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When You Gotta Go…

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I really love running, but every now and again my bladder decides to slow me down a bit with its habit of calling emergency meetings… and then not showing up!
 
So there I am, ready to tackle another half marathon, having been to the loo just before I left home to drive to the race, and then again just after registering. I’ve changed, lubed and done all the pre-race things I normally do, then I line up, the gun is fired and we’re off.
 
But my bladder has other ideas… Seven kays down the road it sends a memo that it would like to make another contribution to the effort to keep the trees and bushes of Cape Town well watered. So I start looking for a suitably concealed clump of trees or bushes to go stand behind, so that I can do my thing, but there’s nothing usable in sight. (I was taught that urinating publicly beside the road is just not on, so even during a race I will rather hike a hundred metres from the road to find a suitable spot.)
 
OK, so now I’m holding onto the bladder tinkle while I keep searching for a suitable place to pull over. Nothing for the next two kays! And then finally I spot some bushes that seem heaven-sent and I pick up the pace to get to them a little quicker, because now I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable. I get there, head off the road, clamber over a fence and check that nobody can see me from the road – and that there is nobody else already behind the same bushes – and then I am ready to do my thing.
 
But would you believe it, nothing comes out! I can feel I need to go, because my bladder has been talking to me for the last three kays, subtly hinting that I should pull over soon, and now that I have found a decent clump of bushes the damned thing goes on a tea break!
 
Right, so after a few minutes of waiting to see how long the tea break will last, I decide to get back on the road. Surprise, surprise, 200 metres further on the bladder suddenly returns to the office and starts sending urgent meeting requests to my brain regarding an urgent missed deadline issue… So I start looking for another suitable bush, which I find another kay-and-a-half further on, pull over, bundu-bash to reach, check for privacy, assume the position, and… NOTHING!!!
 
Now I’m getting seriously peed off – figuratively, of course – because this is ruining my race. Back on the road again, bladder comes back from lunch and requests another meeting, without so much as an apology for missing the previous two. How rude.
 
So it’s third time lucky, I reckon, as another clump of bushes comes into view. I head off again, pull myself up an embankment, get behind the bushes I’ve selected, check I’m alone and hidden, and finally… FINALLY… my bladder is on the same page as me. Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, sweet relief! 
 
I walked away from that ‘meeting’ making a mental sticky note to send a diplomatically-worded request to my bladder to try to stick to arranged meeting times in future. But I’m not going to hold my breath. Some people are just always late…

One Hell of an Adventure

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“Fancy a run in the Kruger?” was the question posed to me by Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands. Sounds superb, I thought and immediately posed the same question to Modern Athlete’s CEO, Craig van der Westhuizen, so off we went to the Kruger2Canyon, a two-day race presented by Old Mutual and Wildlands, and one hell of an adventure! – BY RICHARD LASKEY, MODERN ATHLETE HEAD OF DIVISION
 
The first day of the Kruger2Canyon is 42km long, with an insane vertical profile that features 2300m of climbing, including a 600m elevation gain within the first 4km! So, on the first morning, together with Craig and my good friend Sibusiso Velane, the adventurer extraordinaire who has summited Everest twice, we prepared for the start over a cup of coffee, a rusk and some typical banter. No sooner had we started the run in the early morning mist, than the jokes turned to silence as the task at hand became a reality.
 
The single track we were on became more slippery as we climbed under what looked like a tunnel of tree canopies. It felt like we were in a rainforest, surrounded by tree ferns. Our running pace had long since slowed to a mere walk, like octogenarians hanging onto their Zimmer frames, and we made use of trees, roots and rocks in pretty feeble attempts to gain any sort of traction. My heart rate was through the roof, breathing was erratic, felt as though a python was constricting me with its coils, tightening around my chest with each breath I took.
 
Hanging in there…
Distraction time… I looked all around and took in the incredible scenery. Massive cork trees winding their way up to the clouds, gargantuan roots grown into rocks like large ingrown toenails, never to be removed, and looking skywards, seeing drops of water from the slopes above in a suicidal race against each other to the rocks below. Communicating with Craig was now more like two tattooed bikers cussing at a rally, with both our sense of humours having long taken a vacation on some exotic island. But after what felt like an eternity, we finally managed to crest this massive beast after 2300m of climbing, clambering, slipping, sliding and falling, allowing us to take in a spectacular view of the surroundings below.
 
Our descent began on weary quads, shaking more than Elvis’s pelvis in front of a thousand screaming girls. After what seemed like another eternity, we could hear the faint voice of the commentator calling us home, and like Prodigal sons, Craig and I crossed the finish line 27 seconds short of 10 hours! A mouth-watering potjie for dinner prepared by the local farmers had us licking our fingers and plates like prisoners on death row consuming our last meal, and then consuming a few green bottles whilst watching the Bokke come from behind to beat Ireland made the day’s accomplishment even sweeter.
 
Back into Battle
All too soon the alarm clocks sounded as day two dawned, and like battle-weary soldiers we kitted up for war, our opposition today thankfully weaker than the day before, a mere 28km and mostly flat… Victory seemed imminent. We started with a long descent – imagine the Kyalami Mineshaft – but the problem was that my engine was spluttering like a ’72 Beetle and not roaring like an Audi R8.
 
