In today’s world of hi-tech training, counting steps, Discovery Vitality goals and a general move to wellness, owning a smartwatch has become part and parcel of our active lifestyles, but how do you know what watch suits your needs best? Here we look at some key features of the smart watch market, and what they mean when it comes to running.
PUMA has signed a multi-year partnership with the Boxer Athletics Club which will see the global sports brand providing the top-tier running club with technical PUMA Running apparel and footwear.
Boxer Athletics Club was established in 2005 and the club’s elite squad includes multiple South African champion and Olympian Precious Mashele as well as Glenrose Xaba, who is also a multiple national champion on the road and on the track.
“PUMA has a growing family of elite distance runners, so partnering with a top-tier club to showcase our innovative product was the obvious next step” said Brett Bellinger, Marketing Director of PUMA South Africa. “By providing the best race day product and through a package of incentives we aim to support athletes to achieve their goals of breaking national records and excelling on the local and global stage.”
The technical product available to members of the elite squad will include the PUMA Deviate Nitro Elite, part of the brand’s new running shoe range as worn by Mashele and Xaba.
Club manager Rhyn Swanepoel said the partnership with PUMA will boost Boxer Athletics Club’s commitment to supporting its athletes’ dreams, from winning races at provincial and national level in South Africa, to competing at World Championships and Olympic Games.
“Boxer also remains dedicated to uplifting the development of community sporting clubs. We will continue our work to enhance the presence of sports in disadvantaged communities and to lay a foundation for future athletes to be realised,” said Swanepoel.
Runners can experience light and effortless speed with the new UA Flow Velociti Wind 2
The Under Armour human performance and product development teams continue to create innovative solutions for runners to bring you the next generation of unparalleled performance running shoes. With the help of UA athletes and brand ambassadors, the UA Innovation Lab in Baltimore and UA Human Performance Center in Portland, Under Armour develops the best footwear that’s based on key insights and learnings from years of experience and research.
UA has always performed best when we’re disruptive: The UA HOVR Machina launched with the innovative Pebax® Propulsion Plate, and the first iteration of UA Flow eliminated the need for a heavy rubber outsole — and we’re not stopping there.
Technology moves fast and runners’ demands grow, and UA understands the importance of meeting the athlete where they need us. Expanding Under Armour’s Flow running shoe collection that debuted in early 2021 with the UA Flow Velociti Wind and its disruptive all-in-one cushioning system, the UA Flow Velociti Wind 2 is here to bring runners up to speed — literally. The Flow Velociti Wind 2 features the same groundbreaking singular, ultra-responsive and long-lasting midsole compound as its predecessor. The UA Flow cushioning platform eliminates the need for rubber on the outsole, drastically reducing the weight and giving runners the feeling of light and effortless speed — the feeling of the wind at your back.
UA Flow disrupts the design of a traditional running shoe with its lightweight construction and by completely eliminating the rubber outsole, removing the 56 to 85 gram weight it typically would add to a traditional running shoe. UA Flow is the lightest midsole technology in UA’s current running lineup, bringing unparalleled lightweight cushion and long-lasting technology to the run category. The foam has naturally sticky traction, so traditional bulky overlays of the past aren’t needed. UA Flow offers runners great energy return, amazing consistency and reliable durability that will keep you reaching for your new favourite pair run after run!
“UA FLOW is a game-changing cushioning technology that expands our capabilities for delivering the best experience and product solutions to the runner. The Flow Velociti Wind 2 delivers speed without sacrifice-keeping the runner protected, delivering amazing energy return, and putting the wind at their back with every stride, every run, every day.”
– Douglas Smiley, Senior Global Product Line Manager for Performance Run at Under Armour
The UA Flow Velociti Wind 2 is designed for speed over longer distances and engineered to provide great responsiveness, energy return and grippy traction so you can run with confidence. The new shoes feature the groundbreaking super-engineered upper solution, UA Warp, that adapts to the runner’s foot throughout their stride. It features supporting tapes that act like seatbelts on the foot, placed precisely where our biomechanists found them to be most helpful for a runner. The tapes are in tension when you need them and relax when you don’t — eliminating any buckling and pinch points from traditional uppers built with continuous materials.
The UA Warp upper then moves in unison with the foot, supporting it in each step to help unlock performance by improving the efficiency of the foot-to-shoe interface in each stride. UA Warp locks you onto the UA Flow midsole without getting in the way of the foot’s natural movement.
New for the UA Flow Velociti Wind 2 shoes is the Tatami Stitch Heel: a premium solution that delivers a more consistent lockdown around the heel, a moulded EVA sockliner with added comfort and resiliency and cushioning for high-mileage performance.
