Category: Features

Multiple ultra-marathoning SA, African and event record holder Johan van der Merwe likes to go long. In fact, the longer the event, the better he gets, be it chasing records on the road or going round and round the track in pursuit of 60-year-old SA records set by the late, great Wally Hayward. 

Ask multiple ultra-marathon record holder Johan van der Merwe what he thinks about running ultras, and he responds with an interesting cricketing analogy. “It’s like test cricket, really. Sometimes, things will be going smoothly and you could be going through a seamless partnership. Then, suddenly, things go from good to bad and your opponent grabs three or four quick wickets. It can change in a blink of an eye.” That said, this man obviously doesn’t hit many bad patches, judging by his impressive list of wins and records.

Johan only took up running in 1999, at age 27, due to being an overweight 87kg while working on the police force in Mokopane and joined Potties Athletics Club. “I had to get my health in check, and after starting to run, I lost 26kg in six months,” he says, adding that at first he just ran to lose weight, but then it became something he really looked forward to. “I was already onto my first Comrades run a year later in 2000,” and after coming home for an 8:38 Bill Rowan medal on debut, Johan realised that he had a natural talent for running ultras. By 2010 he had his Comrades Green Number 39957 and four silver medals to go with six Bill Rowans, but it was only in 2011 that he stepped up to his first 12-hour circuit race at the Dusk2Dawn and really found his niche. “I guess it was a tester,” he explains, “and I told myself if I did well, I’d up my training. If not, at least I tried.”

Well, he did do rather well – he broke the event record by 19km! And that win convinced Johan he could improve still more. “I guess from that point, one thing led to another. I was encouraged to do my first 100 Miler at Golden Reef and despite some niggles, I won it! But believe it or not, I was down in the dumps after that, needing to recover for a good three weeks. I knew I had to tackle another challenge, and that’s when the Washie dream was born…”

Washie Welcome

Johan says he knew the Washie course record was beatable. In fact, before his Washie debut, he was so confident about smashing the record that he posted about his planned record attempt on Facebook. That prompted a call soon after from a stranger who happened to know then record holder Manie Saayman way back when he set the course record of 13:13:38 in 1982, and the caller told Johan he’d never break what was considered an unapproachable record. “I was arrogant about it, I must admit,” says Johan. “I remember telling the stranger on the phone that I intended to better it and reminded him that he didn’t even know me! Before it all, I ran my Comrades PB in 6:24:35 so I knew I had it in me, and I got the Washie win that year in 13:07:05.”

After that, he managed to grab an equally impressive 13:18:02 in 2013, the all-time fourth-best Washie time, and this past year he clocked 13:21:49 for the fifth-fastest time. And it tested his endurance and willpower along the way, choosing the complete last year’s race without seconds beside him. He also put aside a foot niggle that he sustained during a 6-day race earlier that year. “I remember the constant headwind and me being alone,” says Johan, “it was a difficult one!” Johan also heaps praise for his online coach Nic de Beer who assisted in 2011 to get Johan to step it up before taking on anything more than the Comrades distance.

Breaking Wally

With the Washie record behind his name, Johan began looking for new challenges, and soon his eyes turned to Wally Hayward’s 24-hour SA record of 256.4km, set way back in November 1953 in England. No other South African had passed the 250km mark since then, and on his first attempt Johan just missed the record by 3.4km when he ran 253.076km in a race on his home track in Polokwane in April 2013. Putting that record aside temporarily, he then chased down the 48-hour SA and African records while competing in the EMU 6-day race in Hungary in May 2013. He completed 333.02km in just over 46 hours to beat the previous African best of 332km set by Namibian Johannes Gawaxamab in 2001, before leaving the track for scheduled rest in preparation for the next four days of running. Then on 7 December he went after Wally’s record again, this time in the Soochow International 24-Hour circuit race in Chinese Taipei, and coming home third overall, he finished on 258.064km to claim the SA record as well as beat the previous African record of 257.881km. (In the same race, he had also claimed the SA 200km track record in 17:34:20, taken as a split during the 24-hour race.) Even though he didn’t win that race, Johan rates it as one of his best performances, because he had achieved what he had set out to do, break Wally’s record! “Before trying it, it looked easy on paper. I needed to break that record, so when I achieved that, it was like a huge monkey off my back!” My wife went the extra proverbial mile during the last four hours. The eye contact was important. She also chased me out of the loo after I realised I had the record in the bag at 22 hours. My mind was playing tricks on me, ordering my body to go to the loo after every 400m. She ordered me to get back out there.”

Back home, Johan also continued to tick off the 100 Milers, and he currently holds the course records for the Coaldust Dreams and Capital Classic races to add to his Washie record, and he also celebrated circuit race records at the Dawn2Dusk 12-hour, Hout Is Goud Day Breaker 12-hour and Jannas 18-hour events. And somewhere in between this he still managed to run consecutive Comrades silvers from 2009 to 2014. “People keep thinking that doing Comrades must be easy for me, but it’s never easy keeping up your form on the day,” he explains. “That said, 2015 will probably be the first time I’ll take it easy and use Comrades just for training for Washie, where I’ll be looking to dip under 13 hours.”