Into the Kruger Conservancy we went, with dust, thorn trees and scrub. What a privilege to run in this special place, home to so many diverse species of fauna and flora, and one could only be grateful for this amazing opportunity. Giraffe, wildebeest, the elusive wild dog and a few more animals were spotted, and whilst stumbling along at a pace that could best be described as reverse, I had the awesome experience of treading on a Skaapsteeker – thankfully, a non-venomous snake. Unfortunately, my speed of a sloth enabled this reptile to escape before I could convince it to pose for a selfie with me.
 
Running on Empty
With the African sun blazing down on us like a smelting furnace, my energy levels resembled the tiniest red blip on my I-phone battery as we began the climb back up the very hill we had whistled down earlier. With Craig spurring me on, shouting words of encouragement – and some choice obscenities – we crawled our way towards the finish line. With 200 metres to go, we broke into the proverbial TV run, although to be fair, we looked more like rugby players with two left at their first Salsa dancing competition! Anyway, we made it, crossing the line with arms around each other in four hours, tired, broken, thirsty and stoked.
 
The Kruger2Canyon id not for the faint-hearted, but definitely should be on the bucket list. Thanks to Andrew Venter, Louise Duys and the Wildlands team as well as Karen Thomas and her Old Mutual team for this amazing opportunity. See you at Mont Aux Sources!

Wrapping Up 2016

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Check out all the latest news and important info from the world’s biggest, oldest and most famous ultra, the Comrades Marathon. – BY DELAINE COOLS & THAMI VILAKAZI

2016 RESULTS DECLARED DRUG-FREE
The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has confirmed that none of the Top 10 athletes in the 2016 Comrades Marathon Men’s and Women’s races have tested positive for any banned substances. SAIDS General Manager, Fahmy Galant, said, “We are pleased to be able to report that no athlete in these groups, that is the top ten men and top ten women, tested positive for any prohibited substances as per the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List for 2016. Therefore, prize monies to the top ten men and women finishers can be paid.”
 
The 91st Comrades Marathon on Sunday 29 May saw South African runners claiming the winning positions once again, with TomTom Athletic Club’s David Gatebe breaking the ‘Down-run’ best time by two minutes and 22 seconds, and Nedbank Running Club’s Charne Bosman claiming the women’s top position.
 
CMA General Manager Chris Fisher said, “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the drug tests. Our athletes have worked hard and made the country very proud of their epic achievements. We congratulate our winners in all categories and thank them for upholding the integrity of the sport. We also wish to extend our appreciation to ASA, KZNA and SAIDS for the urgency with which they handled this, and in ensuring that the testing and results were turned around in the quickest possible time.”

 

SEE YOU ON 4 JUNE 2017
The 92nd Comrades Marathon will be launched in Johannesburg in August, and the 47th Up-run in Comrades history will start outside the Durban City Hall on Sunday 4 June 2017. And if you want to start planning for 2018, the race will take place on Sunday 10 June, as the decision has been taken to permanently position the race on the second Sunday of June from 2018 onwards – that weekend is not available in 2017 due to clashing with other large events in the KZN area.
 
SPOT YOURSELF AT THE BONITAS START
Have you spotted yourself on the 2016 Comrades Start Line? Thanks to major sponsor Bonitas, Comrades runners can get a glimpse of themselves as they cross the start line of The Ultimate Human Race. Please go to www.bonitas.co.za/comrades and watch the videos, shot from various angles, and broken up into short time segments. Have some fun trying to spot yourself!
 
TEAM COMRADES MAKES IT HAPPEN
Team Comrades has been lauded for the immaculate staging of the Comrades Marathon this year, and CMA General Manager Chris Fisher has thanked the team members for their comradeship, commitment and dedication in putting together a memorable 2016 Comrades.
 
Fisher says, “From the epic start of the race, all the way through the 89km route, the scores of well-stocked refreshment stations and the finish at the Sahara-Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, the team came together and showcased the true spirit of Comrades. The team spirit of the 6000 volunteers who so freely give of their time and effort cannot go unnoticed. The success of The Ultimate Human Race is mostly thanks to this amazing band of Comrades do-gooders. We are very grateful to Team Comrades.”
 
GET YOUR 2017 TRAINING PROGRAMME
The official Comrades Marathon Coach, Lindsey Parry, has devised a comprehensive training programme to get you on the start line of the 2017 Ultimate Human Race and to achieve your coveted Comrades medal. Follow this link to access the much-needed information and training tips: www.comrades.com.
 
CSI NEWS UPDATE
GREEN DESKS – A WILDLANDS RECYCLING INITIATIVE
One of the six official Comrades charities, Wildlands, recently launched its Green Desk Initiative. As part of this, waste collected from the Comrades Marathon route on race day has been recycled to create innovative ‘green school desks’ to serve the educational needs of South African schoolchildren.
 
Up till now these multi-layered plastics have not been recyclable, and have been incinerated or ended up on landfill sites. Wildlands CEO Andrew Venter says, “There is a shortage of more than 300,000 school desks in South Africa, so incorporating these desks into our existing models will help us close the loop by both cleaning communities and supporting the education of children.”
 
