Category: Features

In July this year, 28-year-old Precious Mashele, received a phone call from his mom to let him know he was now the head of the family, and would need to provide for his siblings from now on. She was saying goodbye… because shortly after that call, she passed away, and Precious was left to fend for his brothers and sisters, who are still at school. Despite the emotional loss, Precious has been able to mourn in his own way, and “get on with the business” of fending for his family, by winning national titles in road running and cross country. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER

Precious Mashele shows little emotion when speaking about his mother, but it is clear her passing has been a big blow. “It hurt, but I just had to get on with it. I need to look after my brothers and sisters, they need me now, so I need to be strong. Of course I miss her, but my siblings need all my support now.” In spite of losing her (his dad passed away in 2008), Precious still considers 2018 a good year from a performance perspective. “I cannot complain. The last few months have been hard racing, but good racing. We are following a plan, and it is all falling into place for 2019 and 2020. So I cannot complain.”

To call the last few months merely “good racing” is perhaps the understatement of the year! He won five high profile events and two national titles from late August to mid-October, with the streak starting on 26 August as he defended his 10km title at the Mandela Day Marathon, clocking 30:32 on a course that effectively climbs from start to the finish. Then on 9 September he destroyed the star-studded men’s 10km field at the SA Cross Country Champs in Port Elizabeth, followed two weeks later by the successful defence of his 10km title at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, where he clocked 29:11.

Just a week after that, Precious lined up at the SA 10km Road Racing Champs in Middelburg on 29 September. Precious held off the late charges of rising star Thabang Mosiako and defending champion Elroy Gelant to secure a second national title in a month. This time he clocked 29:43. And then just two weeks after that win, he travelled to Cape Town again for the OUTsurance KFM 90.4 Gun Run 10km and posted yet another successful title defence, the day after his 28th birthday, in a time of 29:24.

Having dominated the racing circuit in this period, Precious simply says, “My focus for 2019 is the World Cross Country Championships in Arnheim, Denmark next year, so by winning the national title, I effectively have secured my spot on the World Champs team, barring a fitness test. And then I want to qualify for the World Championships in Doha in October in the 10,000m.” Given his current form, odds are he will be successful in that goal.

The Best Coaching
Coached by multiple South African champion and record holder Hendrick Ramaala, Precious’ calendar is worked out to the finest detail. “We are working towards 2020 and thereafter Precious will be focusing on the big city marathons. We race sparingly and that was also the secret to my success,” says Hendrick. “We will follow this policy for Precious’ entire career.”

Precious may have been a late bloomer – he only joined Hendrick’s training group in 2015, after the latter saw him running in Cape Town – but his improvement has been remarkable under Hendrick’s coaching, going from a 29:19 best for 10km to 28:33 a year later in 2017 (still his best to date). Hendrick’s strong cross country background has also rubbed off on Precious, and no-one was able to touch him at the provincial trials at the end of August. He then carried that form into the National Championships two weeks later, and 2019 will see him race at the World Cross Country Championships, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

After that, the plan is for him to head to Europe to run in a few 10,000m races to secure his place in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Doha in October. He will run one or two half marathons in 2019 as well, but only if they fit in with the training and racing schedule set aside in his pursuit of getting to the World Champs 10,000m.

Humble but Hard
Precious is soft-spoken, preferring his coach and mentor Hendrick to speak on his behalf – and the coach is certainly excited about his protégé. “He works hard, he is tough as nails, and that will help him in his career. Because he started late, there is less opportunity for things such as many Olympics, but the next seven years will be good ones for Precious if all goes well.” Meanwhile, Precious says the 2018 season is effectively running to a close and it is now time to rest his body, and maybe reflect a bit on his year, then look ahead to 2019. No doubt he will be spending a fair bit of time with his siblings in the off-season, but be prepared for some big statements from him in 2019.

IMAGES: Jetline Action Photo

The worldwide concern over single-use plastic is a spiralling issue that has long been acknowledged by runners, but presents race organisers with challenges in terms of practical and viable solutions. – BY NORRIE WILLIAMSON

In working on, or having the opportunity to attend events around the world, I have seen many changes in recent years, and there is a general exponential increase amongst organisers in attempts to reduce the carbon footprint, as well as a reduction in paper and plastic coupled with an increase in recycling. However, the solutions used in one country or culture may not work in another. For example, at the recent Satara Hills Ultra Half Marathon in India, which runs into a World Heritage site, the move is back to paper cups. The high humidity together with the torturous challenge of a 400m climb over 6km sees the organisers place water points at 1.3km intervals for the up-and-back event! That’s around 230,000 cups for one event, with the paper a more attractive recyclable alternative to plastic.

Steps such as these reduce the plastic use, but what about trees, and the carbon footprint of manufacture? At the finish the drinks are provided in a separate area where runners can pour their own water from large plastic ‘cool-box’ type storage kegs, and the drinks sponsor provides its rehydration in small Tetra packs which can be recycled. The culture in India means that this can be in the open as people understand, and respect that these resources are for the runners and not the supporters. Would such a system work in South Africa? Possibly, as long as the fenced off section was long enough after the finish line to prevent a back-up of runners across the finish line.

WATER ON THE GO
In the Chembur 10km held in Mumbai, India, the organisers went a step further by manufacturing small unglazed clay bowls as water ‘cups.’ These are completely recyclable, but only work effectively for small numbers in a race – and were less practical for the elite runners speeding by. That’s part of the worldwide challenge to solve the water table question: How to provide each runner with around 150-200ml of water at regular intervals of 1.5km to 5km, depending on humidity, heat, and prevailing culture. The IAAF rules do not allow for the distance between stations to be longer than 5km, and the fact is that exertion-initiated heat stroke is the biggest medical challenge in the vast majority of mass participation events.

Currently the ‘favoured’ option is to provide 350-500ml bottles at those regular intervals. Even in temperate London it is every 1.6km, with additional Lucozade stations for energy. That’s about 1.2 million bottles, but most importantly, its around 1.2 million small plastic caps! It is the caps from these bottles that tend to escape the clean-up team.