What Wall?

So what preoccupies the mind of an athlete trudging along for 160km or circling a track for days on end. “You think of Washie and running through night-time and it’s hard to keep motivated, but I have this ability to hang in there! As for circuit races, I love going around and around, because there are no surprises, like a big hill after a corner, and you can measure yourself by taking lap times to ensure that your pacing is correct and that your goal is maintained,” says Johan, adding that his game plan is to approach each event aggressively and hang in there when the going gets tough – and it does get tough!

“My bonus is my mental state. My training buddy can beat me in a session, but when race day comes, beast mode kicks in. If you decide to break through that ‘wall,’ then your body can accomplish anything!” And with that attitude, it’s no surprise that Johan has the six-day world record pencilled in as a goal for the next few years, in between travelling the globe for more ultra events. “My golden rule is to believe in myself. It’s corny, but there is no such thing as a wall if you back yourself. Like cricket, a running event can swing either way, but once you get going, it’ll all work out.”

Every now and again, Matt Daneel posts a ‘Throwback Thursday’ pic of his ‘Fat Matt Days’ on Instagram, to remind himself where he has come from, and where he is going with his promising multisport career. 

Matt was always a good runner. He took it up while still at school when his mom joined a local running club in Stellenbosch, ran the time trial regularly, then did a few 10km races, and in 2003 and 2004 he ran the Old Mutual Two Oceans Half and clocked times of 1:28 and 1:29. However, having gotten into a typical student drinking lifestyle and then working in the hospitality industry, Matt’s weight had steadily climbed until he tipped the scales at 107kg in 2011, and he knew he had to do something about it.

“My friend Mia Mocke, a personal trainer here in Stellenbosch, convinced me to start exercising, and I actually tried to run a half marathon. I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack!” says Matt. “That was the last straw for me, so I bought the cheapest bike I could find on Gumtree and started pedalling with friends. A short while later Mia suggested a triathlon, and since I had done some running back in the day, I now had a bike, and I swam in primary school, I thought maybe I can string a triathlon together.”

Latent Talent

To Mia’s great surprise, Matt didn’t just finish that BSG Sprint Series event, he actually did quite well. “She said, ‘Hang on, you’re heavy, and you just started triathlon, but you beat most people I know, so you should do more of these!’ I had enjoyed it so much that I actually entered my next one that same day. Then I did my first Totalsports XTERRA off-road tri in February 2012 and had the most fun imaginable, even though it was a long day out, and at prize-giving I watched the age-groupers collecting their prize money, so I thought this is cool, and set myself the goal of finishing on the podium in my 25-29 age group.”

He duly claimed third spot in his group in 2013, and at prize-giving the two guys in front of him were handed envelopes with an entry to the XTERRA World Champs in Hawaii. “I sat there thinking, I only just didn’t make it, and that sucks, so next year I need to go World Champs!” And so the 2014 race saw a still leaner, meaner Matt at 75kg go all-out, and he finished 11th overall and first non-pro, earning his Hawaii slot – but still he was a bit disappointed. “The pro’s had a minute head-start on us, but I didn’t know the Italian just in front of me at the finish was actually only a few seconds ahead of me, so I came trotting into the finish, taking in the vibe, and walked over the finish line, just to see that I missed the Top 10 by three seconds! Still, I was the first guy with a day job over the line!”

Success has also come to Matt in other events. He can boast a half marathon PB of 1:16 and a 10km best of 34:50, and has finished on the podium at many events, including third in the Totalsports Challenge Terra Firma, second at the Slanghoek off-road tri, and first in the Die Burger mountain bike race. He is a product tester for sponsor First Ascent and also has nutrition, shoe and bike sponsors, and says he still can’t quite believe what has happened to him. “I am so incredibly lucky to have sponsors that make my sporting career possible, and I can’t believe I am now being asked to do interviews as well!”

Trying Again

Matt had a sponsor lined up to pay for the Hawaii trip last year, but that unfortunately fell through, so this year he says he will just have to qualify again. He will also race the SA Cross Tri Champs, along with various other tri events as well as trail runs and mountain biking events. The ProNutro AfricanX three-day trail run is another must-do on his list, with great friend Al Leslie, but that one is just for fun, as they literally laugh from start to finish. Then again, Matt is pretty much always laughing these days. Seems being lean and successful agrees with him.

Voted by CNN as ‘the most difficult and wildest eco race on the planet’, The Jungle Marathon is an extreme seven-day 275km footrace through the Amazon Jungle in Brazil, and SA’s Anthony Erasmus was there to experience it. Here are some extracts from his ‘race diary.’

