Author: Modern Athlete

For most runners, the starting gun means start the watch and get to the finish line as quickly as possible, but for others it means start the conversation and make the run-chat last as long as possible. That’s how Michelle Cupido runs all her races… unless the music gets turned up! Then even talking joins running fast as a secondary priority! – BY KYLE DEELEY

Michelle Cupido is a regular at the back of the pack at many races in the Cape, and in spite of being quite short and thus difficult to spot in a crowd, it isn’t hard to find the 49-year-old Pinelands AC runner, thanks to her loud jokes, infectious laughter, sometimes outrageous running outfits, and quite often, rather eye-catching dance moves. Whether it’s before, during or after a race, Michelle simply cannot resist the music, and she just has to dance if she hears a tune she loves. She is thus often up on stage at the big races, busting out moves that pro dancers would be proud of. “I am an entertainer, and I just love having fun, so I just let the music take me,” says the dancing runner.

CARING TOUCH
A Capetonian all her life, Michelle grew up in Kensington before moving with her family to Mitchells Plain, and after school she went to study at the Otto du Plessis Nursing College, then landed her first job. “I started working as a part-time staff nurse at Somerset Hospital, and then went full-time a year after that. A few years later I got married and we had two wonderful kids, a son and a daughter, but two years after getting married I started going through a painful divorce, and that changed me,” says Michelle.

“I started looking for something to take me out of my comfort zone, I wanted to try something I had never done before, and eventually I thought running would be a good idea. I didn’t take part in any sport at school, and figured that it would be a nice change, so I did my first race, the 1999 Big Walk 36km from Simon’s Town to Cape Town, and from that moment on my life was never the same. I finished in a shocking time of 6 hours and 5 minutes, and to be honest it wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought it would be, but the bug had bitten, and soon I had entered my second event, a running race.”

THE BUG BITES
Running soon became a healthy addiction, because Michelle says she felt that if she didn’t run, she was miserable for the day, and that a part of her life felt missing. She began racing regularly, and in 2000 completed her first Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon, in a time of 2:27:55. However, the following year she missed the then stricter Two Oceans Half cut-off of 2:30, coming home in 2:43:04, but the following year, with the cut-off now extended, another 2:43 saw her claim a second medal. Today she has 11 Two Oceans Half medals and her Light Blue Permanent Number, but she says she has never quite reached the heights of that 2:27 again.

“I have completed hundreds of races, and even won an award one year for doing 84 races in a year, but none of them were near the times they could be. I just don’t like competing with the faster runners, and pushing hard in running is not for me. Instead, I remain one of the runners at the back of the pack, talking and encouraging and pushing those who need the help. I know I have the ability to finish and I make it my goal to help others to do so, too, because I know that running as a whole is just a life-changer,” says Michelle.

CONTINUED GROWTH
Another result of her divorce saw Michelle pursue her goal of becoming a registered nurse. She had left Somerset Hospital to work at the Life Health Care Hospital while doing the bridging course, but that didn’t work out and she moved on to the Groote Schuur Hospital, where she eventually achieved her goal in 2014. “It took me two tough years of studying and it required a lot of effort and sacrifice, but I learnt a lot and it was another life-changing experience.”

Besides time with her kids, the other thing that Michelle would not sacrifice during her studies was her running. “I still made time to get out on the road, because I just love talking to all my fellow runners, at training runs or races… but I really go crazy when I hear music, and that’s my biggest distraction when it comes to a race. Music transforms me and sends me to a different planet, and then I just have to dance!”

If you followed triathlon in South Africa in the 90s and into the 2000s, you definitely would have spotted Dominique Donner-Rodd. Not only was she was one of the leading female triathletes in the country, but her stunning looks also saw her grace many magazine covers. Today she is retired from competitive triathlon, but is still involved in sport as a swimming coach as well as Project Manager for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in South Africa, which will see her taking on another big swimming challenge this February. – BY RACHEL PIENAAR

Last year at the a’Quelle Midmar Mile event in KwaZulu-Natal, a group of 20 swimmers pledged to swim eight miles each to raise awareness and funds for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Created by former South African Olympic swimmer and now Princess, Charlene Wittstock, the Foundation works to promote water safety and drowning-prevention education for children and their families, because drowning is a leading cause of unnatural deaths in children. One of the swimmers in the group was former SA triathlon champion Dominique Donner-Rodd, who has been friends with the Princess since 1996 and now heads up the South African chapter of her foundation, based in Ballito in KZN.

