Category: Features

When you run for longer than 90 minutes, eating and drinking become imperative for optimum performance and sustained health, and there are many aspects to planning your race nutrition.

This time of year is all about qualifying marathons and running ultras in South Africa, and no matter what level you’re at in terms of running speed, you must meet your nutritional needs in order to achieve the results you want. And when it comes to fuelling for the ultras, practice is definitely the answer. Make sure that whatever snacks, fluids or gels you use, as well as meals before and after a race, are tried and tested – it’ll only heighten your performance and recovery. Also follow these general guidelines to munching for the long haul.

1. BRING ON THE CARBS

Endurance exercise puts a great demand on your glycogen stores and depletion can lead to fatigue and poor recovery. Therefore, if you’re running for more than 90 minutes, you should consume 40 to 60g of carbs for every hour of exercise. The carbohydrate consumed during training can be in the form of an energy drink, gels, energy bars, fruit, baby potatoes or sandwiches. Try to eat a well-balanced meal consisting of wholesome carbohydrates, lean protein, a small amount of unsaturated fat and fresh fruits and vegetables within 45 minutes after your run, to assure recovery quicker.

2. PACK IN THE PROTEIN

Protein is needed for muscle growth and repair, and your protein needs can be achieved without the use of supplements. Consuming a healthy, well-balanced diet that includes lean proteins will allow you to eat enough to meet your increased needs during your preparation for the ultras. Good sources of protein include lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs and fat-free dairy products that contain essential amino acids.

3. GET HEALTHY FAT

Endurance athletes should consume less than 30% of total calories from fat, and less than 10% from saturated fat. You should include a small amount of healthy fat in your diet – unsaturated fats are considered healthy and are necessary in a healthy balanced diet. As a concentrated source of energy, it can contribute to weight-gain when eaten in excess, so make sure you manage your intake!

4. HYDRATE EFFECTIVELY!

It is crucial to replace your daily fluid losses, because the effects of dehydration are felt quickly and can affect your performance during training and on race day. Make sure that you have a plan formulated to meet your fluid needs during training and on race day. In SA, we often have hot and humid conditions on the run, so make sure you drink regularly, and during runs lasting longer than two hours, include an electrolyte supplement to balance sodium and electrolyte losses.

5. INTRODUCING NEW STUFF

Always familiarise yourself with new foods or drinks during training. Many runners have experienced stomach distress when they have tried a new nutritional product in a race for the first time. If an event is going to have a certain food or drink on the course and you will not have your own available, use it in training to make sure it works for you. The golden rule is don’t try anything new in the race!

6. TIMING IS EVERYTHING

When possible, use downhills or times of decreased levels of exertion to eat and drink. Additionally, practise eating and drinking at different intensity levels during training, to see what works best for you. Set the timer on your watch to remind yourself when it is time to eat or drink, or use landmarks or course markings to remind you to fuel up.

When I suffered sudden chest pains early in a race, I had no idea how serious the problem would turn out to be. – BY MOGAMAT PHALDIE CASSIEM

Our Modern Athlete correspondent Ciara Picco brings us the experience of her journey to the Puma Disc Launch in Jamaica! A day at the track watching the Boys & Girls Championships, a chance to see the best rising talent Jamaica has to offer! It was going to be a great day! 

The body clock had me up early today, so another easy start to the day, bath time, breakfast a bit of the T20 World Cup then off to the lobby for our first transfer.

Again PUMA had us in suspense with our initial destination.

Just down the road from the hotel we found ourselves stopping in at Chris Gayle's Triple Century Sports Bar. In what I've come to experience as the norm here in Kingston, the serving staff are only too happy to get you what you need. First come a wave of waters, then Coke, Sprite and even a few Red Stripes. Next it's onto the food a selection of wings, quesadillas, spring rolls, pork wraps, shrimp kebabs and salads. We ate our fill then it was off to the track champs!!

At the bar, the champs were on the big screen and so we got a taste for what was waiting ahead at the stadium. Claxons blaring, flags flying fanatical supporters willing their talented athletes home.

It was an electric atmosphere with insane amounts of energy on and off the track, the three favourite teams on the day are Kingston College KC, Jamaica College JC, and Calabar.

