Category: Features

Para-triathlete Stan Andrews tells his inspiring story, from growing up with a deformity to aspiring to get to the 2016 Paralympics. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Born with a deformed right foot and under-developed leg, Stan says that he faced challenges from day one, but his family raised him to believe that he was no different to other kids. “Obviously, my childhood involved a fair amount of bullying and exclusion, because as kids, not everyone wants to be friends with the kid who has a 'stupid leg,’ but that allowed me to develop a great amount of resilience, which has always played a beneficial role in my life.”

At age seven, the doctors recommended that his foot be amputated, as they were worried that it may limit him later in life, and he says it was a life-changer. “The best decision ever, as far as I am concerned.” Fast-forward to 2011 and Stan says after another failed relationship, he decided one afternoon that he needed to do something for himself. “I needed direction, so I decided that I would set myself three goals, a small one (swim the Midmar Mile), medium one (complete the 94.7 cycle race) and an impossible one (summit Mount Kilimanjaro).”

“As fate would have it, I was lucky enough to win a competition which gave me the funding to climb that mountain, and 21 September 2012 saw me standing on top of the world's highest freestanding mountain. I had done it! Naturally, once back, the pressure was on to now achieve the next goal, so on a borrowed mountain bike, with little over a month of training, the 15th of November saw me finish the cycle race after 4 hours 45 minutes of pure torture. The following February I had no option but to throw myself into the Midmar Dam and complete that swim. This all made me believe that the world really was now my oyster and that I was unstoppable!”

New Challenge, Please
That got Stan looking for his next challenge, and after meeting American para-triathlete Levi Kane early in 2013, who suggested he take on a triathlon, he did some research and decided that he wanted to be an Ironman! In November that year, Stan participated in his first triathlon, the 5150 African Champs. “Wow, I managed to complete it in a time of 3:42, and I had achieved another milestone. Then, packing up after the race, Kevin Garwoood, who is well known in the triathlon scene, approached me and suggested that instead of chasing the Ironman dream, I should rather see if I could perhaps make my way to the Paralympics in Rio 2016, where triathlon will make its debut. Honestly, I thought he was crazy, but I decided to research it anyway.”

A month later Stan qualified for the Provincial Championships, then went on to win his PT4 para-category at the National Championships in East London. “Unfortunately, due to a lack of events, I was unable to qualify to go to the Grand Final that year, but 2014 and 2015 have seen me improve even more, and I have been able to represent South Africa on several occasions. The highlight of the year so far was winning the African Continental Championships in Egypt in May. I have also taken part in various other international events, the most recent being the Paralympic test event held in Rio de Janeiro.”

Look at Me Now!
Now, with selection for the Paralympics looking good, Stan says he is really pleased with how far he’s come in a short time. “Just to put things in perspective, when I was training for the Kilimanjaro expedition, my 5km run time was 37 minutes, with some walking. My current 5km PB, after a 750m swim and 20km cycle, is 21:15. I just love running! And I hope that my story will inspire people who may have the attitude that running is impossible for them. It does not matter how slow you run, at least you are moving forward – and you are still faster than any person on the couch!”

You can follow Stan’s journey to Rio 2016 at www.facebook.com/oneleggedlegend or @stumpy_stan on twitter.

With the 2015 SA Half Marathon title to his name, Lucky Mohale is now gearing up for another shot at World Champs glory next year in Wales, and he says he is determined to do better than in past attempts. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Lucky Modike Mohale obviously enjoys running in Port Elizabeth: He won the SA Half Marathon Champs title there in 2010, and at the end of July he added a second 21km national title in the Windy City. The 30-year-old flyer from Thembisa in Gauteng came home in 1:02:06, pushed all the way to the line by Central Gauteng team mate Mbongeni Nxazozo, to claim his third national title, having also won the SA 10km Champs in 2011 in Germiston. “The weather at last year’s 21km Champs race was very bad, so I struggled and only finished fourth, but this year it was perfect, so I enjoyed the race much more,” says Lucky.

The win in PE capped a very successful year so far in half marathons for Lucky. He won the Dis-Chem Half in January in 1:07:40, having frustratingly finished in the top five in the previous three editions of the race, and then in April he set a new course record in the Birchwood Half, winning comfortably in 1:06:48. He also added another course record at the Adrienne Hersch Challenge in May, coming home in 1:07:05, one second faster than the previous record.

Wales Ticket Booked
The national title means that Lucky now automatically qualifies for the SA Team for the World Half Marathon Champs in Cardiff, Wales in March 2016, and he says that will be his next big goal. It will be the fifth time he represents his country, having previously run in the 2006 World Cross Country Champs in Fukuoka, Japan, where he finished 99th, followed by the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, where he was selected for the SA marathon team and came home a disappointing 49th in 2:38:22. Then came the World Half Marathon Champs in Kavarna, Bulgaria in 2012, where Lucky once again finished 49th, clocking 1:07:17, and that was followed by his selection for the 2013 Africa Southern Region Cross Country Champs, where he finished 20th in the 12km race. To his credit, he says he still has to prove his worth to the SA team at the highest level.

“I have always been proud to represent my country, but I was not happy about my performances in SA colours, so I have changed the intensity of my training programme in order to run better at the next World Champs. My plans now are to run the Cape Town Marathon at the end of September and hopefully qualify for the SA marathon team for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and then I will focus on the shorter distances as I prepare for the World Half Marathon Champs.”

