Category: Features

Comrades 2013 will be a very special, but also highly
emotional journey for running legend Alan Robb. Special as this will be his 40^th
journey, and emotional, as he will be running it entirely in memory of his late
wife, Merle, who passed away a few days before last year’s race. “I am nervous
that something could go wrong, because I have 39 hassle-free years behind me,
and excited because it is a big milestone in my Comrades career. There will
certainly be a lot of sadness on the day, because Merle will not be there. She
was always on the finish line waiting for me. This year will really be in her
memory. I will probably be running with her wedding ring,” says Alan.

At the finish line a special group of family members
will await him: Alan’s daughter Staci, who ran with her dad last year, decided
to not run this year, but rather wait for her running hero at the finish line.
She will be joined by Alan’s mom as well as both Merle’s sisters, to welcome
him home as he joins the select group of runners who have achieved the
magnificent feat of finishing 40 Comrades Marathons. Currently just six runners
have done so, and this year three more, including Alan, look set to be added to
the list.

A LEGEND IS
BORN

Alan was a good swimmer at school, but discovered his
running genes and love of the sport when the headmaster made the whole school
run a cross-country race. “I won it and enjoyed it, so I continued running. It
was much better than swimming two hours a day just seeing the same black lines
at the bottom of the pool! Then in 1970 I bet my scoutmaster R10 that I could
run to Pretoria. I couldn’t walk for a few days, but I won the bet!”

It is hard to believe that this talented runner
“chickened out” of his very first race. “In June 1973 there was a 10-mile race
which I decided to run. There were about 50 runners and they all looked very
good, so I chickened out and went home!” Fortunately, Alan kept on running and
in the first race he ran, he won and set a course record. “I then joined
Germiston Callies Harriers (GCH) and here I am, 40 years later! When I first
ran Comrades we used to hero-worship the guys who had run 10 Comrades, so
running 40 was never in my mind. I certainly never thought I would still be
running now!”

He says that Merle was his biggest supporter, right
from his early running days. “Fortunately, she loved sport, otherwise I don’t
think I would have run for so long. She encouraged me, motivated me and came to
all the races to second me. She always said that Comrades day was my Christmas
day and that January to June belonged to me. The rest of the year was Merle’s.”

LIVING
LEGEND

In his typically humble, understated way, Alan says he
is not so sure about being called a living legend, but it’s nice to know that
some people still remember his performances. And great performance they were
indeed! Alan is the all-time leading Comrades gold medallist with 12 golds, and
has four Comrades wins under his belt. In 1978 he became the first person to
break the sub-5:30 barrier, winning in 5:29:14, and says this run was by far
his best and most memorable. “I trained really hard and was very fit. It was
one of those races when everything went perfectly and I felt so good at the end
that I could probably have turned around and run back! I ran the entire second
half by myself and won by 20 minutes. I sometimes wonder if I could have run
faster if there was someone to push me.”

Alan’s training used to include a lot of long runs,
speed work and hill training, but this year has seen none of that. “This year’s
mileage has been the least I have ever done. In fact, I have only run the
Ottosdal Marathon and Two Oceans!” Nevertheless, he says he will be giving the
‘Up Run’ a good go, although he believes he has never been a good hill runner
and doesn’t enjoy the Up as much. “There are no easy sections on the Up Run, as
you are climbing all the way from the start to the top of Inchanga. Then in
those last 30km you are getting tired and it’s hot, so you have to have a
strong head to get you to the finish. I have finished in about 8:30 for the
last three years and I think I can still run that time, but I am also thinking
of having a really social run this year. I’ll see how I feel on the day.”

Alan is well known for his support of Liverpool
Football Club and is often seen running with his red Liverpool cap and red
socks. “Red has always been my favourite colour. Like everybody else in the
60’s, I loved the Beatles and they were from Liverpool, so that’s how it
started. One race day in 1974 I couldn’t find my socks so I went into my dad’s
cupboard and saw these red socks. I wore them, everybody chirped about them, so
I’ve worn red socks ever since… but only at races. I cannot find red socks
anywhere these days. About five years ago I bought 15 pairs, so I hope they
last!”

FUTURE GOALS

Alan has completed four Dusi Canoe Marathons, but gave
it a break after he contracted hepatitis. “I will be back next year. It’s far
more exciting than pounding the roads and there are plenty of war stories,”
says Alan, who also enjoys trail running and mountain biking. He would like to
carry on running Comrades for as long as his body allows him, but says he just
takes it one year at a time these days. “I’m not getting any younger and maybe
I might get to 50 Comrades Marathons.”

This year Alan is back in the colours of his first
club, GCH, of which he was made an honorary life member in 1980. After leaving
the club in 1992, he kept in touch and decided to return this year. “It is
great being back and they presented me with a great new vest and T-shirt
specially printed with my 40 years of running.”