As a former competitive swimmer, a swim coach and a mother, Dominique is passionate about this cause, and says “I will be swimming eight miles again this year, along with 27 other amazing swimmers who will each be raising funds for the Foundation to continue its mission of promoting and providing water safety education and learn-to-swim opportunities for the children of South Africa. The Foundation is honoured and privileged to be a beneficiary of the 2017 a’Quelle Midmar 8 Mile Charity Club once again, and the money raised will be used to fund our ongoing learn-to-swim programmes. I’m really looking forward to the challenge, which I have trained hard for.”

SPORTING STAR
Growing up in Cape Town, Dominique showed great sporting ability from a young age. While at school she earned provincial colours in swimming, biathlon, life-saving, netball and squash, and went on to earn national junior colours in biathlon and swimming. Having already been introduced to multisport through biathlon, her next step was into the world of triathlon, but it was not the most auspicious start. “My triathlon career started in 1989 at the Constantia Health and Racquet Club with a sprint distance race consisting of a 100m pool swim, 20km bike and 5km run, and I was racing on a borrowed bike. I didn’t have a clue how the gears worked, and as a result had to walk up all the hills! I finished fourth-last overall, but I was hooked. My first inter-provincials were in Port Elizabeth in 1990 and I won the South African Junior title, then earned my first Protea colours for triathlon in 1992.”

That same year saw South African athletes allowed to compete on the world stage again following the end of the Apartheid era and removal of the sporting embargo against the country, and Dominique was selected as part of South Africa’s first team to go to the Triathlon World Champs, held in Canada. “It was my first taste of international competition and I was totally overwhelmed! I exited the swim in the top three, but was only 20th on the bike after transition! I was more like a spectator, in awe of the other athletes, and I finished 50th that day!”

Over the next years Dominique was a regular on the podium in local races while also pursuing modelling work, which saw her appear on many magazine covers and in TV commercials, which raised her profile, helped her attract sponsorships and then turn pro. She won a number of national titles as well as numerous provincial titles, and in 2000 was part of the preliminary Olympic squad for the Games in Sydney, along with Lizel Moore and Kim Carter, but did not get to go. “Lizel had the best ranking by two or so places, even though I beat her at the World Champs that year, and she was the only woman selected. Kim and I were bitterly disappointed as we watched the race on TV.”

On a positive note, that disappointment spurred Dom on to greater heights, and she won the 5FM/Energade series in both 2000 and 2001, and was crowned SA Sprint Champ, African Champ and SA Half Ironman Champ in 2001, while also racing some of the World Cup series events and climbing to 13th on the world rankings. In 2002 she tackled the longer distances and finished 16th at the ITU World Tri Champs in Nice, France. “That was the most memorable race of my triathlon career. The sheer beauty and severe difficulty of the course made it an experience I will never forget.”

WINDING DOWN
Dominique moved to Durban in 2003 and gave birth to son Luc in April 2004, and that saw her retire as a pro triathlete, although she still won the KZN Tri Champs three times and the Duathlon Champs twice. She also finished on the podium at SA and African Champs in 2005, and finished seventh professional in the SA Ironman competition in 2006, before taking a break from all sport in 2007 and getting married to former South African National Bodybuilding Champion Michael Rodd, with daughter Rachel joining the family later.

It was only in 2010 that she competed again, taking on the 70.3 Ironman. “I finished 10th Pro, but also realised that trying to come back into the sport at an elite level at 39 years of age is not an easy task!” says Dom. Nevertheless, she won the 2010 KZN Provincial Triathlon and Duathlon Champs titles, as well as the overall amateur competition at the 2010 African Triathlon Champs, but had to miss the Ironman in PE due to falling ill with mumps. Instead, she entered Ironman France, a bucket list event, and finished a creditable 11th Pro. After that, however, her focus moved solely to her coaching and learn-to-swim work, which she had first started doing in 1990 in Cape Town under then coach Tom Fraenkel, in his Frankie Frog Swimming Programme.

