IainDon-Wauchope has won the 2014 Salomon Skyrun powered by Powertraveller in a new course record of 12:08.
Don-Wauchope triumphed over the strongest international field ever, in the iconic mountain challenge over an unmarked 100-odd kilometre route through the alpine region of the north-Eastern Cape. Canadian Gary Robbins –current course record holder for Hurt 100 in Hawaii–finishing second in a time of 13:47 with South African Jock Green rounding out the podium in 14:12:53, after out-sprinting Rhodes local Hylton Dunn.
“It was a tough day,”commented a visibly exhausted Don-Wauchopeat Wartrail Country Club after his win. “I really had to dig deep and just focus on myself the whole way,”he said.
Don-Wauchope, who had glandular fever less than two weeks prior, found himself in the chasing bunch on the first climb. “I wasn’t 100%,”he says. “I could feel it on the first climb and I was a bit back, but then when we left the first checkpoint I saw most of the international guys couldn’t run the tufty grass too confidently so I just went at my own pace and quite soon opened up a bit of a gap.”
That ‘bit of a gap’would see him lead all the way to the finish. “I’m very surprised that no-one came from behind and caught and passed me,”he commented. “I struggled with really bad headaches and kept getting stones in my shoes…by the time I got to Balloch Wall (the halfway mark) I was ready to bail,”he said.
“It was Mike de Haast (race director for Pure Adventures) who told me I was on 12-hour pace and urged me to keep going. So I pulled myself out of the transition and I was so slow up the wall. It was a real grovel up there.”
At around 75 kilometres in Don-Wauchopegot the proverbial ‘second wind’and started pushing the pace. “I could go a lot faster because it there were good roads, it was relatively flat and some downhills, but I actually ended up going too fast there and tore my left calf and had to ease up and hobble along. I’m very stoked with the win,”he concluded.
Landie Greyling won the ladies race in a time of 16:12 and finished seventh overall.
Despite the good running conditions and her largely unchallenged run, Greyling echoed Don-Wauchope’s sentiments about it being a tough day out. “The first thing I thought when I crossed the finish line was that I’m just happy to be alive and in one piece,”said Greyling shortly after. “It was really hard day for me out there. I was trying for the 14:30 record and I was on par until Balloch, but on the other side of the wall I basically just started feeling not so great, but very happy with the win and to close the year off with a highlight is really awesome,”she said.
“I’ve had a tough year so I’m quite chuffed that it is actually over now and that I can take a break from racing,”concluded Greyling.
Neither Greyling nor Don-Wauchopeclaimed the $10 000 incentive, on offer for the first male who goes under 12 hours and first women under 14). “Sub 12, is definitely achievable,”Don-Wauchopesaid, confirming that he would definitely be back to challenge for it in 2015. “I made so many bad route choices and stopped four times to empty my shoes of stones. And, I lost around 20-minutes up-and-down Balloch. So I think if I’m 100% fit and healthy and better prepared in terms of the route –do a bit of scouting –then it's definitely achievable.”
Skyrun Lite, over 65-kilometres was won by Nico Schoeman in 9:59. Karoline Hanks comes in second overall and was first lady in 11:03 This year for the first time the Lite also finished at Wartrail Country Club.
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Waiting for Chet Sainsbury outside his house at 5:45am to go for our midweek longer run, I often ponder as to why, what is there to prove. Between us we have run 67 Two Oceans, hundreds of marathons and so many other runs. The obvious answer could be to watch the early sunrise over the Helderberg Mountains, to enjoy good health and the joy of fitness, yet for me it can all be embraced in a single concept: Friendship.
– BY JOHN BRIMBLE
Chet and I go back a long way. We were at school together. Later he offered me a short-lived job at Old Mutual. For his and my sanity, I did not linger long. Yet through friendship we ran many of the Cape trails well before they became the fashion; we hiked even more trails with our families; we celebrated mutual birthdays; we shared exhilarating races, and later, memories of past glories.
A good friendship like ours, glued together over so many races and training runs, allows us to be very different personalities, yet still enjoy each others’ company. Mutual respect is the basis of this. I know of the huge stresses and responsibilities Chet faced with driving Two Oceans, what he had to deal with for many years being Chairman of Western Province Road Running, and his other rugby portfolios. Yet on the road or trails, he is a different, more relaxed person. We can laugh at the absurdities of others, discuss rugby and how we would make it better, or politics, visits to family overseas, and of course, how we will run the perfect next Oceans – and the training schedule it will entail.