Star Potential
Lucky started running at the end of 2003, when he moved to Gauteng from the Limpopo Province. By early 2004 he was running races, and by 2005 he was regularly winning the junior category at races. Ten years later he is 30 years old, married with two young kids, a full-time athlete running for the Boxer Club, and still a regular on the podium at most of his races. He made his marathon debut in Cassablanca, Morocco in 2010 with a fifth-placed 2:13:35, which remains his PB. He was also third in the 2013 Sydney Marathon in Australia in 2:15:58, and finished second in the SA Marathon Champs race in 2013 with a 2:19:38.

Looking further ahead, Lucky says he sees his long-term future in the sport. “I want to help with the development of athletes in the rural areas all over the country, and to help them reach the top level as well, so I see my future as a coach, but my focus now is on my own running. Whether I go to Rio or not, my plan is to focus on the 21km and the marathon in the next few years – I have no plans to run ultras. You can’t just run for money, so I’m planning to run faster times, and the money will come after that.”

Lucky’s PBs
10km 28:31
15km 44:56
21.1km 1:01:08
42.1km 2:13:35

When Wayde van Niekerk looks back on 2015, he’ll probably describe it as the year he arrived. He had already established himself as one of the world’s best in the 400m sprint, but this year the 23-year-old Bloemfontein-based sprinter has not only rewritten the record books, but also claimed the world crown in the 400m sprint at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing – even if it did once again leave him lying shattered on the track. – BY SEAN FALCONER

The 400m final of the 2015 World Champs ended on a worrying note for South African fans watching on television. First came the elation of watching Wayde van Niekerk power home to take the gold medal in a world class 43.48 seconds, ahead of former World Champ LaShawn Merrit of the USA (43.65) and Olympic and Commonwealth Champ Kirani James of Grenada (43.78), giving South Africa its first ever World Champion in a sprint event and making Wayde the first African athlete to dip under 44 seconds and the fourth-fastest one-lap sprinter of all time, just a mere three tenths of a second away from Michael Johnson’s World Record of 43.18, in the first race ever to feature three men dipping under 44 seconds. Then followed despair as we saw our new World Champ collapse on the track and be wheeled off to hospital on a stretcher.

Fortunately, there was nothing serious the matter with Wayde – he was simply totally exhausted after his gold-medal effort. The 400m is renowned for being one of the most brutal track events, as the body basically starts shutting down towards the end of the race, and according to Wayde’s coach, Anna ‘Tannie Ans’ Botha, it is normal for Wayde to leave it all out on the track, as he did in Beijing. “When he goes into a race like that, he absolutely gives it his all,” she says. “He gets very nauseous after he runs fast races, so it’s normal, even though he fights the thought of throwing up.”

By the following day, having been discharged from hospital in the early hours of the morning, Wayde returned to the Bird’s Nest Stadium to collect his gold medal, and in a post-ceremony interview, he finally got to tell the world about his race, which he described as nerve-wracking. “I might have looked composed on the track, but just lying on my bed the night before the race was not the best feeling ever. I sang the national anthem to myself to fall asleep… In the race, I knew that I had a quality athlete like LaShawn Merritt on the outside of me and I had to catch up with him as soon as possible. When I hit the 200-metre line, more or less, I saw that I had a slight advantage and I just started praying, asking God to not let go of me. I started pushing harder and harder, but the last 50 metres my legs just started sinking in. But I just had to keep on fighting.”

Born to Run
Wayde was born in Cape Town and later moved to Bloemfontein, where he attended Grey College before going on to study marketing at the University of the Free State. He says his love of sport started at a young age due to his family being very sporty. “I was always playing games in the streets, parks and at school, with my cousins and friends. As a kid, I tried everything – tennis, rugby, athletics and squash. You name it, I tried it! Eventually, in high school, I pursued athletics and my teacher referred me to a coach where I improved and started growing in the sport. That’s when my dreams and goals started to develop into something more.”

The build-up to that glorious moment in Beijing really started in 2013 when Wayde changed his focus from the 200m to the 400m, having earlier also been a high-jumper. He had finished fourth in the 200m at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Canada, and then blitzed to a 20.57 time to claim the SA 200m title in 2011, but persistent hamstring problems meant that explosive sprinting put too much pressure on his legs. The solution was simple: Tannie Ans suggested he run some 400m races, to improve his endurance and recovery training. The rest as, they say, is history.

One-lap Wonder
He soon brought his 400m PB down from 46.43 to 45.09 and finished the 2013 season in the world’s top 20. “It was a big surprise, as I didn’t expect to run that quickly,” says Wayde. “I was raw at the event and still in the rehab phase from the injuries, but it was also a relief, because it showed me I was stronger and finally over the injuries.” However, disappointment followed… At the 2013 Summer Universiade meet in Kazan, Russia, he just missed out on the final as the fastest non-qualifier, which was somewhat offset by helping the 4x400m relay team win bronze, and then at the 2013 World Champs in Moscow, an exhausted Wayde failed to make it past the first round heats of the 400m, the long season having left him drained of speed and power.

To fix the problem, he hit the gym: “It was the first time I’d done specific gym work – I even had a personal trainer – but the balance finally started to come together. The work I did helped condition me for the next long, hard season, and being able to handle three rounds in a championship,” he says. That saw him dip below 45 seconds for the first time early in 2014 as he clocked 44.92 to win the SA title, and then in June he stepped it up by running 44.38 at the New York Diamond League meet, to shatter the 15-year-old South African record of 44.59, long co-held by Arnaud Malherbe and Hendrick Mokganyetsi. “It had been a goal of mine to beat the record and the run was a blessing. I went out feeling extremely nervous, but then the race started and before I knew it, I was in front with LaShawn Merritt. I held on as long as I possibly could. It’s only then that I realised I got the national record!”