After my conversation with Jevon Francis I could only come here and support Calabar. As it turned out our tickets were in a section dominated by the Calabar faithful, right into the noise and right into the winning team we went.

Overnight Calabar were in third but with their performances earlier in the day, by the time the 110m hurdles came around they were consistently edging ahead. C'Bar took the race with a 1,2 finish.

The roar you hear in the race is consistent with every event no matter the age group, everyone gets the same amount of spurring on. The crowd even erupted for the Honourable Prime Minister Andrew Holness when he arrived.

The pride, passion and professionalism shown by the athletes, the organizers and the 30,000 strong crowed really lends itself to a great development structure for the youth to flourish through. These champs are definitely, one hundred percent, the reason why Jamaicans excel in track and field, and consistently swap world records with each other.

Our final stop of the evening was at Tracks and Records. After a long day out on the track it was now time to refuel. Naturally the championship was showing on every live screen in the restaurant so we were able to catch the final events which included the 4 x 400m relay. Just like in the stadium, the restaurant erupted, with the news of Calabar's win in the race and overall in the meet.

The last week has been a great success, not only for the puma athletes, but for the brand themselves on the whole. With my Disc Ignites put to a full day’s work I'm still walking on fresh feet, happily trotting back to my hotel room for a good sleep before departure.

That's it from Jamaica, thank you for having me.

Our Modern Athlete correspondent Ciara Picco brings us the experience of her journey to the Puma Disc Launch in Jamaica! A day at the track and watching world-famous athlete Usain Bolt in action – all in a day’s work!

Amazing what a good night’s sleep can do for you.

Had a bit of spare time first up, so I was in no rush to get to breakfast. A nice rejuvenating shower and an AC electricity reminder (hair dryer is too powerful for the island) I was off to see what the buffet had to offer.

It seems earl grey is the tea of choice here YAY! Warms me to the core to be offered earl grey ahead of any other beverage.

The schedule for the day moved up quite a bit so after breakfast I stopped by the business centre for a bit of work and to check in with home and familiarize myself with the events ahead, oh, and to get the cricket score. That I could've skipped out on. Everything started sinking in, in a few hours I was going to see the world’s fastest man! Live! In the flesh!

A quick change into my Modern Athlete shirt and I was ready to go meet my transfer in the lobby. Gosh today was hot. Side note I might see snow on Sunday in New York.

We arrived at the University of the West Indies to various international broadcasters doing TV interviews with the man of the moment. He kindly obliged to a Mariokart derby and of course won, is there anything he can't do?

The print and online media were then taken to the basketball court for our time with the lightning Bolt. Colin Jackson former world champion, another of Puma's brand ambassadors introduced Usain and from there we had answered many questions on varying subjects.

In summation the man's preparation for the upcoming Grand Prix and Championship are on track, despite an early season injury, he eluded to participating in the 200m at the Grand Prix however left his Olympic events unconfirmed.

Usain's thoughts on his new togs are ones of a very pleased sprint champion, he is the first athlete to use both the Disc Ignite and the Disc Spike in training and the products support him fully to be where he is. It was comically mentioned that when he ran his 100m world record his lace came untied so he's quite happy not to worry about laces anymore.

We got a full feel of passion and pride for Jamaica while listening to Usain talk about his success thus far and the success of Jamaican sprinters in general. He loves his country and countrymen more than anything in the world, his main goal is to do right by them, and by doing right by them this allows him to do right by the international audiences. 

On the development of talent, he spoke highly of the boys and girl’s national champs, the fierce rivalry of young men and women competing yearly for their school to win a national title is what breeds the winning instinct of Jamaican athletes. From this young high school age, the athletes learn to compete with a stadium full of people egging them on, and every Jamaican talent has been spotted at these champs from an early age and so the level of hunger to achieve in the teens is high.

The big 'R' came up too and Usain was quick to wave it away ensuring us that he will not retire at this year's Rio Olympic Games. He is keen to take it one year at a time and also still has a goal to run the 400m in under 45sec, which his coaching and management believe is an achievable goal. On age, the only difference from when he was 21 to now that he is almost 30 is that it takes a little longer for injuries to heal, but the champ is just as excited and hungry to compete as ever. When the day comes that he leaves competing he wishes only to be remembered as an inspiration to young people, the cool guy who had fun living his dream through hard work and determination.