On that note, the cleaning teams in first world countries tend to be more thorough. Within 30 minutes of the prize-giving after the Minsk Half Marathon in Belarus, five tractor-trailer combinations lined up with four street-cleaning and brush machines, and toured the streets as an army of clean-up team moved into the start/finish area. Three hours later there was little evidence to be seen of the race, and those few remaining bits of celebratory confetti shot into the air were uncovered and removed by the daily cleaning service in what is a spotless city.

The major advantage of a city marathon is the hard surfaces, which makes collection easy, and this is also assisted by a culture that endemically scorns litter. The challenges in rural and developing countries is often harder, as only hand-picking works for bottles, cups, sachets and elusive tops in rough grass or veld.

PAPERLESS OR RECYCLED
However, it’s not just about refreshment tables. The ‘greening’ commences with registration where online entries are an ideal means of reducing the carbon costs, and can save a mass of trees. At Satara Hills, the 6000 entries sell out in just three hours – Indian running is going to be very big soon – and as with the Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon here in SA, Satara Hills has no real reason for printing an entry form, other than to ensure the opportunity exists for all to enter. Entries for London, New York, Berlin, even Mumbai, etc focus on the digital mechanisms, but even they have a portion of manual hard-print materials. Unsurprisingly, the printed option is greater in less developed regions such as the Middle East, Africa and India.

However, races in these countries or regions do not lack innovation, or the willpower, to make their greening contribution. For instance, the ‘goodie bag’ is moving from using a sponsor’s plastic bag, to instead using a recyclable tog bag that can be used for shopping and other future purposes. Even the nylon ‘shoe bag’ is being replaced. And these new bags frequently carry a motivating environmental awareness slogan, reminding runners of the overall objective.

Also, in India, races have a tradition of providing a post-race breakfast for the runners, which in Satara came in another small ‘collectable’ recycled multi-purpose bag. The Chembur 10km went one better with its goodie bag, which was constructed from newspaper by underprivileged communities, which gave those communities an opportunity to earn some money. This hit the spot in so many ways that it will be adopted for the 2019 Navi Mumbai Half Marathon, which attracts 9000 runners.

GLOBAL EFFORT
Greening has become an important point for all race organisers, and in road running worldwide. In June this year, AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) issued its fifth version of the AIMS Green CD, with new and greater concepts, recommendations and checklists, and the IAAF were amongst the first signatories to the sporting world’s commitment to green procedures. There are also a myriad of ways that organisers can reduce their use of plastic and paper, and the effect of their race on the environment — and because of the high public profile of road running, events that don’t become more environmentally-friendly will become targets in their local community.

However, the greatest contribution that running can make is a much-needed change in attitude and culture towards littering, waste management and use of single-use plastics. Of course, the potential contradictions that exist highlight the need for this cultural attitude change… After all, the supporters of trail running or MTB cycling who go in search of ‘nature’ are often amongst the most vociferous complainants about road running, but it’s not unusual for them to drive to their events in large SUV vehicles, or travel with less than full vehicles.

The point is that greening is not an event, nor an action, it’s an attitude and culture, and that is where the power of road racing comes into the picture. With an estimated 1% to 2% of the world’s population being runners, the sport makes it possible to reach a mass of people and hopefully change their attitude, and to increase their awareness not simply of alternatives, but just as important, of what to do with waste when there is not a viable or practical alternative. The real impact of these mass events is the lessons we can learn, the attitudes that can change, and the message and actions we take away and use in the future. We all need to be part of it.

About the Author
Norrie has represented Scotland, Great Britain and South Africa in ultra-distance running and triathlon, and he is an IAAF-accredited coach and course measurer. You can read more from him at www.coachnorrie.co.za.

IMAGES: Norrie Williamson

Running the Khmer Empire Marathon in Cambodia was an unforgettable experience, but also a very hot and humid experience! – BY KEVIN ACKERBERG

It was 4am and still dark on Sunday 5th August, but already the temperature was 26 degrees as I stood on the starting line of the Khmer Marathon in front of the Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap. As I waited for the formalities to be over, it occurred to me that I was about to embark on a 42.2km run around a World Heritage Site – Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century and is the largest religious monument in the world. It is an impressive sight due to its size and detail.

Interest in the run was sparked when my wife Erica read an article on Cambodia in the travel section of the Sunday Times. When I saw they had a marathon around the same time as our proposed trip, it seemed the perfect opportunity to combine a holiday with a run. I had only started road running two years ago, at the age of 55, because my work involves lots of travelling, and running was the easiest way to keep fit, as all that’s required is a pair of running shoes.

My first marathon was the 2017 Nelson Mandela Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal. I was warned that this was not the best marathon for a novice, but I managed to finish in 4:52:44. Choosing the Cambodian marathon as my next one was probably not the wisest choice either, but what’s life without a challenge? However, my preparation had not gone according to plan. I work out of Accra, Ghana, and running on the road during the week is impossible because of traffic and the lack of pavements. I therefore did most of my training on a treadmill, and according to my training schedule, I was 200km short, so was not at the level I should have been…

Getting Around
Entry to the marathon was a simple online process with a cost of $60, and our travel arrangements were organised by Dave Papenfus of Cambodia and Beyond. We flew via Hong Kong and landed in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, then spent three days exploring the city and markets, as well as visiting the infamous Killing Fields – a sombre memorial to those that were murdered by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

On the Saturday morning, we flew to Siem Reap, then hopped on a tuk-tuk to register and collect my race pack. Cambodia has two seasons, rainy and dry, and August is in the middle of the rainy season, so the driver was keen to drive us around on race day, as business is slower during these months. He agreed to meet me the next morning at 3:40am to take me to the start, then fetched Erica a bit later to bring her to the race, and waited until after the race to take us back to the hotel. What an experience to be delivered to the start on a tuk-tuk!