She took over from Tom in 1994 as Head Swimming Coach at the Constantia Health & Racquet and her training squad saw more than 70 athletes receiving provincial colours, of which 16 went on to earn national colours, including Paralympic gold medallist Natalie Du Toit. Today she is still coaching competitive youngsters as well as doing the important learn-to-swim work with the Foundation since 2012, and she says, “Champions come and go, but to me the real judge of my success will be the opportunities I have to be a role model and ambassador for sport, to encourage others and to be the best they can. I have been involved in coaching swimming, biathlon and triathlon for nearly 20 years now, and I remain passionate about coaching children to realise their sporting dreams, because sport has been my greatest teacher in life.”

(Footnote)
For further information regarding the work of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in South Africa and how to receive tax benefits for company donations, please mail [email protected].

Not so long ago it appeared that long jumper Luvo Manyonga’s athletics career was over, but after turning his life around and completing a remarkable comeback, he won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, and now he is aiming for still more honours. – BY KYLE DEELEY & SEAN FALCONER

A top level athletic career is usually only a few years long, and it can take an athlete a number of years, including those all-important formative years in the junior ranks, to work up to the level needed to compete at Olympic, World Champs and Diamond League level. Many athletes then only stay at that level for a short period of time, so they have to make the most of their peak athletic years, and thus losing a few years for a positive drugs test can spell the end of an athlete’s career, because coming back to top level competition can be even harder than getting there in the first place.

That said, long jumper Luvo Manyonga didn’t just come back to compete again. He went all the way to the Rio Olympics last August and brought home a silver medal thanks to his soaring 8.37m leap. “The Olympics for me was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. I had an incredible few days and I knew it was my time to reach for the stars. I knew I had what it took and I made sure I did what needed to be done,” says Luvo, typically humble about what is one of the ultimate comeback stories!

Jumping to Stardom
Luvo’s athletic talent was spotted when he was attending Desmond Tutu High School in the Mbekweni township on the outskirts of Paarl, in the Boland area. At the 2009 Boland regional track and field champs, he was closely watched by the late Mario Smith, then one of the coaches at the University of Stellenbosch. “Mario noticed my talent after watching me jump, and told me I had the most perfect technique he had ever seen, and that I had serious potential,” says Luvo.

That saw the youngster start training with Mario at Maties, and his first international success soon followed at the 2009 African Junior Champs in Bambous, Mauritius, where he jumped 7.49m for the bronze medal. He ended the year with a new best of 7.65m, then broke through the eight-metre barrier in 2010 with a massive 8.19m jump in Germany, which is still the African and South African Junior Record, and followed that with a 7.99m jump to win the gold medal at the 2010 Junior World Champs in Moncton, Canada.

With a bright career seemingly ahead of him, Luvo turned professional in 2011, and describes it as a major milestone: “Competing as a professional was incredible. I met new people and had to compete against some of the best in the world, and this for me was an amazing achievement.” In July that year he jumped 8.26m in Finland, climbing to second on the all-time SA list, then finished fifth with an 8.21m jump in the final of his first Senior World Champs in Daegu, South Korea. Just two weeks later he was in action again at the All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, winning the gold medal thanks to an 8.02m jump, and he says “This was possibly the greatest experience of my life to that point. I had won my first real gold medal.”

From Hero to Villain
But then it all went horribly wrong. In March 2012, following drug testing at a national meet, it was announced that he had tested positive for a banned substance. However, instead of it being for one of the usual performance-enhancing substances, it turned out to be the recreational drug ‘TIK,’ a local variant of Crystal Methamphetamine, which nevertheless can still give an athlete an unfair advantage over ‘clean’ athletes.

The story began to emerge of a troubled soul, struggling to balance the life of an international sporting star with his difficult poverty-stricken upbringing in the township. Family and friends had quickly come to rely on him financially as he met with success, and that, combined with his recreational use of TIK since 2011, quickly saw him descend into deep debt. That prompted Mario to start supporting Luvo’s family at his own expense, so that his jumper could focus on training, but by then the drug addiction was taking over.

“All of a sudden I felt this massive burden, because supporting both my friends and family financially was overwhelming for me, and being a regular user of TIK did not help. It is terribly hard to stop the addiction, and the more I tried to overcome it, the more it took over my life,” says Luvo. “I was actually incredibly lucky to have placed fifth in the World Champs in 2011, and it came as a huge surprise, due to the fact I had struggled to train for the competition, as I was sidetracked by my friends and the underworld of the Mbekweni Township.”

