed third at the South African Cross Country Championships four weeks after my injury, I had a feeling that things would go well at the World Half Marathon Champs.

Dan Muchoki, a Kenyan coach, played a huge role in our preparation while training at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre. Some days, the training felt like hell, but it was necessary if we were to be successful at an international level.

PERFECT RUNNING CONDITIONS
We could not have asked for a better race day (11 October). Though it rained lightly at the start, it was perfect weather to run in. The pace was very fast from the onset and I realised that in the future, I would have to concentrate more on speed if I wanted to make any impact on international races.

While running, I kept my position throughout and eventually fi nished 20th in a personal best time of 1:11.26! Ren? fi nished 15th in a time of 1:10:37, breaking her personal best by well over a minute and Poppy fi nished 40th in 1:14:27; also breaking her personal best time by 14 seconds.

We made a difference at the World Half Marathon Champs and from here on, we can only improve and hopefully make our mark at the African Championships and Commonwealth Games. I would love to qualify for both races. I am grateful to Dion Saayman who helps me with my training. My ultimate
goal is the Olympic Games in 2012. It sounds like a dream, but I believe that with hard work, support from my loved ones and the grace of God, it is a dream that can come true.

I strongly believe in the following words: To accomplish great things, you must not only train, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

The October 2009 OUTsurance 94.5 Kfm Gun Run Half Marathon, 10km and 5km in Cape Town broke all records for entries, proving once again that running and walking in South Africa are booming

When all the entries for this year’s Gun Run had been tallied up, the organisers had a total of 9 901 entrants across the three distances of Cape Town’s secondbiggest road running event. Only the Two Oceans is bigger. Last year, the combined event attracted 7 905 entries, which means it grew by just over 25% this year. While the half marathon was up 10%, attracting 3 161 entries, the biggest growth was in the 10km, which grew by 42% to bring in 4 633 entries. The 5km fun run had 2 107 entries.

One of the race organisers, Kevin Lodge of Top Events, was understandably excited about this tremendous growth and puts it down to the fact that more people want to exercise and stay healthy, and more walkers are joining events like this. “We also had a more participantfriendly venue on the beachfront this year, and a more scenic new route that took in the Waterfront and Camps Bay, with scenic elevated views that made it even more enjoyable. Also, the radio campaign run by 94.5 Kfm was awesome – that’s a powerful machine!” said Kevin.

Added to that, there was a R10 000 lucky draw prize up for grabs after the race, and the winner was Sophia Fourie, who was standing virtually in the front row at the prizegiving and didn’t have to walk far to claim her windfall. Also receiving much needed funds was the offi cial race charity, The Homestead
Projects for Street Children, which cashed a cheque for R20 000 made up of donations from the Gun Runners.

While the Gun Run is no longer run midmorning with a cutoff time that coincides with the fi ring of the Noon Gun on Signal Hill, the race still features a booming cannon. A very loud 88mm Cape Artillery field gun is brought to the start and fi nish areas to signal the beginning and end of the threehour event. This year, the starting shot was fi red by Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille.

The Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (KAEM) is a 237km race over six stages in seven days. This year saw the biggest field in the event’s ten year history, with 73 participants from 12 countries lining up. And leading them home was South African race winner Dirk Cloete, of Irene Road Running Club. He told Modern Athlete all about his experience.

Experienced desert runners will tell you that the KAEM is infamous for its harsh terrain. It is a self-sufficiency foot race; competitors carry all their own supplies for the duration of the race. The organisers only supply water, fire and toilet paper.

The KAEM is a tough and expensive event, and I prepared well for it. Did I go out to win? I just wanted to do the best I could, and if I happened to be the fastest man I would be grateful. I was fortunate that one of South Africa’s most recognised trail runners, Bruce Arnett, also entered. He has won it twice, and it was an opportunity to measure myself against the best.