Arriving via river boat at base camp in the Flona Tapajos National Park, surrounded by unspoilt jungle on the banks of the Amazon River, the Bombeiros (jungle military firemen) briefed us on a list of warnings: Plants to avoid, creatures we may encounter and what to do if lost. Our race packs were kitted with food, hammock, T-shirt, shorts, socks and 2½ litres of water – all weighing in at 13kg.

Stage 1 – 27km (Running time: 7:51)
The terrain was undulating, with 14 steep hills of 50 to 250m, roots of the massive trees forming vertical buttresses 40cm high, and muddy marshes in between. The leaves fill the spaces between trees, making the jungle track look flat! The going was tough and slow…

Stage 2 – 28km (8:54)
Water points were stationed every 10km with dehydration a major threat, as you sweat profusely. I found myself taking in 15 litres of water, electrolyte drinks and energy supplements in water! I made a point of stopping every hour to check the colour of my urine. You learn to read your body.

Stage 3 – 34km (8:39)
In the second half the terrain eased and it actually became a ‘run’, not a hike/power walk. You’re told to shuffle your feet when entering rivers to chase away electric rays, but thankfully the Anacondas are shy and hide in the swamps. Ticks, however, are not shy, and infest your legs and nether regions.

Stage 4 – 42.2km (11:43)
Suddenly, I felt as though a spear had been launched into my leg. A half-metre long tree branch was protruding at right angles from my shin, and whilst removing it, the point broke off in my calf, but I was fortunate to have Cody from Texas with me. I massaged the foreign body below the muscle while Cody guided the broken end up towards the shin wound. It moved up slowly, with Cody wanting to pass out, but after guiding it up, Cody managed to pull it out thanks to a Swiss army knife.

I realised there must be small bits of bark in the tissue tunnel, so I placed the nozzle of my water bottle into the wound and flushed about 800ml of water through it, then packed it with an antibiotic ointment and wrapped it with a bandage and zinc oxide tape. I immediately started a course of antibiotics. Couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the 128km night stage next.

Stage 5 – 128km (36:05)
We were told the night stage had been lengthened by 20-odd kilometres! Setting off at 4am, we had to reach checkpoint six by 3pm, otherwise we were not allowed to continue until the following morning, because it was considered too dangerous to traverse after dark! Nearly half the field didn’t make it. Cody and I pushed ourselves and made it at 2:30pm, then got to checkpoint seven at 4:30pm and decided to take a break. There was a ‘foot medic’ there, and I needed him – I had five toenails wanting to come off!

We left an hour later and then Cody’s headlight packed up, so I gave him a little LED light. We got lost so many times! The trail is marked every 30m by ribbons, but they’re not particularly visible at night. At 10:30pm, we reached a muddy marsh that I can only describe as a quicksand bog. It took us two hours to get through 2km of swamp! We ran through the next day, passing the villages and schools that benefit from the money raised by the race, making it huge for the locals, and finished late that afternoon. Nothing felt as good as a swim in the warm, green river water.

Stage 6 – 16km (2:27)
My backpack had been reduced to 6kg as we ran along the ‘beach’ of the Tapajos River, and I reached the finish in a total time of 75 hours 39 minutes, in 14th position. If I had entered the Jungle Run knowing what to expect, I think the achievement would not so much be in finishing as in the courage it would take to enter it. What an experience!

After two hugely successful years in the sport of triathlon, including four African championship titles, wins on the international tri circuit and a Commonwealth Games team silver, Henri Schoeman is fired up for the New Year while planning ahead for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

Two big wins in October really put the icing on the proverbial cake for Henri’s 2014 triathlon year, as the 23-year-old won the ITU Triathlon World Cup event in Tongyeong, South Korea and then defended his 5150 African Champs title in Germiston a week later. Earlier in the year, despite starting 2014 with an injury, he had bounced back with a bang to successfully defend his African Championship title in Zimbabwe in April, beating the likes of fellow South Africans Richard Murray and Wian Sullwald, and then in August he was in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, where he placed 17th in the individual event and helped the SA team win the silver medal in the mixed relay event, alongside Kate Roberts, Gillian Sanders and Richard.

With such a successful 2014 behind him, to go with an equally successful 2013, Henri’s road to the Rio 2016 is well on track, and he says that getting to the Olympics is very much his focus right now. “I always look at the bigger picture, and with the experience gathered in 2014, I can now focus on getting more podium finishes and wrack up as many good performances on the WTS circuit as possible this year to get qualified for Rio. The Olympics is always in my sights!”

Swim Sense
Born in Vereeniging, Henri moved to Durban at an early age and started out as a talented swimmer, also taking part in lifesaving, cross-country and duathlon for fun. “My parents wanted me to have a good sense in water, being by the sea, and growing up in an environment where your family is sporty, it’s quite easy to keep going.” That saw Henri take the natural step up to triathlon while still in school, and success soon followed as he won the under-19 title at the SA Triathlon Champs for two consecutive years, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing…

“The transition from swimming to running and cycling was slow,” he explains. “I picked up bad injuries in my shins. As a swimmer, you have ‘soft’ bones, so it’s a process to adapt. Then in 2011 I broke my collarbone after a fall, but it was definitely a blessing in disguise – because I came back stronger!” The enforced lay-off allowed Henri to concentrate on strengthening his legs as he worked his way back to full fitness, notably with pool-running, and it paid off. “There were times when I thought about giving up, but then the improvements came,” he says, “and with a good start in my first year on the international circuit in 2013, I learnt so much, could travel by myself and handle the pressure of it all.”