Well, I will certainly remember him like that always. A very humble, fun loving hard worker and ambassador for track and field.

Our Modern Athlete correspondent Ciara Picco brings us the experience of rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous while attending the very exclusive Puma Disc Launch in Jamaica! 

When leaving for the launch we were told to bring our passports with, that was it. I grabbed mine got in my transfers and drove out of town traffic to our unknown destination.

It was an airfield! How exciting!

Once going through security checks we congregated in the enclosed area at the start of the apron, and when the time was right we were called onto the apron to stand in front of a hangar. This turned out to be so apt with the Disc Ignite and the Disc Spike having a similar amount of engineering in them as a small plane.

Adam Petrick, Global director of Brand and Marketing at PUMA, gave us a historical view of the German engineered shoe and its beginnings 25years ago. From its conception the shoe has gone from strength to strength branching into more than just track and field.

From here came the introduction of Kohei Hagio PUMA'S Senior Head of Product Line Management for Running and Training Footwear. Kohei took us through the two products, the advancement in technology and the key features of each shoe.

What is most exciting about the brand is that they test their products with the young athletes who compete at the boys and girls national champs. Not only does this give PUMA really quick in-competition feedback but it also allows those boys and girls an opportunity to be supported to do their best in the competition by way of using top quality equipment. So it creates a win-win balance for both PUMA and the athlete which in turn is crucial for the development of track and field.

This became apparent while speaking to Jevon Francis (21), who in his time at the boys and girls champs broke the 400m record once held by Usain Bolt.

He told me when he was a young teen teachers and friends convinced him to participate in track and field even though his first love was football. He showed promise and was given a pair of spikes which he took home and kicked ball in. His mum scolded him and said to him to respect what he had been given, because it was given to him and him alone to do great things with. From that day on Jevon worked at track and trained everyday harder and longer than any of his team mates until he surpassed the expectations of even his coach. Jevon said that if it weren't for track and field and the support he has received from PUMA he would have been lost in the system, and up to no good. Now he is another up and coming Jamaican fast man and an Olympic hopeful.

It's stories like Jevon's, like Bolt's, that truly allow you to see the positive impact that brands like PUMA have in the world.

Tomorrow we are off to boys and girls champs to see the future of Jamaican track and field.

On 18 January, Cape Town-based runner Kim Stephens wrote a Facebook status update about President Jacob Zuma and running. Within days it had gone viral and been shared over 20,000 times, featured in the news, and Kim had been asked to do interviews for several radio stations and newspapers. As the 36-year-old explains, it was just something she felt like saying, and she had no idea the effect it would have on people… – BY SEAN FALCONER

“I feel like Zuma needs to go for a run. Takkies on, lube up, head out for a trot, sir. One foot in front of the other, on the pavements of your country. Pass your voters, and non-voters. You can't tell them apart via race, sir. Foot in an uncovered manhole? Sorry about that. Dodge the human waste of the homeless. Run on. Wide berth around the tik-head that might take your emergency R20 Coca-Cola cash. Run. Run some more. Pass the businesses advertising closing down sales, the derelict office blocks. Pass the homes with laundry hanging on communal fences. High-five the babies playing in dirt. Steer clear of the children that should be in school. The school with the long drop, no text books, and an underpaid teacher. Run, Zuma.

Look far from your vantage point and note the unity, mixed marriages, mixed families, students of all races standing together for a common cause. See the colour-blind children of South Africa. Observe keenly the pain and suffering of the poor, with their lack of role models and inefficient education. Take note of the growing force that is standing up against you, to uplift the poor and bring about true equality. See the privileged communities becoming aware of their position, and using it to improve the lives of others. You didn't, so they did. Now run home, Zuma. Back to your 20th child. Back to a life of luxury and total lack of empathy. Mind you don't trip on your shoelace as you go.”

Overnight Fame
Kim says that she put her thoughts into a running context because the sport plays such a central role in her life, but the post was just something she felt like saying, given her concerns about what is happening in SA at the moment. “I am passionately pro-SA and all its beauty, diversity, and complexities, but I don't claim to know it all, and this was just a Facebook status update. I certainly did not pen something with the intention of gaining such a vast reaction, and never in a million years did I think I would be managing personal media appearances and permissions over a Facebook status update.”