Race Day Dawns
Before the start, there was quite a bit of activity, with stalls being set up, music playing and runners going through their warm-up routines. The field was small, with slightly more than 400 athletes attempting the marathon, but there were many more doing the more popular distances of 3km, 10km or 21.1km. In total, 42 countries were represented.

The route took us into town, then out into the rural areas and returned to Angkor Wat. The course was flat and the running surface mainly tar, and the scenery was interesting and beautiful. Because of the small number of marathoners, at times I was running on my own, but water points were arranged every 2.5km and were well managed, offering water or juice. The last few kilometres took us via the entrance area of the temple, with many tourists looking on. At one stage, there were elephants watching us on the side of the road.

The first half went reasonably well and I got to the 21km mark in 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the second half was a bigger challenge. By then the temperature was 32 degrees, but the intense humidity made it seem much hotter, so I started focusing on running from one water point to the next. I took two 500ml bottles of water at each station, mostly to drink, but also to pour over myself to cool down. Fortunately, the water was ice cold and each mouthful was a relief. Eventually, I made it over the finish line in 5:16:21 – disappointing, as it was 17 minutes over my goal – but I was rewarded with a massage of my tired legs at the finish.

Back in town, I enjoyed an ice-cold 50c (US) draft beer in Pub Street, and from there we went on to enjoy the sights of Siem Reap and then relaxed for a few days on the beautiful island of Koh Rong Sanloem. Cambodia is a fascinating country with extremely friendly people and delicious food. The trip was a great experience and the marathon will always be a highlight in my running career.

For more info, go to www.cambodiaandbeyond.com.

IMAGES: Courtesy Kevin Ackerberg & David Papenfus

As I am always busy preparing for my next big adventure, and every day is a training day for me, I would like to share this story of an amazing ultra I ran in Thailand. – BY WILLEM RICHARDS

While travelling through Bangkok in May, I was looking for a race to take part in while I was there, because the one way to really experience a country is to get outdoors and be active. The first weekend there was a half marathon in the city, but all entries were sold out by the time of my arrival in Bangkok. I went to the event registration to see if I could possibly secure an official late entry by chance, but with no luck. I did still take part in the race, though – after speaking to the organisers – and ran an unofficial 1:33 as a ghost runner.

Hungry for more, I trawled the Internet and found another race in Bangkok called the Suanpruek99 10-hour Ultra Marathon. All I could make out from the race was something about a 10-hour ultra, because the rest was all described in Thai. I mailed the organisers, who replied a couple of days later with sorry, they’re sold out, so I contacted a friend residing in Thailand, who is also a fellow runner/cyclist, and asked if he could assist in possibly securing me a late entry into the race. He came back 20 minutes later with a number for a wonderfully helpful lady called Sam, who could indeed assist me with a late entry.

I duly spoke to Sam and she said if I was willing, they could help me with a VIP entry, which would mean that I wouldn’t officially be part of the field of competitors, and that my entry fee would go towards their local charity of choice. I loved the idea from the word go, because all I wanted to do is run – I don’t really care for any medal, and if my racing fee goes to a good cause, even better!

Ready to Run
Race day arrived, and I had to be at the race venue at 5am to meet Sam at her gazebo, which I shared with a couple of other solo entries for the day. The race was scheduled to start at 6am sharp and finish at 4pm, with 10 hours of running a 2.1km loop. Seems easy enough, I thought. With some 1000 entrants taking part, the majority apparently solo entries, the race kicked off at a pace of note, and even I got caught up in the music, festivities and all the attractions next to the track. I saw myself finish 42km in around four hours, but I knew from here onwards that I had to start slowing down, as there were another six hours of abuse out there waiting for me.

On the back stretch there was an elderly man who cheered along all the competitors for the whole duration of the 10 hours, always with a smile on his face. His encouragement for each competitor was so genuine, and was just one of the many memorable things we experienced during this day.

That said, it’s hard to gauge where you are in the field of competitors in an event such as this, as there are teams with fresh runners flying past you every lap. Then there are some competitors that take a break after a couple of laps, who then return with their energy levels restored, flying around the track again. I went with the approach of taking breaks when I changed my socks, or shorts. Why the regular changes, you may ask? Well, with the heat and humidity there, it doesn’t take a lot to be drenched in sweat, so my first change of shorts was three hours into the race. Then a sock change at 42km, and so my race strategy continued, with further sock changes every three hours.

A Feast of Running
The 10-hour ultra is hosted in Nawamin Phirom Park, with all the teams and their supporters erecting tents around the park. At each of the 2.1km track corners there were official water and snack tables, and in between these there were numerous other tables with all kinds of snacks and hydration supplements. There was a medical tent with loads of medics on standby, energy drink suppliers handing out their products, and the one turn even had electric fans blowing cool air over the tired runners. There were even water points where they would pour buckets of cooling water over the overheating runners. I have never experienced anything like this before in my life – and it stood out all the more because I come from Cape Town, where we have very strict water restrictions in place.

No expense was spared on food and nutrition along the way. It was as if the music, dancing and jovial sense of all the Thai people in the park carried you along the repeated loops. My favourite part was that there were fresh slices of water melon, banana and pineapple available on each lap, and because the heat was unbearable, it was one of the few things I could keep eating as the day ticked by. I raced each lap with a fresh cut of watermelon in my belly, and it was the sweetest, juiciest water melon ever!

As the day progressed, the teams’ track support started to hand out food, water and encouragement to all the competitors, cheering them on towards 4pm. You could even get a fresh ice lolly or home-made soft-serve ice cream along the track, but I was unfortunately unable to try any of these, as I was worried that my stomach would act up. They really looked so good and tempting. All in all, this was a feast of fresh fruit, food, hydration supplements and water combined with ultra-running, all in true Thai style. This was a true celebration of life and sport.