The CMA has welcomed the innovation, with CMA General Manager Chris Fisher saying: ‘This ground-breaking initiative serves several interests in that not only is the waste recycled into something as beneficial as a school desk, but it goes on to reduce landfill waste and serves as a significant instrument in job creation. The true worth of this initiative is unlimited.”
 
MY COMRADES STORY:
Bad Luck Comes in Threes…
BY Reinette Pretorius
 
Friday morning 27th May, we left for Durban and I was very emotional. Don’t ask me why, but it just felt like something was going to happen that could stop me from running my 20th and last Comrades. On our way the one radio station had people phoning in about the Comrades, and Tilda Tearl’s mother phoned in to talk about her planned 30th and last run. I just wanted to cry. We arrived at the Durban Expo, registered and took photos, and then I went to see the physio to strap my ankle. I had twisted it at my son’s wedding on 24 April, so it was just a precaution. Then on Saturday we packed and I put my ChampionChip in my handbag before leaving for Pietermaritzburg, where we had booked to sleep.
 
Sunday morning I got up and dressed, and as I put my running shoes on, I realised that I did not bring my Chip. I had decided to leave my handbag at our friends’ home after all, and in tears, I phoned my friend Mary at ten past four and asked her to check in my handbag. She confirmed that the chip was there, and then her husband Pierre told her to stop talking, because they must leave now to drive through to bring me my chip. I went for breakfast and the two couples sitting at our table asked me if I was going to run. I said yes, and then they asked, but where is your chip? I just started crying again as I told them the story.
 
We left for the start and the cars were bumper to bumper. Mary phoned to say they were 22km away from Pietermaritzburg and I told her that the cars were jammed, and that athletes were getting out of the cars and busses to run to the start. I was getting very worried and kept asking my husband how far we still had to go. Eventually he dropped my friend Teressa and I, and we headed for the E block, but by the time we arrived, they had dropped the banners, so we managed to get into D block. Mary had said that she would get me on the left-hand side right where we go over the mat at the start, and I just prayed she would make it. Chariots of Fire played, the gun fired and then Teressa’s phone rang. It was Mary phoning to say she had to get out of the car and was running to the start. I didn’t think she would make it…
 
As we came to the starting banner, I heard Mary shout, “Reinette, hier is ek!” while waving my chip in the air. I cried again, could just barely say thank you, and she responded with “Good luck, see you at the end.” I bent down and waved my chip over the starting mat, then went to the side of the road to attach the chip to my shoe laces, and off we went. Mary then phoned Teressa again and said they would meet us at Camperdown, and when I saw them alongside the road, I got emotional again. Pierre just gave me a hug and said, “Look, I didn’t even have time to put shoes on!”
 
A while later we were walking next to one of the two wheelchair athletes, and the next moment, there goes my shoe – a guy running behind me had caught my heel, and he just kept saying, “I am very sorry, it was an accident.” I asked him to run and tell Teressa that I had to stop to put my shoe back on. Then going up Inchanga the runner in front of me decided to just stop dead. I only had time to turn my head and grab him around his waist, but he ripped my hands off and I fell on my knees. Another runner helped me up, but the runner that had stopped didn’t even turn around! That’s when Teressa said, “Reinette, this is the third thing today. Nothing else will go wrong now.”
 
Just before we went into the stadium, Mary and Pierre gave me my 20th banner, my husband was inside to take photos, and there I was on the big screen TV with my banner. Afterwards, Mary told us how they were speeding toward Pietermaritzburg when Pierre said he didn’t know his Toyota bakkie could go 150km, and that she must stop talking to him, because he must concentrate! Then she had to run 2km to the start, constantly being stopped by security guards, but she managed. I am really honoured to have friends like these.
 
SHARE YOUR COMRADES MARATHON STORY
Every person has a story to tell and Comrades Marathon runners in particular have the ultimate tales of courage, perseverance and endurance. We are calling on ardent Comrades runners to inspire the nation to take up the challenge of running the world’s most gruelling footrace, by sending us your Comrades Story in 300 words or less, and stand the chance to win a Comrades hamper. Please e-mail your story to [email protected].

The Travelling Talker

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Former sports journalist Dan Nicholl is host and executive producer of the The Dan Nicholl Show on SuperSport, and also works extensively around the world as an MC and presenter, as a columnist for a number of publications, and serves as an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Unsurprisingly, he finds it challenging to fit in some exercise. – BY SEAN FALCONER
 
MA: Tell us about your background.
DN: I was born in Northern Ireland, grew up in Zimbabwe and came to South Africa, where my mother was born, to study an honours degree in English literature at the University of Cape Town. I worked as a barman, waiter and occasional bouncer while at university, but I was very skinny and not very strong, so wasn’t very successful as a bouncer! I also spent some time at the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, but I didn’t quite make the cut, so now I watch and talk about sport for a living instead.
 
MA: Where did the idea of The Dan Nicholl Show come from?
DN: In 1995, I spent a year in Australia as a Rotary Exchange Student and saw a number of shows where sport was used as a platform for entertainment and lifestyle television. That started me thinking, and in 2002 I filmed the first pilot for the show that eventually became The Dan Nicholl Show 13 years later. I saw a gap in the television market, got some great partners involved – Frontiers Sport and Entertainment, BrightRock and SuperSport – and eventually turned a dream into reality. The focus is on lifestyle more than sport – what people do away from their chosen sport, and because one of our three guests each week is not a sportsperson, we end up with some unexpected combinations of people, and you’re never entirely sure what’s going to happen!
 