Success upon Success
That year, he picked up wins in the ITU African Cup, ITU African Championships, 5150 African Champs, South African Champs (in the elite under-23 category), ITU East London Premium Africa Cup as well as the KZN Provincial Champs. He also placed 14th overall in the ITU World Triathlon Series, and finished the year with a world ranking of 10th position. Then came the success of 2014, which saw Henri add to his reputation as one of the world’s best up-and-coming young guns, and he says his achievements thus far in the sport are thanks to the hard work he has put in.

“I guess it’s down to discipline, to training three times a day, putting in two to three hard runs, one hard bike and two hard swims each week. I have one rest day a week, but I take an easy swim anyway! I have this inbred drive to perform and I like that triathlon is demanding,” says Henri. “I believe that the Olympics will be a reality, and I have to thank my family and friends for their support in getting me to that point. Also, as far as the sport goes, I think our two medals in Glasgow have opened people’s eyes. There is still hard work to be done, but that keeps me motivated!”

While good old H2O is always going to be a runner’s tried and trusted whilst training or on race day, there are also healthy alternatives that can keep your body hydrated and replenished. – BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

When you run, your internal temperature rises and blood-flow to the skin increases. This transfers heat away from the body’s inner core and water is released through sweat, which means that you need to replenish your body’s water, electrolytes and sodium chloride (salt). So what are your options when hydrating? A sports drink with added electrolytes rehydrates well while adding a combination of sodium and carbohydrates, which in turn also help more water to be absorbed. (When you’re not training, it’s also vital to keep your body hydrated in order to keep energy levels up.)

 

These days the market is flooded with sports drinks, many with extra punches of concentrate and sugar, but there are a few simple but healthy and effective alternatives you could look at:

·         Coconut Water contains essential electrolytes, punching more potassium than a banana! There is no added sugar or fat, and it’s one of the healthiest options to replenish lost nutrients. It contains easily digestible carbs from natural sugars, which makes it an easy alternative to sports drinks.

·         Green Tea gives you a natural caffeine kick and antioxidants increase the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel, which improves muscle endurance. For the endurance junkies, drinking green tea can help your blood-flow, because flavonoids relax blood vessels, so blood can flow more easily.

·         Wild Water: Many people find it hard to drink plain water, so choose sparkling water with soaked strawberries and mint, or still water with ice, lime and apple slices. These drinks provide something different with the bubble, kick and flavour, but don’t overpower with sweetness, so you will cut calories, but if you need some sweetness, a spoon of honey will do wonders.

 

He’s got a few nicknames in trail running circles, most to do with his age, but none of them have anything to do with being slow. On the contrary, Noel Ernstzen is still giving the 20 and 30-year-olds a run for their money, despite being in his 50s.
– BY SEAN FALCONER

It’s been more than a year since Noel Ernstzen’s epic 2013 run at the Otter Marathon, when he became the first masters age-grouper (50 and over) to break the five-hour barrier in the Grail of Trail, but still people are talking about it. In fact, it has been called the most inspirational run of 2013 by quite a few people in trail running circles. That’s because Noel set out to do something that very few runners were able to do, let alone somebody in their 50s, and he brought the proverbial house down in the process. Pandemonium broke out when he popped out of the trees near the finish, and with race commentator Altus Schreuder going crazy and everybody cheering him on, Noel made it across the final water crossing, despite a few stumbles, to cross the line in 4:57:04. Then the emotion got the better of him and he lay down and had a little cry as his wife Meg embraced him. There were quite a few other people wiping away a tear as well.

“I did a sub-five and I think I was 17th or 18th. Three years earlier I would have won the damned thing with that time, but that 18th means more to me than any of the first places I had run,” says Noel. “The thing about setting yourself goals is that you need to visualise that you can do it, so I visualised breaking five hours a million times, crossing the line, hitting the watch and seeing sub-five, hugging my wife… I lived that moment many times over. And then I did it.”

Never Too Old
Noel (54) only took up running late in life, which makes his achievements in the sport all the more remarkable. He had last done serious sport in junior school when he started cycling and later mountain-biking in his 40s, then also got involved in adventure racing, and in 2010 he found himself lining up for a five-day adventure race in the Southern Cape that included a marathon-length run on the first day, along the Otter Trail. “I had to start running to train for that event, so I was not as fast as the other guys and not very good on the technical running, and I remember I was so peeved that so many people beat me on that run, because I am quite competitive. So, I decided to train for it and see how fast I can do it.”