“Some people sharing my post absorbed my intention and the messages I received from around SA blew me away. We're beautiful, the citizens of this crazy land, and hopeful, and so strong. Unfortunately, others turned it into something else and sprinkled it with their own agendas, but every negative comment was an opportunity for me to learn. And to those who said that I was posting from a privileged perspective – you're right, I am very privileged, compared to the vast majority of South Africans. That is what moves me to want to see change. I am also passionate about understanding our divides, and finding ways to bring us all closer together, because united we’ll thrive. We need to be cognisant of our past, and positive about our future. We need to give back, uplift and listen.”

Late to Running
Born and raised in the Western Cape, Kim moved to PE at 15 and finished her schooling there, but says she was definitely not sporty. She studied business communications after school, then started a family, moved back to Cape Town, and after her third child, a friend encouraged to her to start walking to lose the baby weight. “I entered the Knysna Forest Half Marathon, which I ran to raise money for a charity that created maternity packs for hospitals. It took me forever to finish, over three hours, but when I came in, I said to my dad I think I’m ready for Comrades!”

As Kim upped her mileage, so she found that she loved the ultras most, and today she has run Comrades twice, done the Two Oceans ultra twice, plus two Puffers and three Otters. “I have an equal love for road and trail – trail running is a spiritual place with beauty that can’t be beaten, but on the road I can just switch off and meditate through the motion. Also, I love road running because it’s one of few communities in SA that is fully integrated. Once we’re all in club kit, nobody knows how much money you have or what job you do – that can’t make you run faster.”

Mixed Reactions
Kim says that the initial media circus around her post lasted a week or two, but things soon quietened down again. Still, she says her efforts to get people thinking will not end there. “I am still getting three or four friend requests a day, and I’ve had amazing conversations with people from all over SA who wanted to converse, not fight. It was very uplifting to see how many people are willing to hold hands and run for the finish line together. That doesn't mean we must stop talking and listening, learning more about the communities around us, and letting go of the prejudices that hold us back. We need to keep running and connecting. Also, I have learnt much through the journey… including, if you write something that might catapult you to some kind of temporary internet fame, use paragraphs!”

Ed’s Note: The publication of Kim’s piece is in no way a reflection of any political views held by Modern Athlete magazine and its staff. Also note that we inserted paragraph breaks in her original Facebook post to make reading it easier.

When it comes to getting the most out of races and just enjoying being out there, few runners do it better than Caroline Lee, who seemingly has a camera glued to her right hand. – BY SEAN FALCONER

It is unlikely that Caroline Lee will ever run another personal best in a South African race. Even a fast time is improbable, because this 51-year-old anaesthetist from Johannesburg chats to everybody in races, from fellow runners through race volunteers to spectators, and takes hundreds of pics as well. “I’ve made so many friends along the way and now everybody wants to chat, even when I come down to Cape Town, and all my PBs were run overseas, including 4:00:24 in the Munich Marathon in Germany. One of my running goals is a sub-four marathon, so I was close. Then again, I did take 360 pics along the way that day,” she laughs. “I usually take a few hundred pics per race, and do about 60 races a year – some trail events I took over 1000 pics! So I have many great memories.”

What’s Up, Doc?
Caroline (51) was born in Taiwan, then moved to Africa aged 13 when her diplomat father was transferred and the family spent two years each in Lesotho and Swaziland before moving to SA. She matriculated in Bloemfontein, then studied medicine at WITS in Johannesburg, specialising to become an anaesthetist. Today she is divorced with two sons, aged 20 and 15, and operates out of various hospitals in Joburg. She also has a reflux-testing unit at Donald Gordon Hospital, attached to WITS, and it was thanks to her medical training that she kind of ‘fell’ into running in 2007.

“I was not a runner at all, but a friend was worried her husband would collapse in the Valentine’s 10km night run, because he’d recently had Achilles tendon surgery, so she asked me to run with him and keep an eye on him. We finished in 1:09 and I quite enjoyed it, and when I saw the Morningside club tent at the finish, I decided to join them. My second race, still with no training, was the Two Oceans 21, which I only ran because friends had invited me down to Cape Town for Easter. At the finish all the spectators were banging on the sideboards, so I thought I was about to miss the cut-off and I sprinted home, only to see my finishing time was 2:00:10, way under the cut-off!”