Yet the respect is also based on specifics. How can I ever forget when only two weeks after running the Dolphin Marathon – between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, in a howling wind – we ran the 1986 Kellerprinz Winelands Marathon over one of the hilliest routes in the country. To get a gold as a veteran you had to run sub-2:50, and the race organiser had been vociferous in saying there was no chance Chet would do it. At halfway we were on 84 minutes, when the schedule required 81, and with the biggest hill, not unlike Constantia Nek, still to come, we had to run negative splits to go under 2:50. The look of deep embarrassment on the race organiser’s face was, as the advert said, “priceless.”
EXTENDED CIRCLE
Yet it is not only about Chet and I, there are others, and building up to each Oceans, our group of runners with 30 or more Two Oceans completed can be as competitive as any younger racers. Tony Abrahamson with 39 behind his name, still pushes the pace whilst managing to look graceful, and Mark Wagenheim, who is renowned for having the most organised training group in town – consisting mainly of a bevy of AAC ladies – has 36. One has to do an annual Nek to Nek with them in order to keep abreast of current trends: Which is the best Woolies to shop at right now; is Banting a con or not; do those face creams really work; and to pick up recipes that become favourites for the next few months – this year it was Terry’s date rolls that took top honours.
Yet it is not only about old and valued friendships. That common denominator of running has allowed me to expand friendships across age groups. The pleasure of watching a younger runner build and then succeed in their ambitions, whether it be Comrades, Oceans or a marathon, compensates for our fading abilities. Through them we can still race and be relevant.
FRIENDS FOREVER
But friendships are the glue that keep us running. Not faster, or longer or further, or to boast how many Two Oceans we have done, but to be still participating in life. We are not accepting our boundaries, nor allowing age to relegate us to mere watching life through TV, and sliding into turgid comfort.
Friendships built over decades of running. Running through the seasons, running the hard yards, running when you floated along and running when your body cried “no more.” Friendships giving us purpose to get up in the morning, to step outside and share the joy and pain, health and injuries, happiness and despair. To share the sunrise and the sunset with a friend.
Running about 10km at almost full speed for a minimum of 70 minutes while focusing on skillfully handling a ball with a stick, that is the game of hockey in a nutshell – which is why South African national team defender Dylan Swanepoel never questions why running gets so much attention in training. – BY EUNICE VISAGIE
He may prefer running in matches and technical training sessions to just running for fitness, but hockey star Dylan Swanepoel knows he needs to run. “Running is extremely important to a hockey player, but I think what’s more important is the type of running you do, and when you do it,” says the 21-year-old defender. “You need to be quick and explosive while having the endurance and strength to get through 70 minutes, so the timing of your training in relation to the season and matches is also very important, especially when it comes to training for your specific position, be it defender, midfielder or forward.”
“In pre-season we do a lot of running that is focused on building our base for the season, so it will include a lot of longer distances and endurance training, which we will do three to four times a week, depending on our progress. As we get closer to the season and in season, a lot of our running is done during training sessions where we are playing,” says Dylan. “Extra running after training will consist of more power and explosive running. This will include short and long sprints, ladder drills and change of direction. In-season running is used to maintain our fitness and keep us sharp as we do so much running during training and matches.”
Defensive Rock
Dylan captained the SA Under-21 team in the 2013 Junior World Cup, and made his debut for the senior side that same year in the African Cup, a qualifying tournament for the 2014 Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands, where he was the youngest member of the SA squad. “The World Cup was an unforgettable experience. The tournament was of such a great standard that I don’t think there will ever be another one like it, and to have been part of it, no words can describe it,” says Dylan, who at the time of writing had played 22 games for his country.
A natural leader, Dylan is already being touted as a future captain of the senior men’s team, and he is known for the way he keeps things simple at the back, playing effective hockey without being flashy, but he also has the skills to play the ball out of defence or do something special when the team needs it. However, for now he is just focused on cementing his place in the senior national team while also working towards finishing his B.Com Management Science degree at Stellenbosch University, where he is in his third year and is one of the key players in the varsity team. After getting his degree, Dylan has set his sights on playing club hockey in Europe and going to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
GOING LONG
Getting back to running, the longest distance Dylan has run on the road is 10km, and being an international hockey player, he says he prefers to run events just for fun, but it does not always work out that way. “I don’t start the race very seriously or to be competitive, but a few of the runs I’ve done with friends have ended up getting a bit competitive!” he jokes. “That said, in matches we can end up running anywhere between 8km and 10km, if not more, so hockey matches tend to turn into 10km races every now and then!”
For that reason, Dylan says he makes himself enjoy running, even when not with stick in hand. “I prefer the running that we have to do during training and matches. The fitness sessions I don’t enjoy as much, but I know how important it is if you want to be a successful player, so I try take as much out of them as possible.”