“When I did the Otter proper the first time, I saw the top two guys doing sub-five hours, and I thought it’s unbelievable to run a race like this in sub-five, it must be such an achievement, so I decided to go for it myself.” That saw Noel embark on an incredible run of wins and podium finishes in race after race, usually beating all (or nearly all) of the much younger runners along the way. He raced the Namaqua Challenge, ProNutro AfricanX, Table Mountain Challenge, Fisherman’s Trail Challenge and many others, getting fitter and faster all the time, but everything was geared up to prepare him for the Otter, and his sub-five goal.

Family Man
Born and bred in Tokai, Cape Town, Noel is married to Meg, a fellow competitive runner and mountain biker who often podiums in events, and they have a daughter, Frances, who is quite the runner as well, having recently finished second in the Berg and Beach two-day trail running event in Kleinmond. He also has a son, Wayne, from an earlier relationship, and three grandkids, and true to his ageless character, he has a unique relationship with his grandson Kai: “He calls me Dude, because I refuse to be called Grandpa!”

Noel recently sold his kitchen design and construction company after 23 years and is currently a partner in the Trail & Tar bike and trail running shop in Tokai, in partnership with his future son-in-law, Grant Bender. “We opened Trail & Tar three years ago and we’re looking to open more branches soon,” he says, adding that one of the highlights of each week is the Wednesday evening trail runs that Trail & Tar host.

Taking a Break
Just before Otter 2014, Noel’s racing plans were derailed when he was diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus, which had been bugging him for a couple of months, and he required an operation. So he had already written off the rest of the year for recovery, when disaster struck: While doing a trail running photo shoot, he was walking towards his bag in order to change his shirt when he slipped and fell badly, ripping his ankle ligaments.

“It was the worst fall I’ve ever had, despite years of bombing down mountains at 60km per hour,” he says with an ironic laugh. “Now maturity doesn’t sit well with me, nor patience, but for once I listened to the doctors and kept the air boot on for the full six weeks, and now I’m seeing three physios, one for my knee, one for the ankle, and one for general aches and pains. I also waited until the exact day they said I could run again, although I was already cycling to work each day to get the legs going again.

Planning the Comeback
Now that Noel is able to start running again, he says he is undecided whether to make the Otter his focus in 2015. “I love the event, but I kind of feel I’ve been there and done that. I don’t want to go there just to take five minutes off my time – if I run Otter, I want to go for a sub-4:30 finish. I truly believe I am capable of that, if the conditions are right, because when I broke five hours, I ran it specifically with a five-hour finish as my goal, and felt I could have gone faster. But I also have unfinished business with the AfricanX, and I’m quietly confident that my fitness will be good enough to give it horns.”

“I often get asked by people how I can be competitive at 50-plus against the 20 and 30-year-olds, but I say it’s simple, I’ve been around longer than them, so I’ve had longer to train and should be faster than them. Seriously though, there’s nothing to say that a 50-year-old must be slower than a 20-year-old, especially in long races, where probably 80% is in the mind and 20% is fitness. To be frank, us older guys are better at mind games than the youngsters!”

The New Year is set to bring a new challenge for Olympic marathoner Tanith Maxwell when she steps up to ultra-marathons for the first time, but she says she is looking forward to this new chapter in her running career.   – BY SEAN FALCONER

Having run a best time of 2:32:33 represented South Africa in the marathon at the Olympics, Games and World Champs since 2006, as well as featured in many ‘Big City’ marathons as well, Tanith says the time is now right for her to step up in distance. “I think I need a new goal, to try something else, so the Two Oceans ultra will be my focus for 2015, and everything is geared towards that,” says the 38-year-old Durbanite.

“I don’t think my marathon career is over, but I have changed my training and diet to go longer. I have been invited to run the Dubai Marathon in January and I will use that a springboard into Oceans, because I think a good marathon athlete can hold on for the 56km of Oceans. I keep getting asked about Rio 2016 and the next Olympic Marathon, and I won’t write it off totally, but it won’t be my focus. My whole career has been centred on representing SA and qualifying to do so, and now I’m looking for a new challenge.”

FAMILY OF RUNNERS

Tanith developed a love for running from a young age thanks to her parents’ participation in the Comrades – Dad Brian ran it 11 times while Mom Jenny has three Big C medals. “After helping to second my parents at Comrades I became fascinated by distance training, and I started running at the age of seven when my school hosted a 5km fun run, which my dad ran with me,” says Tanith. “In the same year, my Mom’s cousin from the Free State, Kevin Flanegan, came down to Durban for the 1983 SA Marathon Champs and won it. I was at the finish and this left a big impression on me. He bought me my first pair of running shoes and helped me with training advice, and my first 10km was in Durban in 1988, the L’Oréal Femina Ladies Race. We started on the Kings Park athletics track, and I remember bolting out, then dying on the beachfront section and finishing looking the worse for wear, but I eventually got the hang of pacing.”