He then anchored the African team to victory in the 4x400m relay at the Continental Cup, holding off the charge of European Champion Martin Rooney, and while trying to recover from that race, he met one of his idols, Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic. Having won the 400m Hurdles World Champs titles in 2001 and 2003 as well as the Olympic title in 2004, Felix had returned from long-term injury to regain his Olympic title at the 2012 London Olympics, so Wayde felt he had something in common with the great man, and they ended up sharing notes on how to handle the severe pain and fatigue of a single-lap sprint. “I was actually lying on the floor throwing up when he came up to me and congratulated me on my run! Even though I felt like I was dying, it was a special moment for me. He even advised me on how I should handle such a thing!” That sparked a friendship that continues today.

Medals and Records
Wayde moved on to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and won the silver medal behind Kirani James, clocking 44.68, and less than two weeks later won another silver in the African Champs in Morocco. In Glasgow, he once again found himself feeling shattered after giving it his all in the final, and says he could barely join the traditional victory lap. “The same thing happened in that I took a while to recover from the severe fatigue. I managed to eventually grab a flag and get a few pictures with some of the guys who supported me, but I don’t think I even went on a victory lap. After about ten minutes or so I had to suck it up, because I had quite a few interviews waiting for me.”

While 2014 was a great year for Wayde, it was just a precursor of still greater things to come in 2015. In June he clocked 31.63 over the seldom-raced 300m distance at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham in the UK, setting a new SA and African record. He followed that up with another SA 400m record, 44.24, in the New York Diamond League meet, and then in July he became the first South African to dip under 44 seconds as he crossed the line in 43.96 at the Paris leg of the Diamond League, setting a new SA and African record, and handing Kirani his first loss of the year. And still Wayde was not done: Returning to the 200m, he became the first SA sprinter to dip under 20 seconds, clocking 19.94 to be beat Anaso Jobodwana’s still new SA record of 20.04.

More to Come…
Speaking after his 44.24 run, Wayde said, “It wasn’t easy, but I think I planned it well and really felt good in the last 200m. The first 200m was a bit relaxed, but that meant I saved a lot for the last 200m. Still, I feel there’s definitely still room for improvement, and my goal for the rest of 2015 is to continue pushing myself to improve. I hope this was just the beginning of great things ahead for me.” How true those words would turn out to be, come the Beijing World Champs. Now, with the World Champs title to his name, Wayde says a gold medal at the Rio Olympics next year is his next big goal, and beating that long-standing World Record could be on the horizon as well. “My goal is to try to get better with each and every race, so if that means the World Record will be mine at the end of the day, I'll just be thankful and grateful to the Lord that he gave it to me.”

Having recently returned from a first European tour to race on the international triathlon circuit, 25-year-old Boksburg-based elite Lauren Dance sat down to answer a few questions on her love of the tri life. – BY SEAN FALCONER

MA: You took up triathlon at 18, with a background in swimming, athletics, lifesaving and biathlon. Was triathlon just the logical next step?
Lauren: I had always been active, so my parents got me involved in as many sports as possible to keep me busy and motivated. I was generally athletic and found I was pretty good at most sports, I loved being outdoors, and I was ultra competitive. When I was 17 going on 18 a family friend, Herman Steyn, who is involved in cycling, said I should give triathlon a try and organised me my first racing bicycle. I did my first tri with no training at all, and by luck met my current coach, Mike Moriarty, that day, but it was the hardest thing I had ever done, and I thought I will never do that to myself again. A few months later Mike contacted me and asked if I would like to give it a go, as he saw potential. I decided to try and turns out it was the best decision of my life… I found out what hard work and perseverance are, and what it’s like to have someone believe in you and test your limits every day. Triathlon is now my sole focus. It has grabbed my heart like nothing before.

MA: You won the junior category of your next race, at the old Energade Series. Did that light the fire in your belly to really give tri a go?
Lauren: That was the first proper tri I did after five months of coaching with Mike, and that lit a huge bonfire in my belly, as I started to see rewards for my hard work. I also realised how much more work I needed to do to be good, which was really motivating, because I was used to sport coming pretty easy for me, but this was hard. Mike was always very positive, so every training session and race he was always leading me to believe in my ability. Having a coach that is so passionate about what he does and believes in my big dreams is a real blessing, and makes the hard graft possible.

MA: What do you rate as the highlight of your tri career thus far? You were SA u23 Champ in 2011, and brought home a win in the junior section of the European Cup in Turkey, but what about more recent results?
Lauren: Wow, those results seem like a lifetime ago, but they are definitely highlights. When things get tough, I often think about those races to get me going again. Last year I came second in the African Championships in Zimbabwe, which is another highlight, and at the beginning of this year I had a really good race in Cape Town at the Africa Cup, coming second again, but I had made a few personal mini-breakthroughs that stand out for me.

MA: You’ve just returned from racing on the European Circuit. Tell us about the experience.
Lauren: I did a couple of ITU races and then a 5150 race. After my breakthrough race in February, I was in the best form of my life, mentally, physically and emotionally, and was planning a big season ahead. However, the day before SA Champs I went for a warm-up activation run and tripped over the pavement, twisted my ankle and tore a ligament in the process. The next few months proved the most testing, battling to stay fit, and I also struggled with bad bouts of flu and bronchitis. So this European tour was my first racing in five months and served as a big test for me. I was just super excited to be racing again, knowing that I was there for four weeks and would be able to work on my race fitness and training intensity.