Later in the year she was hit by a truck while training for the 94.7 cycling event, so was out of action for about a year, and then in early 2009 she was involved in a car accident, but by the end of that year she was able to run two half marathons in one weekend. “The Club Captain said if I can do two 21s in one weekend, I can do a marathon, so they invited me to go with to the Kaapsehoop Marathon. I ran the first half in two hours, then walked the whole second half – couldn’t run another step – but I finished in 4:57 and qualified for Comrades. It had been a dream of mine since 16 to run the Comrades, so it only took me 30 years to fulfil, but I got my medal. Of course, I said never again, but the club told me I would not only get a second Comrades medal, but a third medal for running them back to back – and I do love my medals!”

Say Cheese!
Meanwhile Caroline had also started running overseas marathons. In 2010 she went to Amsterdam, then New York in 2011, and Berlin in 2012. “I just couldn’t resist running, and I wanted to see the world, so the two went together naturally for me. The problem was, I ran Amsterdam and couldn’t’ remember anything of the route afterwards, so in New York I carried my camera and took about 10 pics. I realised it was quite easy to run with a camera, and that’s how I became a running photographer.”

However, she doesn’t need photographs to remember her experience at the 2013 Boston Marathon. That was the year that two bombs went off right near the finish line, killing three spectators and injuring an estimated 260, and the race was immediately called off as emergency services flooded the area. “I was just 600m from the end when they went off,” says Caroline. “I heard the first one go off and thought it was a 4:00 cut-off gun, but then a second one went off 30 seconds later, so I asked a guy next to me what it was and he said he thought it was probably a cannon being fired to celebrate Patriot’s Day. Then a policeman ran in front of us and stopped us. Everybody just stopped dead, nobody tried to go past, and we stood there for close on two hours, in two degree temperatures, not knowing what was going on and still hoping to be allowed to finish. They just said there had been an incident at the finish.”

“The worst was for the runners around me, many of whom had family waiting for them at the finish line, so there was huge panic amongst the runners. By the time I got back to the hotel, it was already dark, and then I realised people back home had been panicking about me, because they had been tracking me online and my running time had me down as finishing in 4:09, the exact time the bombs went off! However, the race is run mat-to-mat with chip timing, and I was actually a little bit further back after only crossing the line a bit after the starting gun. It was a frightening experience.” But that didn’t stop Caroline going back in 2014, when the organisers invited some 5000 non-finishers from the previous year to come back and run it again, without needing to meet the normal strict qualification criteria. “They did give us a medal in 2013, but I went back and finished the race officially.”

Busy Year Ahead
Today Caroline can look back on over 8000km in race mileage, including 10 marathons in 2010, 11 in 2011, 12 in 2012 and 16 in 2013! “Ok I went a bit overboard in 2013, but not bad for somebody that does no training at all because I have no time in the week to run. My races are my training runs, and if you do two marathons in one weekend, I think that is enough for the week!” She has the Tokyo Marathon this March and will then run Comrades again later in the year, followed by the Frankfurt Marathon in October. Of course, her camera will go with to all these events…

She also has some long trail runs pencilled in. “I’ve done most of the long trail events, including the Outeniqua Quest, Cederberg Challenge, and the Mutter in the Drakensberg, but there are others I still want to do, like Blade Canyon, and the AfricanX is on my bucket list – when I can find somebody slow enough to run at my pace, and who doesn’t mind stopping for me to take hundreds of pics!”

It’s been years since US-based Colleen De Reuck competed in a South African running event, but on 26 March she will line up for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, thanks to sponsors KPMG, and then in May she will take on the Comrades Marathon, to finally run two of her all-time bucket list races, and make one of the most anticipated ultra-marathoning debuts in the history of SA road running! – BY SEAN FALCONER

She’s a four-time Olympian, a World Cross Country Champs bronze medallist, holder of two former world records, winner of Big City marathons in Europe and the USA, as well as holder of multiple SA and US titles, and can even lay claim to being an age-group World Champion at both IRONMAN distances, but now Colleen De Reuck (52) is set to finally take on the two biggest ultra-marathon races in her mother country. Naturally, the pundits can’t wait to see how she goes, but she is taking it all in her stride, simply saying that she has always wanted to run both races.