Having tested positive, Luvo admitted to an addiction and agreed to drug rehabilitation, and at his doping hearing, Mario’s compelling mitigating argument that Luvo’s poor family situation had contributed largely to his drug-use, instead of a deliberate attempt to enhance his performance, saw the tribunal set a slightly reduced 18-month suspension as punishment, instead of the normal 24 months. “There can be no disputing that the Athlete is at fault… but the exceptional social circumstances that many black athletes encounter in South Africa cannot be ignored,” read the tribunal summation.

Tragedy to Triumph
In 2014, just as Luvo was starting to make his comeback, tragedy struck when Mario was killed in a car accident while driving to Paarl to visit his athlete, and Luvo’s life once again spiralled out of control. Fortunately, national Olympic body (SASCOC) president Gideon Sam visited Luvo’s home and was shocked by the situation, so arranged for Luvo to move to the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre. “This was a life-changing move for me. I received accommodation, meals, sport science, medical assistance and coaching, and along the way made a number of friends. Being in an environment with a bunch of elite athletes that train together is motivating and inspirational,” says Luvo. “The temptations that go with staying in Mbekweni were the contributing factor. I needed to be taken out of the township’s environment in order to focus on getting better and overcome my addiction.”

By mid-2015 Luvo was back in full training, and in 2016 he returned to official competition for the first time in some four years, having set himself the goal of trying to qualify for Rio. Remarkably, in March he jumped a then world-leading 8.30m in Pretoria, went over eight metres again in his first Diamond League meet, then took the silver medal behind SA team mate Rushwahl Samaai at the African Champs in Durban. Having qualified for Rio, he managed to put his chequered past behind him as he posted that majestic 8.37 silver-medal PB jump, but now he is already looking ahead to the next challenge: “Rio was great and I was stoked with my performance – to date it was my most memorable event – but with that now behind me, I am focused on 2017, and taking gold at the IAAF World Champs.”

As most people know, we need to consume a balanced diet consisting of carbohydrate, protein and good fats in order to fuel our bodies and remain healthy, and this becomes even more important when we are athletes, as our muscles burn more energy, both when we are active and when resting. Therefore, many athletes focus on carbohydrate intake, or carbo-loading, as it provides the fuel that your muscles run on, but protein is just as important, because it is essential in both the muscle-building process and the recovery process.

 

During your run or training in the gym, more muscle protein is being broken down than added to the muscle. Therefore, taking in protein immediately after exercise is essential to help reverse the impact of exercise on your muscles. Now, while many athletes turn to meat – we all know how much South Africans love their meat done on a braai – as well as dairy products and eggs for their protein needs, one of the best protein sources available is soy protein, to be found in many products from soups, breads and breakfast cereals to dairy and meat alternatives. Some people still look down on these soy alternatives, saying they prefer the real thing, but there are big benefits to be found in soy products:

 

?         Low in cholesterol and saturated fat, which reduces risk of heart disease.

?         Low GI – Sustains energy levels and keeps you fuller for longer, which is ideal if you want to watch your weight.

?         Contains essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins – great for kids.

?         Preserves lean muscle mass.

?         Helps stimulate superior recovery time and makes athletes less injury-prone.

 

BRING ON THE SOY

Another big bonus of soy protein is that when combined with casein and whey (two protein types commonly found in dairy products), you get a triple blend of protein types that are digested by your body at different rates, thus creating a timed release that prolongs your ‘anabolic window,’ the amount of time after exercise it takes to build muscle. Whey is a ‘fast protein’ because it is absorbed very quickly, while soy protein is absorbed at an intermediate rate. Casein is a ‘slow protein’ and takes several hours to be digested. This means the blend can carry your repair and growth process, and the soy bridges the gap between other protein types.

 

“Within the first hour after your exercise, 20 to 25 grams of high quality protein should be consumed. This will drive rates of muscle protein synthesis above muscle breakdown,” explains Dr Greg Paul, Global Director for Sports Nutrition at Solae, one of the world’s leading soy-producing companies. He adds that the triple blend is a much better option for athletes: “Single proteins are fine for normal growth and development, but for athletes looking to pack on muscle or runners logging 10 to 20km a day and hoping to set a new PB in a marathon, the blend is essential. They get an edge.”