Done and Dusted
At 4pm the horn was sounded after 10 hours of ultra-running fun and abuse in the blistering heat and humidity of Bangkok, with the race winner racking up a total of 48 laps, which equates to 101km. I had finished 89.43km by the cut-off time, but my distance is unofficial due to racing on a VIP charitable number. If I had an official entry, I would have finished in the top 10.

Thank you to the event organisers of the Suanpruek99 10-hour Ultra for organising such a great, most memorable experience. Thank you also to Tim and Rose, for helping me to secure an entry, and finally, thank you to Sam for the entry, the introductions to all the wonderful people prior to and after the race, and giving me a lift home after 10 hours of ultra-fun! If ever you are travelling through Bangkok and looking for a race, have a look out for this amazing race – just plan better than me and enter long in advance in order to get an entry – so you too can experience a run with the wonderfully friendly people of Thailand.

IMAGES: Courtesy Willem Richards & Suanpruek99

Registered Dietician Mariella Dierks obviously knows how to ‘fuel up’ for optimum performance, given her two podium finishes at two major triathlon races in the first week of September! – BY SEAN FALCONER

After her best swim to date and executing her bike leg plan to perfection, in spite of a headwind for the first 45km, Mariella Dierks started the run of the Ironman 70.3 World Champs in Port Elizabeth feeling like she was floating across the ground. “When my teammate Natia van Heerden passed me at 8km, I decided to try stick to her and we ran together for seven kays. I felt amazing, and when we passed my coach, Richard Lawrie of My Training Day, at 15km, he told us we were third and fourth in the 25 to 29 age category, so I decided to take a risk and go for it.”

Mariella pulled away from Natia and caught the international girl in second at 18km, going on to claim the silver medal position behind fellow South African Jade Nicole. “Going into the race I knew that if I hit the times Richard and I had spoken about, I would have my best ever race, but I exceeded my own expectations. I had told Richard I wanted to go for the podium at World Champs, and achieving that was incredible. To be honest, it still feels a bit unreal.”

Exactly one week later she lined up for the MiWay Cape Ultra at Theewaterskloof Dam, specifically to test her limits. “I decided to do back-to-back races to see how my body will react, since I am thinking about turning pro. Fortunately for me, the swim was cancelled due to the water only being 11 degrees, so we ended up doing a duathlon instead. That played to my strengths, since I am not as good a swimmer, but I had never done a duathlon before, so it was a new challenge. Everybody went out hard, so I got onto the bike already in the red zone. I caught the leading two women after 6km, but then my chain dropped twice and Michelle Krebbs overtook me. I kept her in sight for the next 15km, and once I overtook her again, I held the lead to the finish for the overall win!”

The Journey Begins
Mariella (26) has lived in Cape Town most of her life, except for three years in Austria when she was little, and a few years away for studies. She first completed a B.Sc. in sport science at Stellenbosch University, then completed her B.Sc. Honours degree in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Cape Town, followed by a Community Service Year in Grahamstown in 2016. Back in Cape Town since early 2017, she currently works as the dietician at Velocity Sports Lab in Hout Bay, and is also the consulting dietician at DayToDay, a food box delivery company, where she does menu analysis, content development and new product development.

In terms of sport, she worked as a lifesaver from 2008 till 2015 and participated in competitive lifesaving, winning three long run titles at SA Champs (2009, 2011 and 2015), with a silver in 2014 and bronze in 2012. She also participated in road and trail running, often finishing on the podium, but in 2015 decided to try something new. “I actually have no idea why I entered my first Ironman 70.3 in East London, because I didn’t even own a bike, but I really enjoyed it.” She finished fourth in the 18-24 age category, then went on to finish fifth in her category at the Durban 70.3 later that year.

In 2016, while working in Grahamstown, she finished second at the Eastern Cape Tri Champs and went on to finish eighth in the 20-24 category at SA Champs. She also added more age category honours with a third at the Discovery World ITU Tri in Cape Town, seventh at Ironman 70.3 Durban, and second at the Nelson Mandela Bay 5150. “After that I decided to really give it a go, because I wanted to see how good I can get, so I signed up with Richard and have been training consistently since early 2017.”

Upward Curve
The results soon followed, including an overall win in the Tinman Triathlon in Durban, second overall in the Discovery Triathlon Cape Town, and other solid age category results: Seventh at 70.3 East London, second at Ironman 70.3 Bintan in Indonesia, fourth at Ironman 70.3 Durban, and fourth at the Miway Durban Ultra. This year she added third in her category at 70.3 East London, third overall at the Durban Ultra, and won the Durban 70.3 overall.

Now, with her latest two results added to this already impressive list, Mariella says she has to make a decision on her plans for 2019. “I would like to go to World Champs again, but I am not yet sure about turning pro, since I feel I still have a lot of experience to gain in the sport. But given everything, it was an amazing, special season – if somebody had told me at the beginning of the year these would be my results, I would have told them to stop smoking whatever it is they’re smoking!”

IMAGES: Kevin Sawyer

The ball of positive energy that is Mogamat Shahmieg Allie is well known in the Cape running community, both for being one of the spirited leaders of the distinctively bright and vibrant Ommiedraai Friends Athletic Club, along with his wife Gaironesa, and for always having his camera at hand to shoot countless pics of fellow runners. – BY PJ MOSES

He may be well known in running circles these days, but 60-year-old Mogamat Shahmieg Allie admits that his first foray into the world of running many years ago was less than successful. “My first running memory was from high school, when my cousins convinced me to give the hundred metre dash a go. They even organised me spikes to run in, but when I got to the start, everyone else was barefoot and they looked at me like I was this serious sprinter. Reality soon dawned and by the 25-metre mark I was in last place. I made a quick exit off the track and hid away for most of the day, and I only returned to running years later!”