“My husband Darren was fourth in the Two Oceans Marathon in 1992, and my brother Colin was 10th the previous year, and my sister-in-law Kerry also ran it in 1991. In the Comrades, my Dad, Frank, ran it 15 times – we used to second him along the route – and Colin has four medals, including a gold for seventh place in 1995, while Kerry also earned a medal in 1992, so both races have always been a family affair. Recently I spoke to Helen Lucre, telling her I was interested in running them and asking if she knew of any clubs who would sponsor me. She put feelers out, spoke to Bob De La Motte, and next thing I was invited to come over by KPMG. They’re sponsoring me and I will be running for them, so I am very fortunate.”

Having grown up in KwaZulu-Natal, Colleen says she understands the incredible history of the Comrades, and that running it is a real achievement in most people’s eyes. “One year Colin and Kerry moved into a new house, so Darren and I visited for a house-warming party. Now that year Colin, Darren and I had all made the KZN Marathon Champs team, but when the new neighbours heard Kerry was training for Comrades, she was the instant hero of the day. Now I will finally be able to say I also did it!” she jokes.

World Class Talent
Colleen is one of the best female long distance athletes ever produced by South Africa. Over 10km, she has the second-fastest time at 31:16, just three seconds slower than Elana Meyer’s SA Record, and she has the sixth-fastest 15km time at 48:19 and tenth-fastest time over 21.1km at 68:38, with only Elana having ever gone faster. In the marathon, Colleen’s best is the 2:26:35 she ran to win the Berlin Marathon in 1996, which was on a record-legal unaided course, whereas Elana’s SA Record 2:25:15 was run on the aided Boston Marathon course. Colleen also won the Honolulu Marathon in 1995.

Unfortunately, the first 10 years of Colleen’s running career were limited to competing only within South Africa due to the country’s expulsion from international sport during the Apartheid years, but in 1992 she finally got her chance on the world stage at the Barcelona Olympics, finishing ninth in the women’s marathon. In 1996 she ran the 10,000m at the Atlanta Games and finished 13th in the final, followed by 31st in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Games. She also placed fourth in the 1995 World Half Marathon Champs, was eighth in the 1997 World Champs 10,000m final, and 15th in the 1998 World Cross Country Champs.

Having moved to Boulder, Colorado in the USA in the early 90s so she could pursue a pro career in running, Colleen and Darren became US citizens in December 2000, and she brought home individual bronze and team silver medals for her adopted country at the 2002 World Cross Country Champs in Ireland, as well as a team bronze in Switzerland the following year. Then in 2004 she won the US Olympic Trials Marathon to qualify for the Athens Games, where she finished 39th in the marathon, and also won the US Cross Country Champs in 2004 and 2005. Back on the road, she finished fourth in the 2005 Chicago Marathon, eighth in the 2009 Boston Marathon, and won the 2010 Copenhagen Marathon.

While Colleen had an amazing career before she turned 40, including world record times over 10 miles and 20km, she posted some of her most impressive results after turning 40, setting 10 American masters records, including a 1:16:19 half marathon and 2:30:51 marathon when she was 46, and was voted the 2009 Master’s Athlete of the Year by USA Track & Field magazine. In 2012 she also turned to triathlon, winning an IRONMAN 70.3 age-group World Title in 2013 in Las Vegas, then adding a full IRONMAN age-group World Title in Hawaii last year, with a marathon run leg of 3:19:09, the 18th fastest among all female competitors on the day!

In Fine Form
On 13 February this year, Colleen ran in the 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials race in Los Angeles, which she qualified for by winning the 2013 Indianapolis Marathon in 2:39:22. Even though now much older than most of her competitors and unlikely to qualify for the Rio Games, just being invited to the Trials is a huge honour in American running, so Colleen says she wanted to race it – and it would be great training ahead of Two Oceans and Comrades. Colleen duly clocked an impressive 2:49:57 in very hot conditions, and says “I’m in good shape, so now I hope to keep it going to Two Oceans, then step it up to Comrades. I don’t think it would be wise for me to race both, so Oceans will be a build-up for Comrades, but I am a competitive athlete, so when the gun fires, we’ll see what happens.”