The first race was a massive shock to the system, however, because the level of European racing is out of this world, but that motivated me to get back to decent training so that I would be at a competitive level by the time I got to race the Tiszauvjaros World Cup event. I was feeling ready for that, but the race turned out to be bitter-sweet. I had a decent swim to get me into a bike pack, then I worked hard on the bike and bridged the gap to the second pack and then also the lead pack, and for the first time in my tri career I was in the lead pack of an international race. However, a lack of experience cost me, because working much too hard on the bike in 36-degree heat proved fatal for my run. I watched the lead bunch of girls run away from me with no comeback in my body, and I ended the race unconscious in the medical tent with heat exhaustion. It was the best-worst race of my life, marking significant improvements and confirming belief in me, but inexperience ruining any chance of a lifetime best performance against some of the best athletes in the world.

MA: You’ve already represented SA at World Champs, African Champs, the All Africa Games and World Cup events. What does wearing national colours mean to you?
Lauren: Representing your country never loses its magic, and racing at the big events is both special and the most terrifying thing at the same time. I love that and crave that feeling.

MA: You studied sport psychology at the University of Johannesburg and are now busy with your Honours in sport science, but you’re also racing full-time. How do you fit it all in?
Lauren: I am extremely lucky that UJ supports me so much and has allowed me to finish my degree part-time, giving me enough time for training and racing while still passing, so I will still be finishing my studies next year. After that I will need to look at ways in which to pay for my tri dreams. At the moment I am fortunate to have some solid people and brands that are supporting me, allowing me to pursue my goals: M.A.D. Multisport, Schaldor Plastics, ASG Sport Solutions – Pinarello and Rudy Project, Irwin Wheelsets, and XTERRA Wetsuits.

MA: What about hopes and dreams – I would imagine the Olympics feature high on your bucket list?
Lauren: My aim is to be able to fulfil my potential, which will hopefully be good enough for an Olympic Games or two, as well as Commonwealth Games. I do, however, look forward to racing the longer distances, like 70.3, when I am ready to make the move up.

We took our #RunClean campaign to social media and were blown away by the response from runners… but we know this is just the first step in a very long battle to promote a cleaner sport and try to eradicate the litter problem in our races. – COMPILED BY SEAN FALCONER

We Support the Campaign!
Tanya Timms: Ooooh, litter pee's me off something chronic!
Jannie Visser: There are always bins provided, so why not use them? If we can make a small effort, it will make clean-up so much better for others…
Barbara Foot: It annoys me no end – apart from all the other litter in the country that drives me insane!
Linda Doke: Plastic is toxic, and the repercussions of the damage it causes ripple through the food chain.
Peter Swanepoel: The number of times I have seen runners purposely aim to throw a sachet into a drain is beyond ridiculous!
Lisa De Speville: There is absolutely no good reason to litter at road races. Participation in a road race doesn't mean that you have permission to be a litter-bug. Good one, Modern Athlete!

We #RunClean already
Demitri Baroutsos: Only three sides of my ASA number on the front are sewn, so it acts as a pocket. If I can't drop my sachet in a bin, I stick it in there and run with it till the end of the race – it's not like it's heavy or impeding my run in any way.
Rene Mitchell: It doesn't take much effort to carry your empty water bag to the next water point and toss it in their bins… that is what I always do. Just plain lazy tossing it on the road.
Johan Grassman: I simply carry all my rubbish with me in my licence number ‘pocket’ that is sewn onto my running vest.
Wayde Kennedy: Think I'll also commit to picking up at least one or two bits of litter/rubbish at every race I do…

Been there, cleaned that…
Denise Dippenaar: I have helped out at my club run at a water table many times. You will not believe how far we have to walk to retrieve sachets and other items runners have thrown willy-nilly into bushes, etc.
Francis Rogan: I have worked at water tables and I don't mind picking up litter around the table, but very annoying to do it past the water point just because someone couldn't be bothered to hold onto their sachet. I always say, “If you can carry it full then you can carry it empty.”

Lecturing the Litterbugs
Johan Grassman: Spoilt brats. If you want to drink the water, then you are responsible for disposing of your sachet properly. Littering on the road or next to it should never be acceptable, whether you are in a race or not. You want the privilege of waterpoints, then accept the responsibility that comes with it. Stop mollycoddling the litterbugs.
Ruth Cameron: As a technical official I have spoken to people many times. The bags are so light to carry with you. Some runners are just ridiculous!
Glynis Mauldon: While running the Easter 100 with my friends, we spoke to some runners for throwing sachets in the bushes, or down stormwater drains. Nine times out of 10 we were laughed at and told, “Someone will pick it up.” Time to fine runners, because I am sure they don't do this at home.
Janine Nagel: Runners/walkers and cyclists, you found a clean path, so keep it that way please.

Trail Runners (supposedly) do it better
Torrin Theron-Visser: If a trail runner can use a hydration pack or waist belt and not litter, then so can a roadrunner!
Sue-Ann Fourie: Trail runners aren't as innocent as they are made out to be – if they didn't run with their own supply, I guarantee you we'd see a similar problem on the trails. I picked up eight empty energy sachets on Sunday in a trail race… so I'll add the litterbugs to my list of reasons for coming in 11th from dead last.
Alexis Olds: Not all road runners litter and not all trail runners are clean, but I do think it's high time we change the water sachet/littering mentality at races.

Learn from Triathlon
Petro Neethling: Coming from a triathlon background, where we are DQ'd for littering outside of a non-litter zone, it has become second nature to keep the empty water sachet or fuel wrapper in my shirt pocket and only discard at bins provided.
Christelle van Rooyen: I've learnt from Ironman to stash my trash. If you so much as throw away a banana peel and get caught, you get DQed.