He’s one of South Africa’s most iconic sportsmen, thanks to that glorious Rugby World Cup win on home soil in 1995, when Madiba handed him the trophy while wearing a replica Springbok jersey. Since retiring from rugby, former Bok captain Francois Pienaar has turned his talents to promoting sports events, including the recent Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, and through it all, he still finds time for a regular run. – BY SEAN FALCONER
MA: Francois, you must be really excited with how things turned out with the new race in Cape Town.
It’s a dream come true. We worked very hard on this, and Janet Welham and her team did a magnificent job over the last year putting it together. When I met Elana Meyer, I said let’s do this, and we then engaged with Western Province Athletics and the City of Cape Town, and they were really open to the suggestion. We surpassed all our benchmarks, such as we wanted X amount of people to run the race, and that gives us a platform to build on, because in our dream the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon should be an international event. On the global scale, there are 10 million runners who run marathons each year, and we just need to give them an excuse to come run one in Cape Town.
MA: I believe you have a 10-year deal in place, so you must have a really long-term vision for the event?
That’s what we’ve done in sport in general. We’re involved in university sports with Varsity Sports and that’s also a 10-year relationship. These things take time to build and we need to invest heavily in the beginning to build it to a platform that can become sustainable. I have always asked myself why do we not have a top marathon in SA, and the only reason is that we haven’t promoted it properly and haven’t structured it properly, because if you look at running in South Africa, it’s the second-biggest sport by registered participant and the biggest from a social, getting fit perspective.
MA: You ran the 10km this year, but any plans to run the Cape Town Marathon yourself in the future? After all, you’ve run the London Marathon, and you looked fairly comfortable finishing the 2004 Two Oceans ultra in 6:37…
I was actually hoping to run the marathon myself this year, but I picked up a few injuries in my preparation. I started a bit late, and you know, I’m a big guy, I need a lot of time on the road. I also have to take cognisance that my knees are not as strong as they used to be… Marathons are not easy, but it’s something that people aspire to do, so it’s not that I will or won’t do it, it will just depend on what focus I have then.
MA: If you’ll forgive a personal question, are the problems with your knees due to rugby injuries catching up with you?
Yes, invariably these old rugby injuries do remind us that once we played quite a tough game, but I don’t complain – when we played the game we loved it. And my problems are not as bad as some other guys.
MA: You must have a very busy workload, what with all the ventures and activities you’re involved in, so how do you fit running into your schedule, and what’s an average run for you?
I call it a ‘strog,’ a combination of a stroll and a jog, and it varies from 5km to 10km. I try not to do more than 10km, and I try to pick up the speed in it rather than go further. I have to squeeze out some time in my diary for running, but it’s something that I actually needed to do, because I’d become lazy, in the sense that you can always neglect yourself and just focus on pressing issues. But I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to get fitter again, and I’ve actually lost 4kg since doing that, so watch this space.
She dominated South African sprinting throughout the 80s, running world class times, winning national title after national title, and her SA records for 100m and 200m remain standing after more than two decades, making Evette De Klerk a true living legend of SA athletics
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER
In a grade one athletics day meet, Evette was on her way to sprinting glory when she tripped and fell, but she dusted herself off and still managed to cross the line fourth. A year later she was back and this time finished top of the podium, a step she would frequent for the next 25 years… “I specialised in the 100m and 200m sprints and when I was 10, I ran times on par with the world’s best juniors,” she says. “At 16, I scored my first national record and started running against the seniors, and at 17, I was a Springbok, training with the great Bessie Windell. She was a mother and mentor – and I needed her on my travels, because I didn’t know much back then!”
Evette also received great support from her school headmaster: “He said I should take the first four months of the year to concentrate on my running and even arranged exams to be shifted! In those days, everyone appreciated athletics more.” Another aspect of her career that she cherishes is the support she received from her family, and later husband Gous. “When I went to Cape Town for nationals, my parents would be on a train, and Gous was there for my records. Also, at SA’s and Nedbank prestige meetings, the athletes motivated each other. There was zero politics and every meet was packed with spectators. We were a family back then.”
UNTOUCHABLE
In April 1986 Evette ran 50.57 in the 400m for a new SA record, but that was eclipsed just nine days later by Myrtle Bothma. Her two other SA records have stood for a much a longer time! In April 1989 Evette posted 22.06 in the 200m, which has not been beaten in over 26 years, and was the second-fastest time in the world that year. Just over a year later she clocked 11.06 in the 100m, on the same day that she ran a wind-assisted 10.94 in an earlier heat. “It’s incredible that the records have lasted. Hennie Kotze, who was also part of Bessie’s group, showed me a photo of those runs a while back. There I was, barefoot and strapped – I only wore spikes when it was raining or the tartan was too hot.”