MA: What role does sport play in our society?
DN: As an ambassador for Laureus Sport for Good, I’ve seen projects around the world do remarkable work dealing with education, health and community building… When Madiba said that sport has the power to change the world, he was absolutely correct. We face a lot of challenges in South Africa and sport has a key role to play in addressing many of them.
 
MA: Does your commentary work entail a lot of travel?
DN: These days it feels like I am constantly on and off airplanes, in and out of hotels, and in the last few years I have done about 150 flights a year, all over the world! The travelling starts out glamorous and cool, but by the third flight in one day, it starts wearing a bit thin…
 
MA: All that travelling must make fitting in regular exercise hard?
DN: That’s the biggest challenge. When I am somewhere picturesque and the weather is not revolting, I will go for a run to explore. I also love walking through new places – I was recently in Berlin to host a Laureas Awards pre-event, and went walking with my wife. Suddenly we realised we had been walking for six hours! Actually, it was a really good workout. Depending on where I am, I also try to get down to the hotel gym, if time allows, and it if doesn’t, Lisa Raleigh gave me a hotel room workout regime, including stretching, that I like to do that after a flight.
 
MA: What about when you are home?
DN: When I am at home it is easier to fit in a run, and I also have a personal trainer that reduces me to tears on a regular basis! Even better, I have a couple of friends in Joburg that are good cyclists, and we try to get in an hour’s ride here and there. I also get in a good walk when playing golf – it’s not quite Ironman training, but not being very good at golf means there’s a lot more walking backwards and forwards looking for my ball! Besides that, I am often running after our two-year-old, plus we have a 70kg bull mastiff called Stavros. He’s a gentle soul, but I once did a full workout with javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen that was easier than taking Stavros for a walk!
 
MA: So do you think it is important to keep fit and active?
DN: My line of work is my biggest incentive to keep fit. We recently did a piece up at Vic Falls with swimmer Cameron van den Burg, swimming in the crocodile-infested river right up to within a metre of the edge of the Falls… I only realised the next day how close we were, but the scariest part was still standing bare-chested next to him in front of the cameras!

Are Running Goals Necessary?

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I think that setting running goals and using structured training programmes do work, but sometimes you can just run purely for the joy of running.
 
A clubmate recently told me she was scrapping her plans to run a big upcoming marathon because the intense training was getting to her. Not in terms of being too physically hard, but in the sense that she was no longer enjoying her running and thus no longer motivated to train for the event. I responded that sooner or later all runners have to reassess their goals. For example, perhaps you planned to run Comrades this year for the first time, but realised you’re not yet ready to step up to that distance and had to shelve the plan for another year.
 
That’s not failure, that’s just the way it is, I told her. Rather take a step back and reassess your goals, making them achievable and enjoyable, than push yourself beyond your physical and emotional boundaries, to the point that you end up exhausted, injured, and out of love with your running. And remember that we all go through this, so don’t feel alone.
 
Since talking to her, I have given it some more thought, particularly in the context of my own running. I lost interest in going for fast times early in my running career and took to the social side of the sport, seeing it as an extension of my job as a running journo as well as fun, and thus I have seldom run with a specific goal in mind. I just run because I enjoy it, without any specific time, pace, mileage or racing goals in mind. (OK, these days I do think about reducing my middle-age spread…)
 
Granted, I did still have some ‘big running years,’ like the year I decided to do my first marathon, when I upped my training, ran a 30km race, then a 36km, and then the full. I briefly played with the idea of using that fitness to step up to my first ultra, but that simply didn’t appeal to me at the time and so I went back to my favourite race distance, the half marathon, and did more than 30 of them that year.
 
Another big year saw me join a 1000km challenge and ‘pledge’ to go after 1000km in racing kays in a year. I didn’t quite make it due to a combination of injury, illness and work commitments, finishing with just over 800km, but I wasn’t disappointed, as I had really signed up for the challenge to get to know more people and freshen my running up. I made some really good running friends that year, many of whom I still regularly share the roads and trails with.
 
Listening to my clubmate talk about needing to set herself goals to train for, I realised yet again that I have never run like that. Granted, running is my job, per se, and I don’t feel the need for specific goals to motivate me to continue running, but even before I became a journo on a running mag, I never really set myself strict goals and embarked on training programmes to reach them. I just ran – because I enjoyed it. Now I’m trying to work out whether this a good thing or a bad thing, whether I’m lucky to fall into this category or whether it’s actually something that has held me back all these years. Would I have achieved better times and run longer races if I had set goals and if I had followed structured training programmes? Would I already have several Oceans and Comrades medals in my collection? Would I have permanent numbers?
 
I guess the answer is yes, I probably would have gone faster and further if I had done structured training, and perhaps I will still do so some day, but I have no regrets that my running has been so relaxed and socially motivated for much of the last 20 years. At the same time, respect to those who use structured training programmes to keep themselves going and motivated.
 