The Pessimists…
Andries Kroese: Haha, can't see the front speed freaks cleaning up, but I certainly support the idea. It’s just too messy.
Tiaan Conradie: I just don't get it, why do we need a campaign to remind runners not to litter? How hard is it to either drop your sachet at the water table itself or put it in your pocket until you get to the next table or a bin?
Tracey McKay: This is excellent, but good luck trying to get runners to actually do it! We have a culture now of littering!

Cleaning Crews, Please
Tanya Timms: I think the point of the story is for the runners to be more pro-active in this approach and not give the organisers back-breaking work that is not necessary.
Natelie Kriel: I think runners just assume that the route will be cleared by the organisers/waterpoint stations – that if you are paying to run a race, you would assume that your fees would go towards cleaning. As a fun run organiser, we hire cleaners to walk the route during and after the race, and then re-ride the route to double-check it’s all clear. And by hiring cleaners (at a minimal cost), it really does help job creation, too.
Luzuko Ntissa: As much as I expect race organisers, with the entry fee, to hires cleaners, as runners we must still do our bit.

Useful suggestions
Margi Eksteen: Let runners carry their own water at races… problem solved!
Val Opperman: #RunClean is a great initiative, but if I could just suggest that the dustbins be spaced out a bit more AFTER the tables, not at the table, or like the one marathon I did, BEFORE the tables
At Schoeman: Clubs should announce it at all road races!
Gillian Grobbelaar: I have seen a bin idea that they use up in Johannesburg that had a sail type of backing to it, so the idea was that you throw your rubbish at the sail and it slips into the bin. Was easier to get the rubbish into the bin, and created a novel idea that everybody wanted to try out, and thus less litter.
Armandt Van Den Berg: A bin at each kilometre marker would help loads. A lot of people carry water sachets with them and take a sip on every kay.
Sue-Ann Fourie: Peeps need to take a photo of their empty sachets on their coffee table when they get home.

We would love to hear from you about your efforts to #RunClean, so send your letters, photographs or ideas to [email protected].

And think before you throw – #RunClean!

The six-day 250km Marathon des Sables (MdS) in the Sahara Desert of southern Morocco is considered the toughest foot race in the world. Athletes must carry all their food and equipment, the heat can reach 50 degrees, sand gets into everything, blisters are par for the course, and just finishing is a major achievement. This year was the 30th edition, with the largest ever field of 1300 runners, and part of that field was the South African couple, Genis and Tanya Pieterse of Johannesburg, and after reading Genis’ epic five-part race blog, we decided to publish a few extracts here. – EDITED BY SEAN FALCONER

Pre-race: Excitement and Concern
Our journey to the MdS began in May 2014, when Tanya had already completed both Addo Elephant Trail Runs, the 44km in 2013, which we ran together as my final long run for the 2013 MdS, and the longer 76km in 2014. It had been great to see my angel’s progress from not being able to run around the block in mid-2012, but our journey also exposed her fear of heights, and our real concern, her diagnosed Neurological Pain Syndrome (also referred to as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS), which was only discovered after she fell in the 2013 Addo run. CRPS causes prolonged pain, swelling and inflammation, and in Tanya’s case it is triggered by high temperatures, direct sunlight, or placing any load on her neck or shoulders, and I knew that the MdS had all those conditions from 8am until 6pm for seven days in a row! After months of research and numerous discussions with physicians, a medical plan of action was established, which included medication to prevent Tanya’s CRPS from flaring up, and to manage it if it did.

Day 1: 36.2km
We settled into what would become routine for the race, every kilometre I would remind Tanya to drink and to eat, but her difficulty in swallowing, which had started the night before, seemed to persist. Over the next few days this would become a major source of concern, especially when she became nauseous at the end of day one due to the onset of menstruation. Between CP1 and CP2 we had the pleasure of spending some time with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and seeing that we were from South Africa, he began singing O Die Donkie, an Afrikaans song he knew from when he went to school in South Africa. Everyone was finding the dunes a little difficult and I said, “Don’t worry, everything eventually comes to an end,” to which he replied, “That is not correct, the kindness of a good woman never does.” I will remember those words of wisdom for the rest of my life.

Day 2: 31.1km
This was the day that truly scared me. For the most part, Tanya’s fear of heights was under control, but today was going to be the acid test with three major jebels (mountains) to climb. The distance from the CP2 to the summit of Jebel El Otfal is only 2.1km, but it took nearly two hours to complete the 250m vertical ascent (the equivalent of an 80-story building). Little by little we ascended this massive mountain until we stood on the summit, and there was relief and urgency at the same time. That night eating was again a problem, with Tanya finding it difficult to swallow, and I was concerned when I realised how little she had drunk over two days.

Day 3: 36.7km
Tanya’s lack of hydration and nutritional intake was a real concern, and with having her period at the same time, additional strain would be placed on various vitamins and minerals which would compound the shortfall she already experienced due to CRPS. However, what we didn’t know at the time was that her B12 deficiency could cause hallucinations, vision problems, difficulty swallowing and some digestive problems, while her CRPS medication, under stressful circumstances, could cause difficulty with swallowing, blurred vision, and lower back or side pain combined with hallucinations. So without us knowing it, the stress of the event, Tanya’s health issues and the medicine we hoped would help her, combined to create a disaster of epic proportions, and it was racing our way at full speed.

Day 4/5: 91.7km
My beautiful wife was becoming increasingly concerned with the state of her hair, being convinced that there would be no way to get the knots out, and that cutting it all off would be the only solution. I assured her that once we were back at the hotel, I would wash, condition and blow dry her hear until all the knots were out. Then at about 46km, Tanya said that she can’t see that well, and later that night her vision deteriorated even further and she started to hallucinate, then a sandstorm hit us and she found it hard to keep her balance. At some point she fell, bumping her head, and by now she could see very little, Eventually we reached CP5 at 3am, which meant we had covered 63.3km, and had 17 hours left to cover the remaining 28.4km.