Day one was a nice ‘loosener’ of 28km. Over the first few kilometres, runners were clearly finding their pace and rhythm, some trying to fi nd a running partner. My backpack weighed more than 14kg and was much heavier than what I was hoping for. Bruce and I ran together and fi nished the fi rst stage at an average pace of 5:25min/km. It was more than a minute per kilometre faster than ever in the past for the fi rst stage and the talk that night was that ‘we were much too fast’ for the KAEM.

I am an experienced road runner and knew I could pace myself well. I planned to run the KAEM at a pace which I knew was safe, regardless of how much faster or slower it was than in previous races. Day two was a longer stage (34km). It was hot with quite a technical section to negotiate. Relaxing at the camp that night, a group of residents from Riemvasmaak protested against our overnight camp and we had to evacuate. Just after midnight, we set up at a new camp. I found it diffi cult to sleep; somehow only the experienced snorers fell asleep easily!

NEW ROUTE
Due to the trouble the previous night, the organisers had to mark a new route before the start of stage three. We eventually all started together on a shortened 20km run. Bruce and I decided to take it easy in anticipation of the long stage on day four. Rhodri Darch (from Wales) broke away from the group early on and after 14km, he was almost two minutes ahead of us. We started sprinting at a crazy pace of about 4min/km and with 1km to go, we caught Rhodri! We all had a good laugh and jogged home together.

Day four was the big one with 82.3km ahead of us. I had my plan worked out and took it easy. Bruce and I covered the first 10.5km over easy terrain to the fi rst checkpoint in an average pace of about 5:20min/km. In previous races, a pace like that was considered suicidal, as the race has always been won in an average pace of 7:30min/km and slower.

For most of the way, Bruce and I worked together. I left the 61km checkpoint ahead of Bruce, but I was pushing hard and the last 7km were challenging. It was pitch dark and hard to distinguish the quality of the road surface. I fi nished the stage in a time of 8:16. Bruce got home 20 minutes later in a time much faster than in previous races. By now it was clear that the KAEM 2009 would be won in a much faster time than ever before.

JUST WANT TO RUN
Day fi ve was reserved for a well-deserved rest, but I don’t know what was worse: running for an entire day or lazing around to kill the hours. The medical team spent a lot of time helping with injuries, especially blisters. The second-last stage on the sixth day was the most technical stage of the entire race. I fi nished in a time of 4:21 and extended my lead to 26 minutes.

On the last day, the organisers tried to get everybody in before the winner arrived. The fi rst group left at 5:30 on our last 25km journey. Bruce, Rhodri and I set off at 10:15. We decided to run together, but at a steady pace, as I wanted to see how close to 22 hours I could fi nish. With 11km to go, I took off. I was singing aloud with the music on my iPod, probably scaring the animals away! Maybe that’s why the
camera man stayed with me; he was not taking pictures, he was monitoring my mental health.

I crossed the fi nish line in a time of 22:02. My average pace was 5:35min/km. Bruce fi nished second in a time of 22:34 and Rhodri third in 23:52. My club mates, Henk Moen and Chris Koch, finished in sixth and tenth position.

MOIST EYES
As I finished, I got very emotional, but I believe one should enjoy it when things go your way. I’d worked hard and it was my moment to enjoy. You do this type of event not for yourself, but for everyone in your support team. My sponsors, SCE Automation Solutions, made it fi nancially possible for me to enter. I also had one of the best sport scientists, Prof. Jacques Rossouw, helping me with the physical, nutritional and mental preparation. I am forever grateful to my wife, Lynda and little boy, Damian, who supported and encouraged me through all the long hours of training. And then there was the incredible care and support of all the members of my running club, Irene. But above all I thank my Heavenly Father for the privilege to have  been part of the 2009 KAEM.

Winning or just completing such an event is a unique blessing, and one should enjoy every moment of it, as it passes so quickly and becomes only a precious memory. On my journey, I met the most incredible people. To fi nish is a major achievement regardless of the time it takes you. Congratulations to all my fellow competitors who fi nished the race!