But make sure you still enjoy it. I believe that is the secret to good running, no matter how hard it may get. As long as you can still tell yourself that you enjoyed your run, then you should have no problems motivating yourself to go for the next one.

Chasing the Golden Dream

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In life we are taught to lead by example, and Dana Coetzee does just that. The current KPMG Running Club National Manager completed 20 Comrades Marathons, 15 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathons and 25 RAC Tough One 32s, amongst many other races, and today he still pours the same passion into the sport as he did in his running heyday. – BY ROXANNE MARTIN
 
It all started way back in 1974 when Dana saw his technical drawing teacher, Koos Sutherland, take second place in the Comrades. Inspired by this, he decided, “This is what I want to do,” and began training with Koos in the Vaal area, even getting a training programme to follow. In 1976, aged 15, Dana entered his first race, the Vaal Marathon, and being the first time he had run that distance, he didn’t know what to expect… and neither did his father, who was seconding him.
 
“He drove alongside the route to support me, making sure I had all that I needed,” says Dana. “Later in the race I was completely dehydrated, and my dad, who had my little sister with him, took her sippy cup, filled it at the tap and gave it to me. I ran the rest of the race with that sippy cup!” Dana came home in a respectable 3:50:50 and received a race badge branded with Coca Cola, the sponsor of the race at that time – only those runners who finished in a sub-three hours received a medal. Not that this worried Dana: “I was very, very proud of that Badge,” he reflects, adding the hardest thing about the day was, “to realise what a 42km marathon is!” However, the running bug had bitten.
 
THINGS GET SERIOUS
Running shorter distance road races, Dana soon started mixing with the crème dela crème of South African running of that era – Bernard Rose, Johnny Halberstadt, Matthews Batswadi, Willy Farrell and Kevin Shaw – who inspired him just by being in the same race. “Yissie they could run a ten-miler in sub-50 minutes, while I struggled to get in under an hour,” says Dana, but that just made him train harder, and eventually he also got to that sub-50 time. However, his dream was the Comrades, and in 1980 he finally made it the start line. Having finished school in 1979, he started preparing for his first year of National Service, but as his call-up was only in June, there was time to do the race that had inspired him to start running.
 
For that 1980 Comrades Dana once again had his Dad as his second. “You were only allowed a second from Cato Ridge onwards if your second was on a bicycle. My dad had a big sticker with my race number that he put on a special zinc plate and tied to the front of his bike, and he had a crate filled with bananas and koeksisters, and a small portable radio so he could follow the race,” says Dana. “He stayed with me the whole way, but I would overtake him on the hills and he would overtake me on the downhills!” Dana finished in 8:17:00 and his first thought was, “Wow, I just finished Comrades,” but it wasn’t long after that race that he realise he wanted to do still better… that more than anything, he wanted a Comrades gold medal!
 
RACING FOR GOLD
Dana continued to get stronger and faster, and in 1982 he thought he was ready to push for a silver in his third Comrades, and he did it in style, cutting more than an hour off his 1980 time to finish in 7:13:05. He went even better in 1983, clocking 7:07:59, but it wasn’t enough, because Dana still had serious ambitions about claiming a gold medal for a top 10 finish. “I wanted to get serious about running,” says Dana, but in 1986 he didn’t finish Comrades for the first time since 1980 because of an overtraining injury. “I realised that I needed to train properly!” he says.
 
Bouncing back in 1987 he clocked 6:44:26, and in 1988 doing everything just right paid dividends as he posted his best time of 6:33:15 for 101st position. Even better, as he ran into the finishing stretch, he was handed a rose, and that made him feel like he had achieved his goal. “In that moment I knew how Bruce Fordyce felt, because everyone around me was screaming, cheering me on. I got my ‘gold’ in that moment,” says Dana, who eventually amassed an impressive 12 silver medals in his 20 Comrades runs, as well as seven sub-four hour silvers at Two Oceans, including an impressive best of 3:48:01. He last ran the big ultras in the early 2000s, but today he is still supporting the top runners through his work at KPMG, including Caroline W?stmann and Christine Kalmer, helping them to strive for gold.

Chasing the Golden Dream

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In life we are taught to lead by example, and Dana Coetzee does just that. The current KPMG Running Club National Manager completed 20 Comrades Marathons, 15 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathons and 25 RAC Tough One 32s, amongst many other races, and today he still pours the same passion into the sport as he did in his running heyday. – BY ROXANNE MARTIN
 
It all started way back in 1974 when Dana saw his technical drawing teacher, Koos Sutherland, take second place in the Comrades. Inspired by this, he decided, “This is what I want to do,” and began training with Koos in the Vaal area, even getting a training programme to follow. In 1976, aged 15, Dana entered his first race, the Vaal Marathon, and being the first time he had run that distance, he didn’t know what to expect… and neither did his father, who was seconding him.
 
“He drove alongside the route to support me, making sure I had all that I needed,” says Dana. “Later in the race I was completely dehydrated, and my dad, who had my little sister with him, took her sippy cup, filled it at the tap and gave it to me. I ran the rest of the race with that sippy cup!” Dana came home in a respectable 3:50:50 and received a race badge branded with Coca Cola, the sponsor of the race at that time – only those runners who finished in a sub-three hours received a medal. Not that this worried Dana: “I was very, very proud of that Badge,” he reflects, adding the hardest thing about the day was, “to realise what a 42km marathon is!” However, the running bug had bitten.
 