The UA Flow Velociti Wind 2 launches in South Africa from 14 April and is priced at R3 499, it will be available online and at UA Brand Houses across SA.
PRODUCT DNA:
The HUAWEI GT3 RUNNER Reviewed
Avid trail runner, open water swimmer and photographer by profession, Barbara Cole, was more than willing to test the new HUAWEI WATCH GT Runner and share her views on it with us.
Unboxing & First Impression
The watch really has a super-premium look and feel, and it really struck me how light it was when I first took it out the box. Wearing it around my training crew only reinforced my first impressions, with so many comments of how slick it looked, and again, how light it was. You don’t realise you are wearing a watch until you look at your wrist. The only wish-list item I would ask for is that the watch came with interchangeable watch straps, so you can change it to match different looks, and add some colour, but that’s just me.
Design
The watch looks great, but it is still tough enough to handle some proper wear and tear, showing that it is manufactured using premium and robust materials. I love that you can tailor-make the face of the watch with multiple faces that you can download off the app, and I had a lot of fun with this feature. I also love that one of the watches features like your heart rate analysis are a simple touch away off the main screen, while your current heart rate is shown all the time.
The only problem I experienced, which is more of a pet-hate for me, was that I had to deliberately lift my arm every time I wanted to see the time. Personally, I would prefer an option to show the screen all the time, albeit on a dimmer light, but still playing around to see what I prefer.
User Experience
I absolutely love the user experience of the watch in terms of the touch screen. It’s amazing, and makes it so easy to navigate between settings, as well as being super responsive, too. With one button on the side of the watch to access the main menu of options, it was super easy to navigate between all settings. You very quickly get used to how the touch screen operates. And if you’re like me, you aren’t a manual reading type person, you will still easily be able to find your way around the watch.
I found the set-up incredibly easy, downloaded the app to my phone, and linked the two easily. The only issue I did have was linking the device to my Discovery App in order to track my activities for Vitality, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s a Huawei issue.
Workout Modes Used
I’m currently nursing an injury, so not actively running, and thus I used the following modes:
What I loved
I loved the open water swimming mode! It picked up my heart rate so quickly and read it accurately, even in the water. What was super interesting here was that it recorded my distance in steps, too, adding to my daily step goal, so I’m definitely not complaining! I am concerned about long-term wear and tear from the salt water, but this watch seems to be built for it.
The detail in terms of each session that you can look at on the watch after a session is incredible, and then the extension into your app on your phone is there if you want to find out more, giving you a wealth of stats and figures after a workout. The options in terms of workouts available is also pretty impressive, with just about every activity I could think of.
Battery Life
This was excellent! They say you’ll get 14 days on the lowest energy mode, and on average my battery life was around 10 to 12 days, including workout modes, which I used most days. So, using all the features of the watch, still got me to just under two weeks. What was also great is that it charges very quickly, going from 5% to 95% in an hour on the wireless charger.
Health Integration Features
Sleep Tracking: I really like this feature, and although I am not one to sleep with my watch on, when I did so, the watch was very accurate in terms of sleep time and patterns. It was also insightful for me to see the level of detailed feedback you get from the watch when downloaded into the app, explaining sleep cycles and how much REM sleep versus Deep Sleep you get, and what this means.
Stress Management: This is not really a feature I would normally pay much attention to, but it was interesting to see that it did correlate to times where I was more stressed. I think the extension of this is how you then manage your stress levels, so that your Central Nervous System is not stressed continually at a level that is detrimental to your health.
GPS Accuracy: The watch supports five satellite systems, which should make it very accurate, but when I did compare it, in one open water swim, to another watch, the readings were slightly different. That said, the Huawei does recalibrate all the time, so I would imagine it would be more accurate overall, and the important point to note here is that it did accurately track the route I followed.
Fun Features I Enjoyed
Last Thoughts
Overall, I really love this watch! The one obvious drawback, though, is that it’s not supported by STRAVA, and I think that’s pretty important, particularly with who their target market might be in terms of being performance-driven. Hopefully this is something that is addressed in the near future. The other drawback is that some features don’t work with an apple iPhone system, and the watch is better with an Android system.
On the whole, I think a watch like this can contribute to one making better decisions for yourself in terms of your health, as well as being more aware of how your body is reacting to daily situations, and what steps you need to take to counteract any negative impacts on your health. If a watch was a motivator to get moving, this would be it!