ADVICE FROM
A LEGEND

Alan advises all Comrades runners to run their own
race! “Don’t listen to anyone who hasn’t run the race. Remember, there are
plenty of 42km and 21km races during the year, but there is only one Comrades.”
He takes his best advice from a poem with the final two lines, which read as
follow: “Think that you can and you will. It’s all in the state of the mind.”

We flew into O.R. Tambo Airport
around 5pm on the Wednesday with about five hours to go before our flight to
Perth, but when we arrived at check-in, we were told that we couldn’t board due
to some totally unforeseen problems with Alexis’ passport. The SAA staff were
extremely helpful and courteous, but alas, nothing could be done, so we
resigned ourselves to several drinks and a missed opportunity… However, with
the help of everyone involved, we formulated a plan of action and we awoke with
renewed vigour to get the paperwork in place for us to make the next flight
that evening, and thanks to the incredible heroics of Jenny Kearney of Modern Athlete, as well as SAA and
Quantas, we were able to head ‘Down Under.’

THE BIG DAY

Having
arrived in Sydney, we woke up mega-early in anticipation of our trip to the
race. We stayed in a beautiful area called Manly Beach, which north of Sydney, across
the river and along the coast. The race organisers anticipated runners relying
on public transport to travel to and from the race, so our race entries
included multiple day-passes for the bus, ferry and train – all we had to do
was show our race bibs to the drivers. It was incredibly well organised, and we
also knew exactly which buses to catch because we met a bunch of Aussie runners
huddled under the bus stop, chatting excitedly about the race.

They
were so excited that we had won a trip to Australia, and that the focal point
of the prize was the race! We were introduced to everyone as “the South
Africans who came to run the race,” and everyone wanted a photograph with us! Interestingly,
it does not matter where you go, runners talk about the same things: Training
stories, previous times, predicted times, diet the night before, diet on the
day, stretching, clothing, hydration, and so forth. It sounded just like the
typical pre-race banter in South Africa.

We arrived at the start with thousands of runners
streaming in. The sun had started to rise over the city and the view was
absolutely spectacular from under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the Opera
House and end point of the half marathon clearly visible across the river. We
were ready to run!

ALICIA: GREAT RUN!

On
our way to the start, we met up with a young student who had entered the Sydney
Half Marathon as her first half. She and I were starting in the same pen and we
decided to run together, because she also wanted to run a sub-2:00 time. The
climb at the beginning was quick and easy – all I could think about was how
most South Africans would laugh at that ‘hill,’ because if you have run
Southern Cross, or ‘Moerse Bult’ at Niel Joubert, then you would hop and skip
over this – and suddenly we were on the bridge. They had closed the bridge for
us, and it was quite an experience to run under the steel lattice with the
river beneath you. This was what
running was about!

We
ran through a number of districts, and at one of the hairpin turns, the winner
came flying past us like a bat out of hell, but much more
graceful. I saw Alexis twice during the race. The first time, he looked quite
cheerful, and he smiled while he waved at me. But the second time, he did not
look pleased, and he waved his hand like a guillotine across his neck,
indicating that he was kaput.

There
were so many supporters lining the final stretch along the waterfront and I
heard someone yell, “Go Celtics,” but judging by their accent, I suspect that
they thought I was running for some Irish club. Then came the memorable finish
at the foot of the Opera House steps, across the river from the Harbour Bridge,
which we had crossed only two hours earlier, and next to the Opera House sprawled
the Royal Botanical Gardens, where our medals were handed out. Running this
race was definitely the best way to tour the city!

ALEXIS: TOUGH DAY

I
started off running at a relaxed pace, enjoying the sunrise over Sydney Harbour,
listening to the runners breathing heavily around me as we went over the first
hill and headed for the Harbour Bridge section. I felt the jetlag setting in
and immediately knew that it was going to be a long morning (and mourning) for
my legs. Soon, we had crossed the bridge and were heading down the highway
towards the city. Beautiful skyscrapers all around us provided some much-needed
shelter from the sun, which had begun to bake.

As
we made our way through the Financial District, the wheels came off and as much
as I struggled, I just couldn’t find a rhythm. I resigned myself to
power-walking and taking as many photos as my battery would allow while
chatting to the other ‘stragglers’ around me, but as we entered the final 2km,
my spirits were lifted and I started to make a run for the finish. With the
Opera House in sight and the hordes of supporters cheering us on, it was
impossible to not feel a sense of elation.

As
we were making our way along the promenade, my calf decided it was time to spaz
out and I was forced to stop and stretch it out every few metres. A mere 400m
from the finish the other calf joined the party, and I was in pretty bad shape.
With thousands of onlookers and a pained grimace on my face, I tried to get my
mutinous calves to play along. I started walking to test them out and as I
broke into a run, the crowd of supporters in the coffee shops and cafes of the
waterfront cheered. I felt like Rocky Balboa at the end of a movie montage –
nothing was going to stop me now! My calves cramped all the way to the finish,
but what an incredible ending to an incredible race.