THINGS GET SERIOUS
Running shorter distance road races, Dana soon started mixing with the crème dela crème of South African running of that era – Bernard Rose, Johnny Halberstadt, Matthews Batswadi, Willy Farrell and Kevin Shaw – who inspired him just by being in the same race. “Yissie they could run a ten-miler in sub-50 minutes, while I struggled to get in under an hour,” says Dana, but that just made him train harder, and eventually he also got to that sub-50 time. However, his dream was the Comrades, and in 1980 he finally made it the start line. Having finished school in 1979, he started preparing for his first year of National Service, but as his call-up was only in June, there was time to do the race that had inspired him to start running.
 
For that 1980 Comrades Dana once again had his Dad as his second. “You were only allowed a second from Cato Ridge onwards if your second was on a bicycle. My dad had a big sticker with my race number that he put on a special zinc plate and tied to the front of his bike, and he had a crate filled with bananas and koeksisters, and a small portable radio so he could follow the race,” says Dana. “He stayed with me the whole way, but I would overtake him on the hills and he would overtake me on the downhills!” Dana finished in 8:17:00 and his first thought was, “Wow, I just finished Comrades,” but it wasn’t long after that race that he realise he wanted to do still better… that more than anything, he wanted a Comrades gold medal!
 
RACING FOR GOLD
Dana continued to get stronger and faster, and in 1982 he thought he was ready to push for a silver in his third Comrades, and he did it in style, cutting more than an hour off his 1980 time to finish in 7:13:05. He went even better in 1983, clocking 7:07:59, but it wasn’t enough, because Dana still had serious ambitions about claiming a gold medal for a top 10 finish. “I wanted to get serious about running,” says Dana, but in 1986 he didn’t finish Comrades for the first time since 1980 because of an overtraining injury. “I realised that I needed to train properly!” he says.
 
Bouncing back in 1987 he clocked 6:44:26, and in 1988 doing everything just right paid dividends as he posted his best time of 6:33:15 for 101st position. Even better, as he ran into the finishing stretch, he was handed a rose, and that made him feel like he had achieved his goal. “In that moment I knew how Bruce Fordyce felt, because everyone around me was screaming, cheering me on. I got my ‘gold’ in that moment,” says Dana, who eventually amassed an impressive 12 silver medals in his 20 Comrades runs, as well as seven sub-four hour silvers at Two Oceans, including an impressive best of 3:48:01. He last ran the big ultras in the early 2000s, but today he is still supporting the top runners through his work at KPMG, including Caroline W?stmann and Christine Kalmer, helping them to strive for gold.

Strike a Running Pose

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I read somewhere that the first rule of race photos is that no one looks good in their race pictures. The second rule of race pictures is that no one looks good in their race pictures. Looking through my own pics, I think they’re right… especially since I keep pulling off the same goofy poses!

When I started running races more than 20 years ago, I loved it when one of the race photo companies was ‘on duty’ to capture me in full flight or crossing the finish line. As a result, I tended to buy all the pictures sent to me in the post (this was in the pre-digital era), even the not-so-good ones, because I wanted the ‘memories’ to go with my growing collection of medals. I especially loved the pics where I was running with a clubmate or friend, because those were the most special memories.

However, the one thing that got to me as my collection of pics grew was that I never seemed to look good in my pics. I was always grimacing or looking half-dead, or alternatively smiling like a lunatic who just escaped from the asylum and found a road race to disappear into while making his escape! And some of the faces I pulled over the years defy explanation!

I have therefore come to the conclusion that race photos are much like ID photos – no matter what you try, they always seem to come out badly. And yet, the next time I see a camera pointed at me in a race, there I go again, throwing the same old poses, pulling the same faces or doing the same crazy thing that ruined the previous set of pics. There simply is no explaining it. And looking through my many race pics, I can see a few standard poses through the years…

The Winner: For some reason, in my early races I felt compelled to raise both arms in the air when I saw a camera pointed at me, which made me look like I was about to win the race. The fact that I was actually 975th out of 1427 runners had no bearing on my pose! There is even one race pic where I am finishing the Safari Half Marathon, coming down the finishing straight, and there just happens to be no other runner in sight, so it looks like I’m actually about to win the race. Totally ridiculous!

The One Finger Salute: You raise one hand nonchalantly, extend the forefinger while balling the rest of your fingers loosely, and point in the general direction of the camera, but taking care not to point directly at it, so that the extended finger can still be seen. I have no idea why I do this all the time, and I have way too many pics like this to count. On rare occasions I have seen runners do a double-handed one-finger salute. Again, can’t explain it…

The Talker: As many running friends know, I enjoy a good chat during a run, and sometimes I’m so busy chatting to the runner next to me that I don’t see the cameras. Cue a wonderful side profile shot of my face, because instead of looking at the camera, I’m looking at the runner next to me. And with my receding hairline, side profile shots are not flattering!