Shahmieg has always been active, being an ardent walker even from his primary school days, and later a rugby player of note. However, when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1997, he knew that he needed to stay active, and running helped fill the hole that retiring from rugby had left. Over the years he has run races in the club colours of UWC and Gugulethu, and of course his beloved Ommiedraai Friends, and worked his way up through the distances. “I remember doing my first marathon at Red Hill in 2005 and qualifying for Two Oceans with 17 seconds left before the cut-off. We could still enter manually back then and I went over to the legendary Chet Sainsbury and told him to sign me up. He had a good chuckle. I went on to finish my first Oceans and in 2017 I finished my tenth one, which earned me a Blue Number.”

His next target is getting his Green Number at Comrades, where he has finished five races out of the eight that he has started. “I couldn’t do Comrades over the last couple of years because of the holy month of Ramadaan, which fell over the same period as the race, but next year I will be able to do it if I can qualify. Another race that a friend said I should try is the Washie, but I think I will only do that once.”

FROM HIKING TO RUNNING
The Ommiedraai Friends club did not actually start out in the world of running, per se. The club was created to accommodate the new running goals of a group of hikers brought together by Shahmieg, as his goal of getting people in his community to embrace a more active lifestyle had found fertile ground in those that accompanied the Allie family on their hiking adventures. “My wife and I decided, when our kids were still little, that we would expose them to nature so that they could embrace the beauty outside. It built stronger bonds within our family and later also helped our community to take ownership of their lives and their health.”

The club as a running entity was made official by Western Province Athletics in 2010, with the core of the membership made up of the former hiking group. Since those early days, the club has grown to almost 400 members, with 80 coming from the Northern Suburbs off-shoot, affectionately known in Cape running circles as Ommie-North. “We have grown because of the family feel our club has, and the average age of our executive is just 30 years, because we have fostered a belief throughout the club that the future is our youth,” says Shahmieg.

FIT PHOTOGRAPHER
One of the many hats that Shahmieg wears and particularly loves is that of photographer. You will often see him carrying around his big camera at races to get the best angles of all the action, and he then posts the pics to his own social media pages and that of the club. “I started taking pics of everything I could when my eldest son was born. I told my wife I wanted to record every moment and from there it has just kept going. I like to capture those moments of life that will make fond memories forever.”

For this former rugby hooker, the scrum of life is what keeps his flame burning bright, and to keep himself in tip-top shape and to inspire others, Shahmieg still regularly cross-trains at the gym. He also includes the occasional run and hikes as much as he can. “I believe in the four D’s: Devotion, Dedication, Discipline and Determination. A healthy body breeds a healthy spirit, and there is no better way to that than to do sport – and if you want to encourage others, then you have to lead by example and maximise your efforts to stay healthy and energised.”

IMAGES: Carder Tregonning, Moegsien Ebrahim & Zulfa Levy Adams

Ina Henning had last seen the famed Washie Moon in 2012, but this year got to experience it one more time out on the road during the Washie 100 Miler, thanks to her long-time friend Hilton Murray and Blitsie the wheelchair jogger. – BY SEAN FALCONER

The Washie 100 Miler is run on the Friday closest to full moon each July, in order to give the runners as much light as possible for the long night of running ahead. The race starts at 5pm in Cathcart, initially doing a few kays through town, then a 35km loop around the town before passing through Cathcart again and then winding down to the coast at East London. Given the fact that this gruelling race only attracts a small field each year, experiencing the ‘Washie Moon’ is therefore a prized bucket list item in SA ultra-running circles – and this year it was made even more special by a partial eclipse turning it into a rare, red-tinted ‘Blood Moon.’

One of the lucky athletes to experience this out on the road to East London was Ina Henning, owner of 12 Washie medals, the most ever by a woman. However, she wasn’t running the race. Ina was forced to retire from running some years back for medical reasons, but her long-time friend and former Ficksberg AC clubmate Hilton Murray had decided to take her along for the run, pushing her in the now famous wheelchair jogger called ‘Blitsie,’ which he has used to push Anita Engelbrecht through multiple runs over the last three years, including the Two Oceans and Comrades ultra-marathons. “Ina’s last Washie was in 2012 and she had told me she wished she could see one more Washie Full Moon, so I decided on very short notice to contact the race organisers, Buffs Club and Border Athletics, to get permission to push her in this race, since I was finally going back to do my second, having run my first with Ina in 1996,” says Hilton.

Ina says it was such an incredible moment when Hilton phoned to invite her to go along with him. “After we ran that first Washie together, I would ask him every year, are you doing Washie, but he never wanted to. Then this year I saw on Facebook that he ran a 100km race and mentioned Washie as his next goal, so I sent him a WhatsApp to say this Washie would be for me. He simply replied, ‘will phone you Monday,’ then he called me to ask if he could push me in Blitsie! I told him I had to talk to my husband first, because I would be starting my next chemo cycle on the Thursday before the race weekend, but in the end I decided to go for it.”

ULTRA FOCUS
Ina (60) has lived in Ficksburg in the Free State for most of her life, and has three married sons and two grandchildren. She used to own a framing business, but sold it and retired in 2015 due to her health. She started running in 1989 because she wanted to run the Comrades Marathon, which she did in 1991, and says she just carried on from there. “I loved ultras, and went on to do my tenth Comrades in 2000, which was very special because it was the first year for the new Bill Rowan medal and I got one. I finished on 18 consecutive finishes, with my last one in 2008, but I was already struggling with my health, and while I did go back for two more, I could only get to 3km and 7km from the finish by cut-off.”

She also ran many other ultras, including 11 finishes at Two Oceans, as well as winning the Laingsburg Karoo Ultra 80km twice. However, it was the Washie that became her focus. “When Hilton decided to go run it in 1996, I asked to go with. The whole Ficksburg Marathon Club went with to second us, thinking they were going for a big jol, but it almost turned into a nightmare for them, because the Washie is hard work for the seconds. At one stage Hilton and I split up, so the seconds had to split as well. We both struggled a bit, but we finished and both came home with trophies.”