At 5am I helped her put on her shoes as her sight was now almost completely gone, and by 5:30am we were on our way. By 10am at CP6, Tanya was completely blind, very nauseous and had a severe pain in her groin area, so we decided that seeking medical assistance would be the best thing. Tanya was scared that the doctors would pull her from the race if she told them everything that was wrong, so it took some convincing, but eventually she agreed to see the doctors. Within minutes Tanya was hooked up to two units of fluids administered intravenously followed by a unit of glucose, but the pain in her groin became more acute. The medical team decided to administer morphine, and once it kicked in, the relief was obvious. Within 90 minutes of arriving at CP6, we were on our way again. Tanya still could not see, but at least she could swallow again and the pain was manageable. Near the finish it became apparent that news of Tanya had reached the camp, but it wasn’t until we were about 500 metres from the end that it became clear how many people were waiting for her to cross the line.

Day 6: 42.2km
During the early hours of the morning a sandstorm of biblical proportions hit the bivouac and it took me ages to de-sand everything and to get Tanya and myself ready for the day. She was looking much better, and I knew that she would do whatever was needed to get to the end. As we approached the finish, our tent-mates brought us a South African flag so that we could cross the line with it. What a moment! I wiped away some tears which were the result of the overwhelming pride and happiness I felt for my angel, knowing that she had overcome so much just to be there, let alone finish the race.

Post-race: Relaxation and Relief
A very tired Tanya arrived at the hotel and I could see that my angel needed the bath and pampering I had been promising her. I helped her wash and condition her hair and used the hairdryer to dry it while I combed out all the knots, and to much relief for both of us, my angel’s fear of having to cut-off all her hair was soon forgotten…

To read the full story, go to www.push2extreme.com. The next big adventure for Genis and Tanya will be the 6633 Ultra in the Canadian Arctic Circle in March 2017.

Young sprinter Kyle Appel has already brought home a number of medals and records at youth level, and now big things are predicted for him someday in the senior ranks. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Do a Google search for Kyle Appel and you’ll come across a YouTube video of him in action, with the title: Kyle Appel – Fastest u/15 Boy Alive 2013. In the footage, you see him winning 100m and 200m events at a local meet in Cape Town and finishing a good 20 or 30 metres clear of the rest of the field! Now the title of that video may contain some ‘poetic licence’ – it was posted by a self-confessed fan – but there is no denying that this 17-year-old from Bellville in the Cape is seriously fast!

In fact, Kyle can now claim to be the fastest SA and African 200m youth sprinter of all time, having clocked 20.57 seconds to break Gift Leotlela’s SA record by 0.06 seconds as he claimed the silver medal at the IAAF World Youth Champs in Cali, Columbia in July. (Youth competition is reserved for athletes aged 17 or under.) Earlier in the competition he was unfortunately disqualified from the 100m semi-final round after false-starting, but he made up for that with his second-place finish in the 200m, and in the process climbed to eighth on the all-time word youth list for the event.

This latest medal is a step up after his bronze in the 200m at the All Africa Youth Games in Botswana in May, where he clocked a then PB of 21.07, which in turn followed a gold medal at the Region 5 African Games in Zimbabwe last December, but Kyle says the Cali medal is definitely the highlight. “It was my first World Champs, so it was that much more special. Now I hope to do even better at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa in September, and then the World Junior Champs in Russia next year.” (Junior competition is reserved for athletes aged under 20.)

One for the Future
Unsurprisingly, big things are expected from the grade 11 pupil at Brackenfell High School, who is coached by Marcel Otto and boasts a 100m PB of 10.52 seconds. He is being touted not only as a potential medallist at the World Juniors, but long-term as a senior at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. For now, however, he is just trying to fit in his sport and his academics. “It is tough, because my school work is falling behind from touring a lot, so I’m trying to catch up with my classmates. My friends help me a lot, and the teachers do understand and also try to help.”

Kyle says he also enjoys great support from his family: “My parents have put a lot of time, effort and money into my athletics, and made a lot of sacrifices. They’re my biggest supporters, along with my small brother Cody. He’s only seven, but he trains with me every day, and I think he could be the next rising star.” His other big supporter is girlfriend Alice Adeolu, also an athlete. “She trains with me, helps to motivate me, and is always there to push me.”

Inspired by Success
Naturally, Kyle is excited about the recent spate of records and podium positions by his fellow South African sprinters. “I think SA athletics is going so well. I’ve been watching the local guys and I’m so proud of them, especially Wayde van Niekerk and his sub-20 for 200m. When he was younger he did 100s, so he has the speed to run under 20, and like him, I may move up to the 400m in the future. I raced a few 400s earlier this year, and also ran the anchor leg for our 4x400m relay team at the World Youth Champs, where we came second in the final. We were lying sixth when I took the baton and I pulled us up to second, but I found the distance a bit tiring and I’m not planning to do it again any time soon.”

He says he has not yet made up his mind what he wants to do after school, and will only decide after next year’s SA Champs. “I could turn pro after school, as I have already qualified for the European circuit, and from next year I am planning to run international meetings. My goal is to run a sub-10 for 100m, then move up and focus on 200m and 400m when I reach the senior ranks. And someday I hope to win an Olympic medal, hopefully in 2020, but right now I’m still too young to focus on Rio 2016.”