The Ignorer: This is my standard pose these days, in a valiant effort to avoid all the above-mentioned poses. I guess the logic is that if you pretend to ignore the camera and concentrate on running while looking ahead with a determined look on your face, the camera will hopefully, for once, capture you looking like the elite runner you wish you were. Problem is, invariably the camera button gets pushed just as you gasp for another breath, so your faces is slightly contorted, your cheeks are wobbling, your eyes are slightly glazed and you look like you are just about to collapse. At least, that’s what I look like in some my more recent pics…

Of course, there are others, which I also try to avoid at all costs…

The Flexor: These runners flex their muscles at the camera when they see it, usually the biceps, because it’s blinking hard to flex your leg muscles while running. Just take my word for it…

The Waver: For some reason, these runners feel the need to wave at the camera. I mean, come on, when does anybody wave at a camera? All that waving does is put a blurry object vaguely resembling a hand right in front of your face, or in front of your race number, meaning that the race pic company can’t identify you to send you your pic, or you ruin the pic of the oke next to you – and Murphy’s Law says it will be the one time that oke actually managed to strike a good pose and it’s the one race pic he would really like to buy for his collection, and order the enlargements for once, but now your blinking hand is right in front of his face!

The Reluctant Hand-Holders: Sometimes the camaraderie out on the road makes us want to hold on to each other, and what better way to do this than holding hands and raising our arms as we cross the finish line? This pose works well if both or all runners involved in the pose participate fully, but invariably it is one runner grabbing another’s hand and raising it, and you can see how reluctant the grabbee is by the fact that the grabber seems to be hanging on to the grabbee’s limp hand. A pained expression on the grabbee’s face is usually another sign, as if to say, “Dude, I’m tired, I’m grumpy, and I can barely lift my arms anymore. So give me my arm back, you madman!”

The Flasher: On cold days we wear jackets or shells over our race vests, which means our race numbers are covered. Then suddenly we see a camera and the first thing we do is lift our outer top to show our race number, and just like that, we’re caught flashing. Don’t know what we’re thinking, because it makes a lousy photo.

The Thumbs Upper: You see the camera and immediately give a thumbs up sign. And if the race is really going well, and you don’t have a cramp in your other shoulder, you give two thumbs up! And it is usually accompanied by the biggest grin you’ve ever seen – so naturally you look cheesy when the pics arrive. And the runner next to you is looking at you with that perplexed look, obviously wondering what kind of drugs you’re on.

But my ultimate no-no pose…

The Walker: For some reason, us runners have this morbid fear of being caught ‘on film’ walking. We have no qualms about taking a walk break during a race when we get tired or face a really steep hill, but just let somebody point a camera at us and we heave ourselves back into running motion, even if it means we may lose our breakfast around the next corner, or makes us look like a walrus trying to drag itself up a steep beach! Just as long as nobody sees photos of us walking!

Tribute to a Fallen Comrade

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It was a real shock to his family and friends when Sihle Mlaba passed away on 3 June, due to stomach complications, five days after finishing his sixth Comrades marathon in 10:10:04 and seemingly good health. He was a passionate runner who loved the Comrades, and he will be sorely missed by his Midrand Striders clubmates.

There are two dates that both involve tragedy for Sihle Mlaba and the Midrand Striders club: 22 October 2011 and 3 June 2016. The first date was when five runners from the club were killed by a drunk driver while out on a training run in Midrand. It was so nearly seven runners killed… Sihle and his close friend Vusumuzi Madonsela survived because they were late that morning for the regular group run, and having nearly caught up to their friends just before the accident, they were the first people on the scene. As Vusumuzi says, “We could have also died there, but I guess God still wanted us to spend more time together.”

According to Duane Newman, who was Chairman of Midrand Striders at the time, “It was a really traumatic time for Sihle, but he showed his strength of character, and even though he was hurting, he gave of his time to ensure his friends would be remembered. The driver was eventually convicted and sentenced to 12 years in jail – some closure for a tragic event – but Midrand Striders promised Sihle that we would continue to remember and honour his friends. We now have an annual memorial run on that day from Vodaworld to the place of the accident, and at this sad time of Sihle’s death, we also need to remember Moroese, Reneilwe, Given, Isaac and Nomvula.”

Recovery Time
Given his horrific experience, Sihle could easily have packed up his running shoes, and though he shared with Duane that at times it was tough to cope, he showed resilience to actually come back even stronger. That saw him run his best Comrades in 2012, clocking 9:56:24. “He was a man of strength,” says Duane. “Looking at all the races he ran, it is clear that he picked the tough races: The Tough One, Sunrise Monster, Om die Dam, Soweto, Slowmag, City to City, Jackie Gibson… and of course, the Comrades Marathon.”

“I think Sihle suffered from a common runners’ ailment called ‘ranmesia’ – a runner’s ability to forget, often just seconds after crossing the finish line, all the pain, blisters, aches, muscle cramps, chaffing, lost toenails, blood, sweat and tears,” jokes Duane. “Personally, I will remember Sihle as soft-spoken, polite, and always with a smile. As a fellow runner, I will mourn his loss, but celebrate his achievements.”