“When we got back to Ficksburg, I wasn’t even thinking of running it again yet, until one of our clubmates, a doctor called Dawie, commented during a morning run that the only reason Hilton and I finished was probably the drip he gave us along the way. Well, I was so angry that I decided to show him I can do it without a drip, so I went back the next year, with Hilton seconding me. He never wanted to run it again, because I think he simply didn’t enjoy the race, but I fell in love with the race, and so just kept going back.”

CHASING THE RECORD
That saw Ina run her best time of 19:19 in 1999, then get her permanent Number in 2000 when she ran her fifth Washie. “I then decided to keep going, as the woman with the most finishes had seven, but was now retired from the race. So I went for eight, then because I was so near to 10, I carried on and received my Washie Shoe in 2005. In 2007 I finished my 12th, but my body decided that would be my last. I realised something was stealing my energy, so I went to see the doctor, and that changed everything.”

After a battery of tests, the doctor told Ina she had scleroderma, a rare and incurable auto-immune condition in which the body produces too much collagen, causing the skin and connective tissue to thicken and harden. Ina says that made her realise that her Washie days were done. “I carried on walking and tried running short distances, but eventually went over to cycling to maintain my fitness.” Then in 2014 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent 18 months of treatment, but six months later she began coughing, and nothing helped to stop it.

“They did a scan and found cancer in one of my lungs, which was unfortunately inoperable due to being too close to the bronchial pipe, so I have undergone four cycles of chemo since then, but the cancer is still spreading. It is now in both lungs and I struggle to breathe, which means that my muscles don’t get enough oxygen as a result. Even cycling is now a struggle, because the downhills are not a rest opportunity for me, as I am still catching my breath from the previous uphill!” (At the time of this interview, shortly after her Washie outing, Ina was still busy with her fifth cycle of chemo)

ONE MORE WASHIE
However, her medical condition was not going to stop Ina from going for one more Washie, and thus she readily agreed to Hilton’s invitation, in spite of knowing how tough the route is. “He had to get special permission from the organisers, because the first 35km loop has no shoulder on the road, and is run in the dark. So we started together for the first few kilometres, then Hilton did the loop alone while I waited in the car with my husband, and rejoined him for the rest of the race.”

“It was a bit windy and cold at the start, and it began raining while we were waiting for Hilton, so I just prayed for the wind and rain to stop, or else he wouldn’t be able to push me. It was still cold by the time he got back, but the worst had passed, and just as Hilton picked me up again, the clouds opened up and I got my Washie Moon! At 80km, I was extremely cold due to sitting still in Blitsie and my feet felt like they were going to fall off, so I took out a scarf, cut it in half and wrapped the pieces around my feet. I was praying for the sun to come out, but Hilton joked that sun makes him lame. I really felt sorry for him, because it was just one hill after another. The second half was warmer once the sun came out, but luckily it was a cool day, otherwise he really would have suffered!

Hilton and Ina crossed the line in 22 hours and 56 minutes, finishing 57th out of 122 finishers, and unsurprisingly, they received massive support all along the route, with fellow runners and their supporters going out of their way to offer help and encouragement. “They kept telling us what an inspiration we are, and it was wonderful to reach the finish. That last section was so emotional, and there was an incredible spirit at the finish.”

“It was just such an incredible privilege to go back to the Washie… I had had this big hole in my heart since 2012, and had even thought about going to second others, just to be part of it one more time, so I was overjoyed when Hilton asked me to go with him. I have no idea where he got the strength to push me all that way, but he made my biggest dream come true, and I told him I think he is sent by the angels. What he does for others cannot be described in words, because it is so big, and I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart.”

IMAGES: Courtesy Hilton Murray

2018 will go down as a stellar year for South African track and field with numerous new records being set, Africa and Commonwealth titles in the Senior ranks, and three World Champions amongst the Juniors. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER

The year got off to a bang with the introduction of the new Liquid Telecom Athletix Grand Prix Series in March, the first time an international series was held on SA soil since 2003, featuring three meetings in Roodepoort, Pretoria and Paarl, with sell-out events at Tukkies and Paarl. The series saw the likes of World Champion Justin Gatlin come to race – and get beaten – in the seldom-run 150m event. Caster Semenya gave notice to the world that 2018 was going to be the year of records when she broke Ilse De Kock Wicksell’s long-standing women’s SA 1000m record in Pretoria. She would go on to break that record again later in the year.

Next up was the Commonwealth Games in April, in Brisbane, Australia, where South Africa won 12 medals, five of which were gold, with an additional four silver and three bronze medals also coming back to SA. Amongst the golds, two went to the incredible Caster (1500m/800m), while Akani Simbine won his first international title in the men’s 100m, and Luvo Manyonga added to his already impressive global medal haul by winning the men’s long jump.

Come June and it was time for the Juniors to shine at the World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. Zeney van der Walt, Sokwanana Zazini and Kyle Blignaut came away with gold medals, in the women’s and men’s 400m hurdles and shot put respectively, while Breyton Poole added a bronze in the men’s high jump. Zeney and Soks would finish the season in the number two and number one spots respectively on the World Junior rankings.

African Heroes
August saw our athletes head to Asaba in Nigeria for the African Championships – held under challenging conditions, to say the least. Team SA finished second on the medals table behind Kenya, even though South Africa had the most medals overall (30), but they were two shy of Kenya in the gold medal department. Caster continued her rampage of fast times and gold medals, winning the 400m and 800m, the former in a new SA Record of 49.96 to smash Heide Seyerling’s 18-year-old record of 50.05, set in Sydney in 2000. (However, the IAAF does not recognize this new record).

Akani won his second major international title by taking the 100m, and the men’s 4x100m relay team was too good for the rest of Africa for yet another sprint gold. While Antonio Alkana defended his men’s 110m hurdles title, Ruswahl Samaai upset Luvo Manyonga to retain his Africa title in the men’s long jump, edging his compatriot by 2cm. Kyle added the men’s shot put title to his World Under-20 title, and Victor Hogan won gold in the men’s discus.