The country’s fastest female marathon runner, Gerda Steyn, recently signed up to run in adidas shoes and apparel, and we caught up with her to chat about her love of running, and what fuels her Impossible is Nothing attitude.
I am probably going to take some serious flack for this opinion piece, but I think this is something that needs to be said… and it has been coming a long time, irrespective of whether the COVID pandemic had happened or not. – By Manfred Seidler
The recently launched HUAWEI Watch GT 3 has already won three accolades from top global media outlets for sleek and sturdy design, great battery life, accurate health and fitness monitoring, overall great performance, and more! Boasting leading innovations, the industry puts it forward as one of the top-performing smartwatches.
To celebrate this award-winning watch, Huawei is giving you the chance to be one of three runners to win an R50k VIP race experience for this year’s Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon!
But first, let’s look at what makes this watch so special!
It has a Great Spec
A fashionable watch, it is available in both 46mm and 42mm options, with comprehensive upgrades from the previous model, including the new interface design. It also comes with accurate health and fitness monitoring through HUAWEI TruSeen™ 5.0+, long-lasting 14-day battery life, and a built-in AI Running Coach feature.
With breakthroughs in health monitoring and scientific training, the watch is designed to make life easier for users, helping them achieve their fitness goals through specialised scientific data.
Health and fitness monitoring has always been one of the HUAWEI wearables’ core strengths, and this watch provides a comprehensive upgrade.
The all-new TruSeen™ 5.0+ hardware upgrade in HUAWEI WATCH GT Runner provides vastly improved heart-rate monitoring, even for hard interval training. Experience reliable readings, equalling those of a chest strap, with 97% accuracy within 10bpm.
HUAWEI TruSeen™ 5.0+ heart rate monitoring technology changes how the watch reads heart rate. The back of the watch has eight photosensors in a circular layout, with two sets of light sources, an 8-in-1 LED lens light-emitting chip, and a multi-channel system for receiving light signals. Added to that is the curved design, to create better light penetration. All of this requires lower power consumption, resulting in a more comfortable wearing experience.
It is important to stay active in order to stay healthy, but let’s not forget the importance of sleep when it comes to health. Thankfully, the HUAWEI Watch GT 3 is equipped with HUAWEI TruSleep™ 2.0 sleep monitoring technology. It can perform sleep stage monitoring, real-time heart rate monitoring, sleep breathing monitoring, and assessment of sleep quality, all without disturbing the user’s sleep. It can also automatically detect the user’s duration of sleep and present a comprehensive structure of sleep and naps (including light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and wakefulness), accurately identify six typical sleep problems including difficulty falling asleep, light sleep, easy awakening at night, early awakening, multiple dreams, irregular sleeping habits, and provide hundreds of suggestions and personalised services to scientifically improve the user’s sleep quality.
Global media outlets call the HUAWEI Watch GT 3 a truly compelling smartwatch, with great battery life as well as an excellent display, giving it a 4-star rating.
The HUAWEI WATCH GT 3 perfectly marries natural aesthetics with technology. Through a new design language, high-end materials and colourful design, it sets a new trend for wearable design. Boasting a 14-day battery life in smart mode, the longer battery life ensures users can wear it all day and use it continuously, even during sleep.
Whether you are wearing it for workouts, meetings, or sleeping, you can always stay connected and enjoy the many features.
In reviews, media have called it the most accurate smartwatch Huawei has made. Offering 100 workout modes, including 18 professional workout modes, 12 outdoor workouts (running, walking, mountain climbing, hiking, cross-country running, cycling, open water swimming, triathlon, skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, free training, and golf) and 7 indoor workouts (walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, free training, elliptical machine and rowing machine). No matter what sports you are interested in, the HUAWEI Watch GT 3 is ready for the challenge.
With the GT 3, Huawei combines scientific consideration and user experience to develop the AI Running Coach. It will be based on the weekly plan implementation and the body’s feedback to automatically adjust the training plan, to ensure that the plan is suitable for the user.
The running season is now in full swing, and the Hollywoodbets Athletics Club, a division of leading sports betting operator Hollywoodbets, has aimed for the stars as it unveiled the signing of some of South Africa’s brightest talents.
2018 Comrades Marathon winner Ann Ashworth, and Comrades gold medallists Prodigal Khumalo and Mahlomolo Sekhonyana, two-time Two Oceans Marathon gold medallist Loveness Madziva and Soweto Marathon top 10 runner Nontokozo Mkhize, are amongst the heavyweight stars joining the Club.
With the star line-up, the Club has shown its intent to be a leader in the athletics scene this year.