Big C Exponent
Sihle was known as a ‘Comrades evangelist,’ because he talked about the race all the time. It was even jokingly suggested that he should have been paid by the Comrades Marathon Association! As close friend and fellow Midrander Monde Matyesha says, “Sihle would take us through the Comrades route during our morning runs, giving us every detail along the route. These narrations were what novices in our morning runs used to enjoy, and it would equip them with a clear visual picture of what they will encounter. This Sihle did without struggle, because to him Comrades was the culmination of all that we would put together in our training sessions.”

Monde continues, “Before this year’s Down run I shared my race strategy with him and when he saw me flying past him, he reminded me, ‘Mfundisi, remember what you said,’ and I immediately pulled back – and after three attempts, I finally landed my first Bill Rowan. It was thanks to him… and it is a bitter pill to swallow that I can’t celebrate it because he is gone. One thing that soothes the pain of the loss, though, is knowing that we had a few days after the race to celebrate our achievements together.”

Another training partner, Collin Mothlabi, says, “Sihle taught me so much about running. I’m struggling to understand or accept his departure and that I will never see him again. I feel robbed…” These words are echoed by Tim Walwyn current chairman of Midrand Striders: “We at Midrand Striders will miss Sihle, as he made a huge difference to our running community.”

Last Word…
As one of Sihle’s best friends, it is fitting to allow Vusumuzi the last word: “I thank God for having afforded me a once in a lifetime opportunity of having a brother like Sihle. He was always there when I shared my struggles about my calling, and not once did he turn his back on me. As his friends, we surely can never take his place, but we would like to let his family know that we are also their sons and daughters – we truly thank them for having changed our lives for the better through Sihle, and we will always be there for them. Sihle, you will forever be part of me, my friend, brother, running partner and confidante.”

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

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Many of you know that I have been battling with a hip injury for the last 18 months and was not able to perform anywhere close to my full potential. Thankfully, I hope to be back running pain-free soon. – BY RENÉ KALMER

Then at the Spar Ladies race in Durban in June, I realised that I just couldn’t continue like this. Running used to be my passion, but it had turned into a Pokemon stealing my joy and my love for something precious to me. Another visit to the specialist followed, and some new tests at last revealed the real problem: A tear in my Labrum. I was overwhelmed with emotion when the doctor told me that I didn’t have any other option but to have a hip arthroscopy to repair the tear. On the one hand, I was relieved that we had finally found what had caused me so much misery, and grateful for a possible solution, but I was frustrated that it took so long to solve my mystery hip injury. first wrote it off as an ITB niggle, but then the pain started to move around, from the groin to the glutes to the SI joint, and visa versa. I hobbled from doctor to doctor, from physiotherapist to biokineticist. New diagnosis… New treatment…. New hope! And in between, I filled my days with rehabilitation to sort out all my imbalances and try to be ready for my Olympic qualifying marathon in London. However, most of my races ended in tears of pain and frustration, and the worst part was trying to be brave and just “smile and wave.”

 

Making the Call

Dr Cakic is an amazing doctor! He even apologised for not making the call to operate a year earlier, but he really went out of his way to try everything possible to avoid surgery and thereby still give me a chance of qualifying for the Olympics. A professional cyclist had been sitting in the same chair in front of Dr Cakic and the doc made the call not to operate on him… and a few months later he won his first stage at the Tour de France! But not operating didn’t fix my problem, although, to be honest, I don’t think I was mentally ready for an operation at the time, so we made the right decision not to operate till now!

The month before the op was probably one of the longest I have experienced, as I literally counted down the days. I made a mental shift to stay positive and do all the stuff I normally miss out on because of my training regime. We went away every weekend and I didn’t feel at all guilty for missing training. I’m still battling with the sleeping in part, but my husband Andre enjoys the fact that I don’t have to get up at 5am for my morning runs. I also surrounded myself with positive people, and one of them whose friendship I really treasure is Caroline W?stmann. She just would not allow me to feel sorry for myself. Instead of focussing on running, we had weekly swim dates, much to the amusement of coach Lindsey Parry and his triathletes. Probably because our favourite swimming drill was using the kickboards as we chatted away, planning our next running adventure… Watch this space!

 

Smooth Operator

The operation went well. Straight after coming out of the theatre, the hospital porter Silas ensured me that I was in good hands, as Dr Cakic had also sorted out his hip injury. Silas is a fellow runner from Diepsloot and obtained a silver medal at this year’s Comrades Marathon. I was clearly still under the influence of anaesthesia when I told him that I will run Comrades with him in two years time… The next morning Silas was the first visitor to come check up on me, and I’m looking forward to joining him at the Diepsloot time trial when I’m up and running again. The time in hospital also made me realise once again how thankful one should be for heath, mobility, doctors and nurses, hospitals, support structures, family and friends.

Typing this column four days after the operation, I am sitting on the couch watching television, with a Game Ready ice machine attached to my hip to speed up the recovery process. I will be using crutches for the next six weeks, and in the meantime I am doing rehab exercises three times a day, and sleeping a lot. I realise it is going to be a long road to recovery, but the idea of getting back to running pain-free makes it all worth it. I am motivated to come back faster and stronger in a few months time, and want to say thank you for all the phone calls, prayers and messages of support. They are truly appreciated and really keep me going.