The gold medal winners from Africa Champs then represented Africa at the Intercontinental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with Akani claiming the bronze medal in the 100m and Ruswahl taking gold in the long jump. Caster won silver in the women’s 400m, setting another SA Record of 49.62 in the process (this one is recognised by the IAAF), then took the gold in the women’s 800m, and a silver medal in the mixed 4x400m relay capped an incredible year for her in SA colours.

Diamonds Retained
No surprise then that Caster claimed the women’s Diamond League series title in the 800m, and Luvo made it a SA double by claiming the men’s long jump series title. Caster was undefeated in the two-lap event, posting the four fastest times in the year, and her 1:54.25 in Paris in June also broke her own SA Record. This was her third consecutive Diamond League title in the 800m event. Luvo won six of the seven Diamond League long jump competitions, including the final, to retain his title. The only blemish on his record this season was a third place finish in Stockholm.

Looking Ahead, our athletes are now taking a well-deserved off-season break, with the provisional dates for the 2019 season due to kick off with the four new Summer Series meetings in March, followed by three Grand Prix meetings in April and then the SA Junior and Senior Champs later in April. The Diamond League starts in May, and the 2019 IAAF World Champs will take place in October in Doha, Qatar.

Sidebar: Caster in record-setting mood
2018 was a year of records for Caster Semenya, and she now holds the women’s SA Records for 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m and 1500m. There can be no doubt that Caster is South Africa’s Athlete of the Year, given that this season alone she set the following seven SA Records:
400m: 49.62 (Ostrava, 8 September)
800m: 1:54.25 (Paris, 30 June)
1000m: 2:35.43 (Pretoria, 8 March), 2:31.01 (Rabat, 13 July), 2:30.70 (Berlin, 2 September)
1500m: 4:00.71 (Brisbane, 10 April), 3:59.92 (Doha, 4 May)

IMAGES: Roger Sedres/ImageSA

Toes are important to maintaining your balance, and even more so to running, so when top trail runner Imran Paya lost a toe in a freak accident just over a year ago, he thought his running days were done, but his remarkable comeback continues. – BY PJ MOSES

Even though Imran Paya has a pretty good sense of humour, he says it seemed that fate was playing a cruel joke on him last August. Just two weeks after winning the 2017 RCS SOX three-day trail race in Mossel Bay, with teammate Peter Tswayo, he thought his running career was over. “Helping to lift a heavy drain cover at home in Cape Town, it slipped and fell on my right foot and I had to be rushed to the doctor,” he says. Unfortunately, things worsened when the doctor misdiagnosed the injury and gave him the wrong treatment. This led to his big toe becoming badly infected, and in order to save the rest of his foot, the toe had to be amputated. “I was told that I would probably not run again, and even if I did, that I‘ll be slower.”

Unsurprisingly, the decorated and accomplished RCS Gugulethu AC runner says he felt like the carpet had been pulled out from under him. “A month after winning SOX, I was sitting at home with crutches and minus a big toe. I had been training to break the 2 hour 30 minute barrier at the Cape Town Marathon, but now it had all come to an end… and my silver medals at Two Oceans and Comrades felt like somebody else’s achievements.”

Running Talent
The man from Blantyre in Malawi, who has made Cape Town his home since the year 2000, only discovered his talent for running 10 years ago. “Before coming to SA I didn’t run and was a soccer player. I started running in 2008 because my friend Abdul Malick convinced me to give it a go and persuaded me to enter a 10km race. When I finished it in 42minutes, he told me that I was born to be a runner.”

That saw Abdul talk Imran into joining him at the Gugs club in 2009, and soon he was running further. “He kept pushing the bar higher for me. In 2010 I ran my first marathon and first Two Oceans Ultra, followed by my first Comrades in 2011. I competed against myself and wanted to see how much I can improve by finding better ways to train and being conscious of my diet.” That saw him become a serial podium finisher, with PB’s at Two Oceans and Comrades of 3:40:59 and 6:36:39 respectively.

Then in 2015 another running friend and clubmate, Bernard Rukadza, convinced him to try trail running. For Imran it opened a new world of running adventures. “I fell in love with trail. The road can become a bit monotonous, but on trail you need to keep your focus and not hesitate, or else you’ll end up with your face in the rocks.”

Toeing the Line Again
By the time of his accident, Imran had become a force on trail, which made the road back to running all the harder, but he was determined not to give up. “I decided that my story wasn’t done. This was just another test on the road to success,” he says. With the support of friends and clubmates, he worked with podiatrist Chris Delpierre at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) to design a special inner sole to compensate for the missing toe, and he also followed SSISA’s Grucox training programme to strengthen his legs and body. “With the specialised training my body has adapted well and running is less painful. My first long race back was the Peninsula Marathon, followed by a 4:08 at Two Oceans and then the Weskus Marathon, where I ran 2:46 to surprise everyone, including myself!”

With his passion for running reignited, he was determined that he and Peter should return to SOX and defend their title this past August. “Trail running was less painful than road running, so training went well, but running doesn’t give you any guarantees, and I knew SOX was a dream that could become a nightmare.” However, there was no need to worry as the duo comfortably took the win. “I couldn’t contain my emotions when we finished in first place. A year earlier I thought I would never run again, but here I was winning my second title.”

Looking ahead, Imran says he is looking for new challenges, like the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km later this year, but entry fees are expensive. “Without sponsorship it‘s hard to afford entries and running kit, but I remain hopeful. You get nothing from focusing on the negatives, but if you focus on the positives, your journey will always be better. I am content with life and this helps me to always give my best. When I hit the wall in a race, or in life, I remind myself that other people would love to be where I am, and this keeps me going.”