Meanwhile, the family began moving around quite a lot as Tanith’s parents explored work opportunities overseas, going over to the UK four times as well as stopping off in New Zealand and Canada. “Dad’s a vet and Mom is a histologist, so both could find work. They tend not to stay in one place too long, but have been back from the UK now for six years.” Tanith, who works part-time in her mother’s practice in Durban, initially studied at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, then transferred to Stellenbosch University, where she completed her B.Sc Sport Science degree. “My folks had relocated to the Cape, and I was desperate to try out the competitive athletics scene down there, so I moved down and joined Johan Fourie’s training group. That’s where my running really clicked.”

 

STEPPING IT UP

Tanith rapidly improved from a 1:30 half marathon PB to finish second in the 1997 Gun Run Half Marathon with a vastly improved 1:19. “I was very chuffed with my time, but I still had no ambitions to become a full-time runner. That came a bit later when I was invited to join the Liberty-Nike team and they sent me to run the 2003 Voet van Afrika Half, where I dipped under 1:17. That led to my selection for the 2004 Southern Region Half Champs in Mauritius, my first time representing SA, and I finished second.

Later that year Tanith ran her first marathon, when visiting her folks in the UK. “I got my folks to enter me in the Edinburgh Marathon and just ran it for fun, but then I finished second in 2:47, although I suffered because I didn’t have the distance in my legs. That led to an invite to the 2005 Frankfurt Marathon, where I ran 2:41 and finished ninth, having also finished seventh in the Vienna City Marathon earlier that year.” She also claimed that year’s SA Half Marathon Champs title in Durban, and her great form saw her selected for the 2006 Commonwealth Games team to go to Australia, which remains one of the highlights of her career. “There is always something special about lining up to represent your country for the first time at a World Games, and I was on cloud nine from start to finish, running another 2:41.”

Tanith finished second in the SA Marathon Champs in 2007 and then ran the 2007 All Africa Games Marathon, as well as the World Athletics Champs marathons in 2007 and 2009, with top 10 finishes in numerous international races in between. Then came 2010 and her best year to date, after she signed up with Cape Town-based coach Andrew Bosch. She finished second in the Xiamen Half in China and the Bristol Half in the UK, was third in the SA Half Marathon Champs, and in marathons finished 15^th in London and eighth in Berlin. “Running London was amazing, as I had lived there for quite a few years, and I was most pleased about my PB 2:34. Then in Berlin I ran 2:32, so 2010 was definitely a good year – I broke all my PBs from 15km to the marathon!”

 

BACK TO EARTH

After such a great year, it was almost inevitable that 2011 would prove to be less successful and Tanith struggled with illness, a chronic Achilles injury and a loss of confidence. Unfortunately, the 2012 Olympics in London then also proved a frustrating disappointment as a fit-again Tanith picked up a chest infection and was taken out of the Olympic Village so that she wouldn’t infect her marathon teammates, Rene Kalmer and Irvette van Zyl. “London is one of my pinnacle highlights, because I had watched the Olympics since 1984 and never dreamt I would be part of it, but the chest infection did spoil things a bit, even though I managed another 2:41.”

With a newfound confidence thanks to Andrew’s input and recent good results, Tanith is now looking forward to 2015 and her first foray into ultras. “After my competitive days are over, I see myself giving back to the sport through coaching, but for now, being able to have your sport as almost your full-time job, doing something that you love, is such a privilege – especially with incredibly supportive people like my parents, Andrew and my manager Rhyn Swanepoel behind me. It would have been impossible to reach the heights I have without them.”

 

With seven kays to go in this year’s Otter African Trail marathon, Iain Don-Wauchope rolled his ankle and thought he had blown his chances of a third win, but he fought back and showed once again why he is one of SA’s finest trail runners. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Right from the start, the 2014 Otter was a three-way tussle between Iain, Madiba and AJ Calitz, Thabang put in a surge that dropped AJ, and when Iain hurt his ankle, the Gauteng flyer looked favourite to win. However, Iain was not done yet. “When I rolled the ankle I told Thabang to go and he immediately put in another surge. I thought he was gone, so I even stopped for water, but I think he burnt himself out a bit, and when I popped out onto the rocks with just two kays to go, I saw him just ahead and passed him walking on the rocks.”

Iain crossed the line in a new course record 4:21:30 for the west-to-east RETTO route, the ‘Reverse Otter’ run every second year, having pulled nearly three minutes clear of Thabang (4:24:27), and AJ clocked 4:31:17 for third. “Catching Thabang was actually a bit of luck, and I certainly thought AJ was the man to beat this year, but I think he had already expended so much energy pre-race because the focus was on him,” says Iain. “Perhaps if I lived in the Cape and did more events, instead of living in the Drakensberg Mountains like a Hillbilly, I would get more media exposure, but I think it works in my favour – no big sponsors, no media attention, no pressure. Even though I have now won it three times, next year the focus will probably once again be on AJ, Thabang or Lucky Miya, but that suits me.”