2022 promises to be an exciting season for athletes with the Hollywoodbets Durban Summer 10km making a come back as well as its continuation as the halfway sponsor of the Comrades Marathon.
The Club is invested in giving back to its communities and plans to embark on numerous initiatives to promote development at grassroots level. One of these is to make joining the Club affordable to the passionate runners who come from all walks of life.
Morgan Shandu, Hollywoodbets Athletics Club President, said, “The Hollywoodbets Athletics Club is very excited for the running season ahead. With the runners that are a part of the team, we are looking forward to seeing them achieve great things in the country’s premier races.”
2022 ELITE TEAM
| No. | Name | Surname |
| 1. | ANN | ASHWORTH |
| 2. | NKOSIKHONA | MHLAKWANA |
| 3. | COLLEN | MULAUDZI |
| 4. | PRODIGAL | KHUMALO |
| 5. | MAHLOMOLA | SEKHONYANA |
| 6. | NKOSINATHI | DUMA |
| 7. | RANTSO | MOKOPANE |
| 8. | REGHEN | MAGWAI |
| 9. | LOVENESS | MADZIVHA |
| 10. | THOBANI | CHAGWE |
| 11. | NTOKOZO | MKHIZE |
| 12. | MAKHOSAZANA | MHLONGO |
| 13. | SIKHUMBUZO | SEME |
| 14. | TSHIAMO | MARIBE |
| 15. | THULISANG | KHAMBULE |
It’s the much-awaited Comrades comeback!
After nearly two years of adhering to the National State of Disaster, the subsequent suspension of sporting events and the cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 Centenary Comrades Marathons, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is thrilled to launch its #Comrades2022 campaign and announce its plans for this year’s race.
CMA Chairperson, Mqondisi Ngcobo unveiled the very appropriate campaign slogan, “The Return – Sishay’ Ibuya”, signaling the long-awaited return to road-running and a celebration of the comeback of The Ultimate Human Race.
The launch, hosted in Johannesburg today (Thursday, 17 February 2022) was attended by the nation’s top media, road-running dignitaries, CMA sponsors, stakeholders, former winners, elite athletes, and sports personalities.
Ngcobo has cautioned however that, “Runners will still need to exercise a degree of care and attentiveness when out running – be it exercising, training, spectating or participating in events. However, amid all the precautions and safety measures, we are just extremely pleased to be able to host the 2022 Comrades Marathon in August and invite the nation and the world to celebrate this milestone with us.”
He added, “The slogan is such a natural fit for this year’s upcoming event. The return of the Comrades Marathon, let alone all other road-running events, is something that runners have been eagerly awaiting. It is therefore with a great sense of pride and pleasure that we unveil this campaign, issue details around our upcoming 95th Comrades Marathon and create the conditions for our athletes to run the race that they love so much.”
The 95th Comrades Marathon will be a Down Run on Sunday, 28 August 2022. The race starts at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall at 05h30 and ends 12 hours later at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, covering a 90,2km distance. This will be the 47th Down Run in Comrades history.
Considering the current National legislation limitation on mass participation events, the entry limit has been capped at 15,000 entries. Due to Coronavirus and other health and safety implications, all entrants will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and produce their vaccine certificate to complete their entry status by 12 July.
The opening date for entries is Wednesday, 23 March 2022, when the first entry window period commences and runs for 1 week until 31 March 2022. During this window period, only those entrants who had successfully entered the 2020 Comrades Marathon will be able to enter, be they South Africa, the Rest of Africa, or International.
The entry fee for South African athletes will be discounted from R1200 to R1000 in the first entry window period, as per the CMA commitment when the 2020 race was cancelled. The rest of Africa and International entrants in the 2020 Comrades Marathon had their entries deferred to either the 2022 or 2023 race; and will therefore not pay an entry fee.
During the second entry window period, from 20 April to 16 May 2022, all other athletes will be allowed to enter.
Entry fees for these entrants in the 2022 Comrades Marathon are as follows:
Entry is free to all runners who have completed the Comrades Marathon 25 times or more.
This second entry window period will not apply should the entry cap have been reached during the first entry window period.
A special larger than normal commemorative medal denoting the 95th edition of the Comrades Marathon will be struck for this year’s race. A new trophy will also be introduced to the 20–39 years Women’s 2nd place team prize.