Looking ahead, Colleen says her plan is just to keep fit and healthy, as her top level competitive days are behind her now, and she is focused on her career as a personal trainer. “It’s nice to compete, not just train, but I had originally decided that I didn’t want to race any more, because I was getting slower and it was not fun any more. However, running is part of my lifestyle, and Two Oceans and Comrades have given me a new goal and put the spark back into my running.”

“I’m also really looking forward to coming back to South Africa because it’s been two years since our last visit. My mum will be coming down to Cape Town, and we’ve plenty of family and friends to catch up with when we go to Durban. We might not live in South Africa anymore, but my daughters Tasmin and Tara tease me about some of the words I still use, like ‘petrol’ instead of ‘gas’ for the car, and I still say ‘ja’ now and again. In some ways, I will always be a South African.”

Running has always meant a lot to me, so when I met the man of my dreams through running and we could share running as well, it made me so incredibly happy. – BY NANDI ZALOUMIS-MITCHELL

My running is my closest friend, my counsellor and my confidante. Running is who I turn to in dark times, and also in times of joy. I am running, and it is me. That’s because running saved me when I was a teen suffering the depths of despair as an anorexic. It was my freedom to just be me. Running never judged me. As I grew stronger and was able to gain control over the anorexia, my running remained a vital part of my recovery, and to this day is a constant in my world.

I know that I run faster than my daily challenges and problems, because after a run it takes them a while to catch up to me. I am also inspired by the strong women at the sharp end of the field who do not make excuses in times of adversity and when training is difficult. They simply find a way to get out and make the sacrifices necessary to be a top runner. That motivates me to run 80 to 90km per week, enjoying both trail and road running, and I have now run the Comrades Marathon on two occasions, clocking a 10:19 in 2014 and an 8:40 in 2015. I have also run the Maritzburg Marathon and the Mandela Day Marathon, and I traditionally do a New Year’s long run as well, and this year I did 65km.

Best Running Shoes Ever!
I met my love through running and we were married in October. Jody has also run the Comrades, and he knows how much running means to me. That even inspired his proposal. We went into the Nike Store at Gateway Mall and there was a surprise waiting for me: A pair of customised shoes, with the words “I Love” on the right shoe and “Nandi” on the other, along with a stunning diamond ring tied to the laces. He proposed to me right there in the store!

Our shared love of running is amazing, as it gives us the opportunity to share our sport and be the best partners we can be to each other. We start our day together with a 4am run, and on most afternoons we also run a few kilometres on the trails together. Our world would not be the same without running, and I know that running will still take us on many adventures together, and that we are going to see amazing places, share special moments and meet new friends along the way.

No Horsing Around
We were married in October, which turned into quite an adventure in itself. We planned a Saturday morning 5:30am sunrise ceremony on Mpate Mountain just outside Dundee, where we run each morning, thinking it would be the perfect time and place to share with our family and friends, some of whom flew out from the States and Australia for the wedding. Then on the Friday afternoon I was washing my one horse when he kicked me, shattering my arm in four places and dislocating my elbow. I was rushed to Newcastle for emergency surgery and the doctors told us to reconsider the wedding, as I would only be released the next morning.

So we phoned around to postpone the ceremony, and when I was discharged at 7:30am, we still had the reception at 9:30, which carried on through the day, and then we had the wedding ceremony on the Sunday at 5:30am. I had planned it as a weekend away for many of the guests, including an early morning run on Sunday, so luckily quite a few could stay for the ceremony. It was simple, no chairs, misty conditions on the mountain, my mother played the flute for my wedding entrance, and it all went well, but I have to be honest, I don’t remember that much due to the morphine I was on for the pain!

Stronger Than Ever
Two weeks later I started running again, against the doctor’s wishes – they ended up replacing my cast twice due to it stinking so much from sweat – and funnily enough, I ran my fastest marathon in training just after that, so two weeks off did me the world of good! Now my goal is to get my marathon time under three hours, and after that I want to get as close to a silver medal as I can at Comrades.