 

The blend then extends the release of essential amino acids to the muscles, and because of the natural antioxidants found in soy protein, you can also reduce the oxidative stress of exercise on the body. In other words, you can recover quicker after a long run. “It takes at least 24 to 48 hours for your muscles to recover,” explains Greg, “and the blend provides amino acids for up to five hours. So if you have a shake with these proteins in it for example, it will last you until your next meal.”

Andrew Hagen spends a lot of time in the mountains and on trails, because when he’s not running, he is often ‘on the line’ with his fellow volunteer fire-fighters as more and more wild fires rampage through the Cape region. – BY RACHEL PIENAAR

In the last few years news reports in the summer months have been dominated by runaway wild fires in the Cape, with the combination of hot, dry and windy conditions turning the Western Cape into a tinderbox. This has seen fire-fighting services stretched to breaking point, including the Volunteer Wildfire Service (VWS) fire-fighters. These unpaid men and women put their lives on hold when a fire breaks out, don their protective gear and head up mountains and ravines to fight the fires, and amongst them is Andrew Hagen, a 33-year-old Stellenbosch-based photographer and technician. He’s also an elite-level trail runner when not working or fighting fires, and thrives on tough mountainous courses.

Amongst Andrew’s running accolades are four wins in the Three Peaks Challenge in Cape Town, which summits Devils Peak, Table Mountain and Lions Head. He first won it in 2007, then again in 2009, and set a new course record as he claimed a third win in 2010. His record has since fallen, but in 2016 he posted an unprecedented fourth win. In between that he also won the 2013 Lesotho Ultra Trail Run, and placed second in the 2014 Ultra Trail Cape Town, which in turn saw him selected for the SA team for the 2015 Ultra Trail World Champs in France. “I’ve always run. At school I was never good at the shorter distances, but I took part in quite a few cross country events,” says Andrew. “It was the numerous hikes up Table Mountain that took me down the path of trail running, and I feel at home amongst the mountains.”

HEAT OF THE MOMENT
It was a close encounter with a forest fire seven years ago that led to Andrew volunteering his services as a fire-fighter. “The 2009 Jonkershoek fires burnt right to the walls of the place where we lived, and did tremendous damage while burning across the mountains for a month. My wife to be at the time, Hayley, founded the Jonkershoek Station of VWS and I was one of the first to sign up. We not only fight to protect lives, homes, trees and pretty flowers, but we’re fighting against the degradation of our mountain water catchments by repeated burning of unnatural causes.”

As a VWS crew leader, Andrew and his team are often exposed to extreme heat, steep and rugged terrain, smoke inhalation, and back-breaking work, but he says trail running has primed him for the challenge. “The mountain environment with its steep gradients and uneven terrain is already a comfort zone, my cardio fitness is better than average, and being self-sufficient is already a habit. It’s just the act of having to beat flames, dig out coals or cut a fire break all day that can sometimes wear your upper body out,” he says.

FIRE SEASON
During the winter months the VWS recruits are put through a thorough training programme, learning the tools for fire-fighting as well as a good working knowledge of the warning signs of trouble and the behaviour of wild fires. When ‘Fire Season’ starts, the volunteers go on high alert. “There is a large fire-fighting community which includes municipal fire departments, conservation professionals, contract fire-fighting crews, Working on Fire crews and pilots, and other smaller volunteer groups, all putting in long hours to see the fires brought under control.”

As volunteers, the VWS fire-fighters take turns to be on standby on the weekends, and this past January they were once again called into emergency action as fires swept through the Grabouw and Helderberg areas. “We had to dispatch 18 crews of volunteers in less than two weeks!” says Andrew, who adds that fortunately there are more and more volunteers signing up each year. “The other great thing is the public support that VWS receives. In the time I’ve been involved, I don’t remember ever having as much public support as we do now, and it makes a big difference.”

Even when not on the line, Andrew and Hayley continue to work to promote and grow the VWS Boland branch. “We both want to make a meaningful difference in the preservation of our environment, which directly affects our water supply. We hope to create greater awareness of fire risks, and ultimately, we’d really like to see fewer fires,” says Andrew. Meanwhile, he still has running goals in mind as well: “I’d like to do some of the iconic 100 mile races overseas, such as the UTMB or Hardrock, but the major goal is to just to keep enjoying it as a healthy part of my life for years to come.”

For more info on the VWS, go to www.vws.org.za.