CMA Race Director, Rowyn James says, “We have exciting plans in place for this year’s Down Run which will finish at Durban’s acclaimed Moses Mabhida Stadium for the second time. Qualifying for the 2022 Comrades Marathon is applicable as of 1 September 2021 till 12 July 2022. The qualifying criteria for this year’s Comrades Marathon remains unchanged requiring completion of a standard 42.2km marathon in under 4 hours and 50 minutes, or a 56km ultra-marathon in under 6 hours and 45 minutes.”
The Substitution Process will run over the month of June. More details will be revealed closer to the time.
Since its inception, the Comrades Amabeadibeadi charity drive has raised more than R60-million for the CMA’s six official charities. The benefitting charities for 2022 are Childhood Cancer Foundation SA (CHOC), Community Chests of Pietermaritzburg & Durban, Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust, Hospice KZN, Rise Against Hunger, and Wildlands Conservation Trust.
The Race4Charity fundraising platform requires that runners raise a minimum of R6000 for the Amabeadibeadi charity of their choice, in order to qualify for the charity seeding batch on the start line. 500 entries have been reserved for Race4Charity runners. For more details on the Race4Charity initiative, click through to www.comrades.com/charities/
Ngcobo has called on all runners to support the charitable fundraising initiatives of the CMA, saying, “We urge all Comrades entrants to select the Official Charity closest to their heart and commit to running for a cause greater than themselves. As the CMA, we have placed great focus on benefitting the communities in which we operate and continuously adding value to the sport of athletics.”
Totalsports, part of The Foschini Group (TFG), is proud to announce that it has entered into a three-year agreement as the new title sponsor of Cape Town’s iconic Two Oceans Marathon, which will now be known as the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon. The sponsorship supports the return of one of South Africa’s most prestigious running events after a two-year absence due to the COVID pandemic.
“We fully appreciate the heritage of the Two Oceans Marathon and we are honoured to be the title sponsor,” says TFG CEO Anthony Thunström. “Totalsports is a firm believer in the unifying power of running and our investment is a celebration of the enduring spirit of runners everywhere, in overcoming the challenges of the past two years. It’s great to finally see our running community excited about taking part in landmark events like Two Oceans again.”
The Two Oceans Marathon (TOM) will once again be run over the Easter Weekend, but for the first time in the event’s history, the race will be run over two days. While the Half Marathon takes place on Saturday 16 April, the Ultra Marathon will be run on Sunday 17 April. Entries opened on Friday 11 February and will close at midnight on Sunday 20 February, with ballot draws taking place on Monday 21 February to determine which entries will be successful.
TOM Race Director Debra Barnes says, “We are excited to be staging our world-class, globally iconic event in partnership with Totalsports, a leading retail sports apparel brand. The commitment to enhancing the runner experience underpins much of who we are as an organisation, and when it comes to doing more for the runner, we could not have asked for a better alignment than with a brand that is as runner-centric as we are.”
The 2022 running of the ultra will be its 51st since inception for this jewel event on the Western Cape’s calendar of highlights, and an economic impact study showed that the 2016 event contributed up to R670 million to the local provincial economy annually, making it one of Africa’s biggest running events when measured by this metric.
In speaking to this new and exciting partnership with Totalsports, TOM NPC Chairperson William Swartbooi says, “In building this organisation, we trust those who add value, and value those whom we trust. We are confident that this partnership represents a value-add on several fronts, but most importantly for our key constituents, our runners.”
President of Athletics South Africa, James Moloi, has also warmly welcomed news of the sponsorship: “We welcome on board the new partners of the Two Oceans Marathon, Totalsports. This welcome sponsorship will continue the tradition of offering career development for athletes, coaches and teams,” he says. “I take this opportunity to congratulate the race organisers on the new sponsorship and trust that it is a beginning of a long relationship between the two parties.”
Totalsports Head of Business, Jonathan Stein, adds, “We are committed to making running accessible to all South Africans, no matter the goal, distance, or motivation for running. We want to inspire runners to live their best lives, and we know many runners dream of completing the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon. It represents inclusivity, the natural beauty, and protection of the environment, as well as the excellence of the athletes who compete, and the world-class standards the event has maintained over its long history. As the leaders in running footwear and apparel, we share these values and look forward to supporting the Two Oceans Marathon to come back stronger than ever.”
As part of its support for the sport of running, Totalsports also sponsors the Phantane running club, promoting the development of elite athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds. Members of the club who are expected to participate in the 2022 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon include KZN marathon champion Bonginkosi Zwane and 2:11 marathoner Sboniso Sikhakhane, who will both run the 56km ultramarathon, and Mbuleli Mathanga will tackle the half marathon.
“Totalsports wishes all runners in this year’s Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon a successful, enjoyable and exciting race,” says Stein.