From 1982 to 1991, Evette claimed 10 straight SA titles in both the 100m and 200m, and in 1987 she added the 400m national title for a cleansweep of the women’s sprints, which prompted a telegram of congratulations from the State President. She added another two 400m titles in 1992 and 1993, but the early 90s also proved quite frustrating. With SA finally back on the international stage, Evette tore her Achilles and was left out of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic squad. “I wrote them telling them I will be right when the time came, but there was politics, even though I qualified for the 100m, 200m and 400m!” She did get to the African Champs in 1993, bringing home a bronze medal in the 200m, but in 1995 she retired. “I was sick for six months with a coxsackie virus, which turned into glandular fever, so I stopped at my peak, then got pregnant soon after I made my decision to leave.”
YES, COACH
Today, Evette (49) still trains three times a week to keep active, and her daughter is proving a very talented 400m runner as well, while her younger son is more a rugby player. She teaches Life Orientation and Physical Education at Duo Edu, a learner-disabled school in Pretoria, and coaches young athletes at Waterkloof High School and Queenswood Primary, having taken up coaching in 1997. “I love coaching, but I’m not just a coach, I want to find out what they’re feeling and thinking. Athletics has been my calling, and while there were ups and downs, you learn to keep on. But I think if I had the same opportunities that athletes have today, I’d have run under my records!”
It was all going to plan for trail star Megan Mackenzie earlier this year as she picked up win after win, until a nasty injury sidelined her and forced her to withdraw from the Trail World Champs, but she’s determined to bounce back stronger than ever.
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER
Having won the Pronutro AfricanX, Lisa’s Forest Run, Northern Trail Challenge and Mnweni Marathon in 2014, Megan Mackenzie was in the SA team to go to the USA for the World Long Distance Trail Champs in August. However, a fall at the Mnweni Marathon put paid to her World Champs dream, and she described that race experience as both a best and worst moment.
“I trained hard for Mnweni because it was a World Champs qualifier and I won, but the fall affected me. It started as little fractures in my hip and expanded like a car window cracking when I fell.” Two months after falling, she still hoped she would be ready for the World Champs, but training just made the problem worse and Meg ended up on crutches for eight weeks. “I injured myself more. It was a huge disappointment withdrawing, but all I’ve done is shift my goals instead of giving up.”
Natural Talent
Born on a farm in Cato Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal,
Megan went to boarding school at St Anne’s in the Midlands and went on to study economics and politics at Rhodes University before completing her Honours in International Relations in the USA. Later, she completed her Post-graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and did a specialised course in dyslexia, and now works at Bellavista School in Johannesburg. Growing up in an active family, she tried her hand at canoeing, cross-country and adventure races, but says she only took up competitive running in 2011, and found her niche in trail running the following year.
“It was July 2012 at the Rhodes Ultra Trail where I won and broke the ladies’ record,” she says. “I wasn’t trained properly and I didn’t wear a watch. I just ran. Salomon then approached me to be an ambassador and put me on their elite team and everything spiralled from there.” Last year, Megan won the Mnweni Marathon, Redbull Pyramid Challenge, Thule 4 Peaks and Rhodes Ultra, also bagging podium spots at the Redbull Lionheart and 3 Cranes Challenge. She was also fourth at the Otter. “I’ve got a strong mind for the bigger distances,” she explains. “I find in stage races, it’s three days where you can get absorbed. You spend time with athletes, you reflect, you work out what you can do better. I love strategising!”
Learning Curve
Looking back, Megan recalls her mixed category win at AfricanX earlier this year with teammate Andrew Erasmus as something that stands out. “I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t raced with anyone before,” she says, “but it was unbelievable, because Andrew and I just gelled. We didn’t win stage one, then we won stage two, but we were behind so we needed to catch up time on day three and it was incredible being able to do it!” The pair finished tops, even though they had to wait a minute before they figured out they had clinched it. “What relief! The great thing was that we got to share that feeling…”
Later in the year she then found out how to deal with the lows that followed. “I could have easily let go after three months out, but my brother, family, friends, my team and work colleagues have been so supportive!” Now Meg is focused on getting up and running again, keeping up cardio by cycling and swimming a couple of hours a day, going on the anti-gravity machine and doing rehab and strength work. “My coach Neville Beeton has been positive and we’ve been able to start from scratch again properly. Next year there is World Champs in July and the Otter to aim for, and my mantra is ‘Run happy, light and free.’ I just remember that I’m doing what I love, bouncing along a trail!”
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