Under the Radar

It is actually surprising that Iain (39) doesn’t enjoy as much media attention, because he boasts a mightily impressive sporting CV. In trail running, he has not only won the Otter three times, but has also won the ProNutro AfricanX Trailrun twice in tandem with his wife Susan, plus has two wins each in the Skyrun, Rhodes Ultra, Southern Storm and Mast Challenge, and has twice been selected to represent SA at the World Trail Running Champs. In multi-sport, he won the Western Province Duathlon Champs title in his age group in 2004, then the SA Champs title as well, and qualified for the World Duathlon Champs, and he’s also won the multi-discipline Totalsports Challenge, been part of the winning team at the Bull of Africa adventure race, and posted numerous wins in the Jeep, Mudman and Teavigo series.

In 2004, Iain admits he made a costly mistake when he raced the Half Ironman in somebody else’s number. “I raced without really knowing what I was doing, even borrowed a bike that was the wrong size, but then I finished 12^th overall and second South African after Raynard Tissink! I never dreamt I would finish that high, so I had to admit to the organisers I was not legally entered, and they gave me a two-year ban from all Ironman events. The next day Mark Smith of GU invited me to join a team with Raynard to compete around the world in Ironman events, but I was now banned! That could have sent my career in a very different direction, and it was a very stupid thing to do.”

 

Talent spotted

Iain grew up on a farm outside Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal, until the family moved to the central Drakensberg and established the Mountain Splendour Eco-Resort near Winterton. In 1993, while running cross country in his final school year at Maritzburg College, he was spotted by a talent scout and offered an athletics scholarship to Western Kentucky University in the USA, where he completed a B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Cum Laude. “I was torn, because I really wanted to go to Stellenbosch University, where many of my mates were going, but many people said I should take the opportunity. With hindsight, I would have loved to spend my first year or two of varsity in Stellenbosch, then go to the States when I was emotionally and physically stronger, because the American way of ‘more is better’ saw us doing 100 miles a week in training. We were basically doing marathon training for cross-country, and it burnt me out.”

Upon his return to SA in 2001, after five years in the States and two years backpacking the world, Iain also completed a Masters in Environmental Management at the University of Cape Town before taking over the family business in 2005. He married Su in 2007 and they now have two young children, but while all that was happening, he took a break from competitive running. “When I came back I got into mountain biking, adventure racing, swimming, paddling, duathlon and triathlon, and it took me many years to focus on running again. Now I believe in more speed work and rest than doing high mileage. I actually do very little training these days, only about 60km a week, but people don’t believe me when I explain how little I did before Otter. I think the key was being undertrained, arriving at the race without any expectations.”

Something New to Try

Looking ahead, Iain says his plans for 2015 include running AfricanX again with Su and defending his Otter title, and if the dates work out, he would love to give the Table Mountain Challenge and Cape Ultra Trail events in Cape Town a go. Looking abroad, Iain hopes to once again be selected for the SA team for either the World Long Distance Trail Champs or the later World Marathon Trail Champs, but he also has a few obstacles he’d like to get over during the year. You see, just after his Otter win, Iain decided to try obstacle racing for the first time at the Impi Challenge Gauteng – and promptly won it!

“I felt like a kid on the farm again, just having fun, but it was a relatively easy course. Then came the Stellenbosch Impi, featuring a lot more running, which suited me, but the obstacles were also tougher, especially carrying a concrete block, and that allowed Stuart Marais to pull away for the win. I felt a bit jaded on the day, but now I am really excited to do more obstacle events. However, I think I will stick to the Impi, because to do the Warrior you need to put yourself in the gym five days a week. The Spartan series is also coming to SA, so I will look which events suit me best, with more focus on running and less on strength.”

 

Having experienced both elation and disappointment in her 2014 season, SA’s top female 400m hurdler, Wenda Theron-Nel, is getting herself ready for World Champs in 2015, Olympics in 2016 and hopefully a long-awaited new SA record. – BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

Things didn’t go as well as Wenda hoped at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year. Having broken her 400m in May in Potchefstroom, going from 53.41 seconds to 52.53, and then bettering her 400m hurdles PB from 55.36 to 54.82 in June in Marrakesh, she went to Scotland full of confidence in her speed and form. However, having made the final of the hurdles, she was disqualified for a technical infringement – but the Pretoria-based speedster bounced straight back from that disappointment to win gold at the African Championships in Marrakesh just a week later, in a time of 55.32.

“Winning was such a surprise after not doing as well as I wanted at the Games. I went to Morocco with no expectations. I just wanted to have fun, but came away with a win. It was my year’s highlight!” says Wenda, but then adds, “I’m driven by my passion for the sport. Medals are great, but when they become greater than the passion, then it’s time to stop. Instead, you train for that one out of ten race that goes perfectly – the pattern, hitting the hurdles seamlessly and everything clicking…” And judging by her times and results, she had that a few times this year!