You’ll find him trundling along at the back of just about every trail run in the Cape, often with camera in hand and a big smile on his face, because Jacques Conradie absolutely loves his trail running, but not so very long ago he was considerably heavier and nowhere near fit enough to run a few metres, let alone trail ultras, and his remarkable journey to health and fitness is a story worth reading. – BY SEAN FALCONER

To say that Jacques Conradie (41) sticks out from the crowd is an understatement – he’s well over six feet tall and has a larger than life personality to go with his tallness. He also has a large figure, as he will be the first to admit. “I’ve never been a small person – even in school I was always the tallest, biggest guy around. I can’t remember a time that I’ve exactly been in good shape – the baby fat around the stomach has always seemed to hang around – and for that reason I tended to avoid photographs, always looking out of place next to the smaller, thinner people.”

He will also admit that he pretty much let himself go for many years, until November 2013, when he suffered yet another attack of gout in both legs, the worst he’d ever had. While bedridden, he says he did nothing but surf the Internet, and that was the start of a new journey to health and fitness. “Somehow I came across the Sleekgeek group on Facebook, and after spending days reading about all the transformations, I came across Ed Young’s story, which just resonated with me. I could identify with where he started and what he achieved, so there and then I decided that from the first of December 2013, I would start the Sleekgeek Reboot programme and get the shape and active life I’d never had. It seemed a daunting task, but my mind finally seemed to have found the point where it had had enough of my body and bad habits.”

Totally Inactive
Jacques says for years leading up to that moment, he had spent 90% of his day in front of a computer – he works in IT for the Forschini Group, and was a big fan of gaming – or lying on the couch watching TV. The rest of the time he was sleeping. “Very little physical activity or social interaction took place, I preferred solitude and my make-believe gaming worlds above socialising. And my diet at that stage consisted purely out of take-away meals – all family meal sizes for me alone – plus four litres of fizzy cooldrink a day!”

Overnight he cut out all the junk food and started ordering healthy meals from PaleoMonkey, and on the physical side, he took the proverbial plunge – by heading straight up Lion’s Head for a Sleekgeek group hike. “I threw myself into the deep-end with gusto, dragging my 191.4 kilograms up there, and while I only made it to the first ladder and back, I felt liberated.” The hike was just the start, and the following weekend Jacques did his first parkrun – although he refers to those first attempts at running as park crawls – and he hired a personal trainer to work with him at home, because he was still too embarrassed to be seen in a gym. But by the end of December he had already lost 13.2kg.

In January 2014 he did his first trail runs at the Spur Summer Trail Series and Dirtopia, and says he still remembers how excited he was to earn his first race medals. “I then decided that 2014 would be a year of participation – not competing, but participating, in every damn event I could find. I went for a medical check-up and they found nothing wrong with me, so I had no excuse not to throw myself into everything, and you know, I enjoyed every moment of it. During this whole process the Sleekgeek community were outstanding, as were the runners I began to meet at races! They were the cheerleaders that were missing in my previous attempts to lose weight. Failing was no longer an option, not with so many eyes upon my journey, and by the end of that second month, another 11.9kg had disappeared. I also finally conquered Lions Head on my second attempt.”

Quite the Socialite
Besides losing weight, Jacques began to undergo another big change. Having been totally reclusive for years, he now started to enjoy socialising with fellow athletes. At first it was mostly with fellow Sleekgeeks, but then with more and more other runners as well. “Every aspect of my life just became better, bit by bit. I had more energy, better sleep, more activities, and was meeting more diverse people. I think I may have gone a bit overboard on the Sleekgeek page with constant updates of my journey, but it seems that after years of hiding in the shadows, I had found a place to come out, and yes, I can talk a lot… but if that inspires just one person to do the same, it’s all worth it.”

Today, you will find Jacques lining up for just about every trail run he can find on the calendar, almost always with a camera in his hand, and his Facebook page is full of pics of himself in races, and hanging out with his many Sleekgeek and running friends. At the time of our interview in early August, he had already run 43 races for the year, and it would have been even more if not for an ankle injury in February that put him out of action for a few weeks (and caused him to miss 15 events), and which has recently caused a new niggles.

“I think I unconsciously compensate on the right leg to save the left ankle. Also, before the injury I used to be totally free on downhills – gravity was in my favour, so I didn’t really have a choice, I just had to run! Uphills, not so much… but now I am leaning back more on the downhills, not just going for it, which puts more strain on the leg. And because I just kept running instead of having it looked at immediately, I have been running with this niggle for the last month and a half. But you know us runners… unless we’re on our deathbed, we will ignore injuries. In my case, I think it is because of the gung-ho way I went into running. I’m just going out there to enjoy it.”

High Mileage Junkie
Despite the niggle, he is still clocking up the race mileage, and he says his original target of 100 races for the year is still a possibility, but will be harder now. “Racing is just so much fun. For me there is nothing better than getting out on a Saturday and a Sunday, in a different area or on a different mountain each time. It is just awesome. Keep in mind that I use the term racing very loosely here. I wouldn’t call what I do racing, except on the downhills, but it motivates you to get up, knowing you have a race to go do with awesome people.”

And when it comes to the races he chooses, they are almost always on trail, as he doesn’t enjoy the road runs nearly as much. “To be honest, I find the road boring, and it’s harder on the body, I did a couple of road runs last year and did another three earlier this year, but road running just doesn’t do it for me. Besides, it’s difficult not have fun on the trails, because the trail running community is very supportive, no matter where you run – even when the elites pass you on the way back to the finish and you haven’t reached halfway yet, they still greet you, and tell you well done.”

“I feel absolutely privileged to be part of this amazing community of Sleekgeeks and athletes. If it wasn’t for them, I would probably still be a hermit, playing computer games and living a life of solitude. This community has opened my eyes to the possibilities, and been the gateway to so many other amazing experiences that I would never have had. For example, I would never have dreamt I would do the Impi Challenge obstacle race – even if it was just the 6km ‘Dash,’ I still did it!