IMAGES: Dylan Haskin & courtesy Imran Paya

After a year ravaged by injury and recovery from an operation, Elroy Gelant has been putting in the hard yards to build back up to fitness, and some of his recent results have helped restore his confidence, but with another operation still to come, he is very much focused on relaunching his running career in 2019. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER

The pain had become so bad that Elroy Gelant was reduced to a mere shuffle instead of the hard running he was used to. It was December 2017, and the Olympian, South African 5000m record holder and multiple SA Champion in road, track and cross country was not only being robbed of the ability to train, but his hernia condition was also making him doubt his own ability. For an elite athlete who easily churns out three minutes per kay splits, sometimes even faster, not even being able to maintain an easy running pace of 4:15 to 4:20/km was extremely worrying.

“I could literally only do run-walking, so I was doing the parkruns with my girlfriend Tamzin, but it was scary. The SA season was coming up in a few months and I couldn’t string together one decent run. I was really scared that I would not be able to ever get back to the level I am used to, and expect,” says Elroy.

“Then I first saw a knot in the groin area in January, and that’s when my doctor said we should operate. But we agreed to wait until April, as the South Africa season had just started. I struggled on my long runs, but was able to do my shorter sessions without too much difficulty. However, those long runs are important, so I knew that my season would be a challenge, especially towards the end, as my base was not where it needed to be.” Elroy had also just bought a house, and does not have medical aid, so he needed to find almost R60,000 for the operation, meaning he needed to replenish his reserves first.

That lack of base was clearly evident when Elroy tried to defend his national 10,000m title at the SA Champs in mid-March. “I had no strength in my legs. I just felt flat, and the pain was now becoming quite bad. I did not even finish my 10,000m race! It was very demotivating and it made the doubts in my mind about my running career all the more prominent, so I scheduled the operation straight after SA’s.”

Surprising Result
For the next nine weeks, Elroy was not able to train properly, if at all, and even then it took time to build up his strength and endurance again. “I was only able to start training with some effort with four weeks left to go before the SA Half Marathon Championships at the end of July, so I was not expecting anything there. A top 20 would have been great in around 70 minutes.” However, a classy athlete remains a classy athlete, and Elroy surprised himself by posting a time of 61:48 to finish fourth overall and second South African in the NMB Half Marathon in Port Elizabeth, which doubled up as the SA Championships.

Stephen Mokoka won the race overall and the SA title, with the second and third places going to foreigners, hence Elroy’s fourth overall still placed him as second in the SA Champs. It was an incredibly close race, with just six seconds separating the top six men over the line, and Elroy finishing four seconds adrift of Stephen’s winning time. “I was really, really surprised. Finishing so high up and under 62 minutes took away all my doubts about my possibility of getting back to the top, because I definitely did not expect to be right up there,” says Elroy.

“But to be honest, I had no rhythm or confidence, so I actually gave up in the last 2km. It is a terrible feeling to not have confidence in your ability, and I had thoughts of ‘that is the end of my career’ floating through my head. I just started to jog, but then I must have recovered and my pace picked up again. When I saw the other guys coming back at me, I sprinted for the line, and it paid off. Clearly my lack of base work had caused the sluggishness, and of course, my lack of confidence played a role, but after that race, I know things will get better again.”

Another Injury?
Despite the operation and his great result in PE, Elroy says he continued to struggle for form, and then late in August he suffered another scare. Two weeks prior to the Mandela Day Marathon on 26 August, where he competed in the half marathon and finished third, he realised that there was swelling on one of his testicles, which was quite uncomfortable when running, especially on the long runs.

“I was worried that things were not quite sorted after all, so I went back to the doctor and he found that there was some internal bleeding causing the swelling. That was a relief, as I thought it could be quite serious. It is uncomfortable, but knowing it is not serious means I can finish the rest of the season here in South Africa, do some more road races, and then have another small operation in November, which will give me enough time to do the work needed to prepare for 2019.”

Elroy’s plan now is to focus on these races in order to get back some level of fitness, so that when he has to go for the operation in November, the road to recovery will be quicker. Training and racing now for him for the rest of the year is also about the confidence factor. “I was selected to go to the Africa Championships in Asaba, Nigeria at the beginning of August, but I was not even close to being ready fitness-wise. However, I felt I needed that experience of racing against the best to build my confidence and to just have the body remember what it feels like to race at that level, but it was terrible. I was lapped for the first time in my life in a 10,000m and finished in 30:23. Still, it felt good to be mixing it with the best again. It was necessary. I was then asked to do the 5000m, too, which I did, running 14:10.”

Time to Train
While Elroy is rightfully considered an elite athlete – he has, after all, run 13:04.88 for 5000m, and 1:01:10 in the half marathon – yet he still has the same plight as so many of our South African elites: He needs to hold down some form of employment in order to survive. The 32-year-old is an HR assistant at the University of Potchefstroom, which means his day begins at the office at 8am, so his morning runs are done at 4am. That’s very much like most of the runners in South Africa, but when you are competing at the elite level, recovery is vital, and spending a lot of time on your feet is not really conducive to proper recovery. Nor is missing out on that valuable afternoon nap, which is an essential for speeding up recovery.

“I do miss that recovery time, but work needs must come first. With me finishing around 4:30pm, I miss the second training session of the day with the Springs group under Coach Phakati in the winter time. They go out at 3pm to get the ’warmth’ of that time of day, but now when it gets warmer, they will go out again around 5pm, so I will join them. For now, I have been doing my second session on my own.”

Once Elroy has his operation in November he will return to hard training for the 2019 season, which will be an extended season due to the World Championships only being in October. That leaves him with a dilemma, as he is training for the 5000m, but also thinking of representing South Africa in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which means he needs to run a qualifier towards the end of 2019. The long season will not leave him time get into marathon shape, given that the track season only ends in October.

“I haven’t yet decided if I will try for the marathon for Tokyo, but it is in the back of my mind, and I will need to decide pretty soon, as it will affect my entire preparation for 2019 and 2020. Much will depend on how quickly I feel back to normal after the op in November. But after running 2:12:49 in my debut marathon in Cape Town last year, I definitely have unfinished business with the marathon.”

IMAGES: Jetline Action Photo & Tobias Ginsberg