Natural Speed

Born and raised in Worcester in the Cape, Wenda was always impressing at athletics days at school, starting with 50m sprints as a youngster and also taking part in hurdles and the long jump. It was only after school, when she moved to the capital to study Dietetics at the University of Pretoria, that she turned her focus to the 400m hurdles and found that it clicked. Having completed her studies and gotten married to Jacques in 2012, she now works half days so that she can pursue her dream of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“It’s any athlete’s dream to be at the Olympics, and it is up to me to take it further. After every year, it becomes a bigger possibility, and I’m blessed to have great support,” explains Wenda. “My husband gets it. He is a triathlete and has run Comrades, so he understands the love. There is no issue getting up early because training comes first.” Her family has also been a consistent support in her career. “They’re proud of me and win or lose, they’re there. My coach Hennie Kotze, who I’ve been with for four years, is also important to my success. I work hard, but it’s his encouragement and programme that’s pushed me.”

All Passion

Currently busy with off-season training, for the next three months Wenda will get back to basics at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, mixing hill sessions and stairs, for strength and power, with track training twice a week to get her fitness up for the coming season. She also mixes it up with spinning and kickboxing in the off-season. Come February, Wenda will focus a little more on technique and speed, adding tyre-pulling sessions with shorter sprints to work on her sharpness. “Right now, the volume is pushed up, but it’s not as intensive. We do group circuit training and I gym on my own twice a week and on the weekends. With my work hours so flexible, I can arrange when I train,” she says.

“Also, being in dietetics, it’s easier to stay healthy, and with World Champs coming up in Beijing next year, it’s ideal to keep your race weight in check. I want to make the final at World Champs – in 2011 I made the semis, and I want to go one better – so that is my goal, and then on to Rio 2016!” Another goal the three-time SA champion and All Africa Games silver medallist in 2011 says she hopes to achieve this coming season is to challenge Myrtle Bothma’s long-standing 1986 SA record of 53.47. “I have to drop a second off my time, but I think I can do it!”

It was all going to plan for trail star Megan Mackenzie earlier this year as she picked up win after win, until a nasty injury sidelined her and forced her to withdraw from the Trail World Champs, but she’s determined to bounce back stronger than ever.
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

Having won the Pronutro AfricanX, Lisa’s Forest Run, Northern Trail Challenge and Mnweni Marathon in 2014, Megan Mackenzie was in the SA team to go to the USA for the World Long Distance Trail Champs in August. However, a fall at the Mnweni Marathon put paid to her World Champs dream, and she described that race experience as both a best and worst moment.

“I trained hard for Mnweni because it was a World Champs qualifier and I won, but the fall affected me. It started as little fractures in my hip and expanded like a car window cracking when I fell.” Two months after falling, she still hoped she would be ready for the World Champs, but training just made the problem worse and Meg ended up on crutches for eight weeks. “I injured myself more. It was a huge disappointment withdrawing, but all I’ve done is shift my goals instead of giving up.”

Natural Talent

Born on a farm in Cato Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal,

Megan went to boarding school at St Anne’s in the Midlands and went on to study economics and politics at Rhodes University before completing her Honours in International Relations in the USA. Later, she completed her Post-graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and did a specialised course in dyslexia, and now works at Bellavista School in Johannesburg. Growing up in an active family, she tried her hand at canoeing, cross-country and adventure races, but says she only took up competitive running in 2011, and found her niche in trail running the following year.

“It was July 2012 at the Rhodes Ultra Trail where I won and broke the ladies’ record,” she says. “I wasn’t trained properly and I didn’t wear a watch. I just ran. Salomon then approached me to be an ambassador and put me on their elite team and everything spiralled from there.” Last year, Megan won the Mnweni Marathon, Redbull Pyramid Challenge, Thule 4 Peaks and Rhodes Ultra, also bagging podium spots at the Redbull Lionheart and 3 Cranes Challenge. She was also fourth at the Otter. “I’ve got a strong mind for the bigger distances,” she explains. “I find in stage races, it’s three days where you can get absorbed. You spend time with athletes, you reflect, you work out what you can do better. I love strategising!”

Learning Curve

Looking back, Megan recalls her mixed category win at AfricanX earlier this year with teammate Andrew Erasmus as something that stands out. “I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t raced with anyone before,” she says, “but it was unbelievable, because Andrew and I just gelled. We didn’t win stage one, then we won stage two, but we were behind so we needed to catch up time on day three and it was incredible being able to do it!” The pair finished tops, even though they had to wait a minute before they figured out they had clinched it. “What relief! The great thing was that we got to share that feeling…”

Later in the year she then found out how to deal with the lows that followed. “I could have easily let go after three months out, but my brother, family, friends, my team and work colleagues have been so supportive!” Now Meg is focused on getting up and running again, keeping up cardio by cycling and swimming a couple of hours a day, going on the anti-gravity machine and doing rehab and strength work. “My coach Neville Beeton has been positive and we’ve been able to start from scratch again properly. Next year there is World Champs in July and the Otter to aim for, and my mantra is ‘Run happy, light and free.’ I just remember that I’m doing what I love, bouncing along a trail!”