Weight Update
So, 21 months after he began his journey back to health, Jacques says he is now 50kg lighter and has lost many centimetres – and he can now buy triple XL T-shirts at Woolies that actually fit! “The weight-loss is going slow lately, but I am patient, because it took me 40 years to get where I was, so I can’t expect it to change overnight!” Besides weight-loss, his other goal is to kick his smoking habit, and he hopes to quit very soon. “Other people carbo-load before a race, I CO2-load,” he jokes. “I am actually cutting back at the moment and have tried to stop a couple of times, but it is tougher to stop smoking than it was to turn my whole life around, eat healthy and start running, to be honest. But I want to finish smoking before I run the Ultra-Trail Cape Town in October, because it does affect the running.”

Jacques is planning to run the 65km distance at the Ultra, which offers 100km and 20km options as well. He ran the short one last year and decided to step it up this year, but says his original target time was perhaps a little bit optimistic. “I planned to do it in 10 hours, until I looked at last year’s results and saw that would be put me in the top 20! So the aim now is just to finish it. That’s pretty much what I have been doing the last year and a half, anyway, just finishing races, and my aim was always just to avoid finishing last. I think that only happened at one race last year, and that’s because the people behind me took a shortcut! I don’t have the speed, but I have the endurance, and I can go and go and go.

Unsurprisingly, Jacques is often asked about his ongoing journey to health and fitness, and whether he has any advice for other people looking to start the same journey. “I always find that question very difficult to answer, because of the way I jumped into things, by just doing it. I tell people to do the same thing and just go for it. Yes, it will be difficult at times, and it is not a straight road, but I say just go out there and do it. And find a community to support you, as I found with the Sleekgeeks and runners. Everybody supports you, they have the same mentality, and it’s easy to do the right thing, eat the right food and do the exercise when you are surrounded by people doing the same thing. But most of all, believe in yourself, take that first step, and don’t worry whether you’ll finish a race, or whether you’ll be last. Just do it… for yourself, for your loved ones, and for a better quality of life.”

We’re calling on all runners to join our #RunClean campaign, because we feel very strongly about the litter problem in road running. It’s time to clean up our running act!

Here at Modern Athlete we have made it our mission to promote a cleaner sport and try to eradicate the litter problem in our races, by launching the Modern Athlete #RunClean campaign and continually reminding runners to think before they throw. Because we believe that every piece of plastic not dumped on the road is a step in the right direction, which will not only lead to less litter, but in the long run to less waste being produced by our sport.

What you can do to #RunClean
• Carry your own water in a hydration backpack or water bottle belt, so that you don’t need to use the sachets. (Some runners say it weighs them down, and thus slows them down, but trail runners seem able to run quite comfortably and quickly while carrying water, so surely road runners can also do so.)
• Don’t drop your sachets (or other refuse) in the road – always look for a bin, or carry your rubbish till you can throw it away, even if that is at the finish. It really won’t weigh you down that much, or cost you that much time to move a few metres towards a bin!
• Wear running kit with a pocket or pouch (or make one with your licence number) so you can carry rubbish to the next bin or the finish.
• If you do drop a sachet in the road, do so within easy distance of the water tables, in demarcated litter areas, not three kays up the road, so that the clean-up crew can quickly, easily and safely clean up.
• Never toss a sachet where it cannot be seen by the clean-up crew.
• On windy days, make doubly sure your litter is well disposed of in bins or rubbish bags.
• If you see fellow runners littering, try to diplomatically suggest a cleaner attitude going forwards, but avoid getting into an argument or confrontation.
• Make a point of being a cleaner runner by promoting a no littering rule, not only in your own behaviour, but also in your social media comments and interaction with fellow runners. Include #RunClean in your Tweets and Facebook posts.
• Volunteer to help clean up at a water table at an upcoming race. That should make you think twice about tossing your sachet next time…

Think before you throw – #RunClean

We would love to hear from you about your efforts to #RunClean, so send your letters, photographs or ideas to [email protected].

It began with “Luisa, we have great news for you,” the mail that informed me about my gap year placement in South Africa. So in August 2014 I came to Durbanville in the Cape and started to volunteer in a children’s home, and from the first day I enjoyed the time with the kids, but after a while I was looking for a physical challenge… – BY LOUISA ORTH

I missed the feeling of being absolutely exhausted after a rugby match or boxing session back in Germany. So I registered in the nearby gym, where I could be found on the treadmill. Starting with 2km, I was able to run 10km non-stop after two months, but after four months my improvement slowed down. I needed a goal to keep me motivated. That was when I met Jacques. He used to run the previous year, but lost it somehow, so we decided to meet for a short 5km run through town. We have run every week since, and then registered for parkrun, and eventually decided to train for a race, “just to try it out.” And so in November I finished the Edgemead 10km in a time of 57 minutes.

Hooked for life
From there my addiction grew. Just a few days after my first race I signed up for the Sanlam running club, and every weekend we are now participating in at least one race. Trail runs, road runs, orienteering… I tried everything, and half of my life is now about carbo-loading, speed training, magnesium and mindsets. It’s not just about finishing a race any more, because I am heading towards sub-44 for 10 kays, and in the 15km I have improved from 79 minutes in my first race to winning my age category prize in 71 minutes!

Now I am sure there was a reason why I got the project place in South Africa: To find my passion for running! It fulfils me incredibly to reach a goal that I have trained for, and to be part of a running community that shares the same ‘addiction’ is simply breathtaking. So even if I have to leave South Africa soon – with more running equipment and medals than anything else – I will never stop running!