TOURIST MODE

Sydney’s
beautiful skyscrapers intermingle gracefully with centurion buildings, heritage
sites and parks – imagine New York City mixed with Cape Town, but minus the
rubbish and car guards – and the people are so friendly. During our stay, it
seemed like the city never really slept. Whether we were wandering around at
10am in the morning or 10pm at night, there were always hordes of people moving
through the streets, and it was interesting to experience the multi-cultural
mix of English, Japanese, Korean, Tamil and many other languages.

We
crammed in as many tourist activities as we could, but there is so much to do
in Sydney! We visited the museums, Opera House, parks, markets and aquarium,
and we even managed to slip away to the beautiful Blue Mountain Reserve for a
day. It was an exciting journey to a beautiful city. Thank you so much, Modern Athlete, for affording us this
opportunity of a lifetime!

Since launching the Academy two months ago, our numbers
have grown to 35 registered athletes. The academy, which was launched after our
highly successful inaugural Dare to Tri programme last year, now enables more
triathletes to finish one of the world’s most magnificent triathlons, as our athletes
not only receive a weekly training programme, but they can also attend weekly
coached sessions.

Coach Derick Marcisz says he is happy with the academy
members’ progress and is now moving the training into the 10-week main
progressive fitness part of the programme, where your fitness will be taken up
a level by progressively adding sessions and distance. The basic Dare to Tri
rules of triathlon still apply and are the cornerstones for any programme to
succeed: Consistency, specific training, and enough rest and recovery.

THE PLAN FOR NOVEMBER

During September you hopefully managed a consistent
six sessions a week and ended that training with a triathlon race, so you
should have a good idea of where your strengths and weaknesses are. Each athlete is different, so you need
to work on your weaknesses, but never neglect your strengths!

The plan over the next five weeks, phase one of the Progressive Fitness Training section,
is to add one session each week till you get to a peak week of nine sessions.
We then take a recovery week before another build-up phase. The training for
each sport will be as follows:

?        
RUNNING: The longest run so far has been
15km and we will build this to 20km. The pace should be easy and relaxed. The
second run of 10km should alternate between including hills (for strength) and
faster running (for speed). Any other running you do should be short and very
easy.

?        
BIKING: The longest ride you would have
done is 70km and we now build this up to 90km. These rides should be at a relaxed pace, with you getting used to
spinning a fairly high cadence of around 90 revolutions per minute. The second
ride should be on the road and include some hills. Any other rides/spinning sessions should be short and at an easy
pace.

?        
SWIMMING: The swim distance to
date is around 1.5km and we will now take this up to 2km. One open water swim per week is essential, doing a 2km straight
swim in a dam or in the sea. Always swim in open water with other triathletes
and use these sessions to practise sighting the swim buoys as well as swimming
in a group. Other pool sessions should focus on good technique. Remember,
triathletes get their cardio fitness from running and cycling – use the swim
sessions to perfect your technique.

?        
BRICK SESSIONS: You can now start to
add ‘brick sessions’ to your training – both swim-to-bike and bike-to-run. Swim-to-bike
bricks can be done indoors: Swim a continuous 1km in the pool, then immediately
do 30min fast on a stationary bike. Bike-to-run bricks can be included after
any of your bike rides, either the shorter midweek rides or the longer weekend
rides. Keep the runs short (3-8km), and work on running form/cadence and
adapting to the heavy leg feeling you have after riding. Experiment with the
pace of the runs, from easy to including some faster surges.

TRIATHLON EVENTS

There are many events on the calendar during November,
such as the 94.7 Cycle Challenge, several triathlon events, and a multitude of
running races. Do not try and do all
these events! I know it is tempting, but be selective about the events you
do and make sure you rest before and recover after these events. I personally
believe that if you do too many events, you lose that special feeling of going
to do a ‘race’. My advice is save the ‘racing’ for the events you want to do
well in or where you want to push yourself.

DARE TO SWIM

Brought to you by TOTAL IMMERSION

Swim Smarter, Not
Harder

We’ve all heard the smarter, not harder saying before, usually to do
with work, but nothing could be more true for swimming, especially for
triathletes.

If you are new to triathlon or ramping up your
training for the coming season, you may be feeling tired and even a little
overwhelmed right now, because juggling three disciplines at once will
certainly add to your stress. One of the biggest mistakes at this stage will be
to try to push on harder and fit in more just to make the weekly mileage or
tick off your programme requirements. Whilst this may benefit your run and bike,
it certainly won’t have much effect on your swimming – and could even make you
worse, because you may just get good at struggling!

Here are a few tips for when the going gets tough:

?        
Sometimes it’s more
beneficial to skip an early morning session if you haven’t had a good sleep.
Rather squeeze in a 30min session at lunch time and get a few hours extra
sleep.

?        
If you go to the pool
and find your mind wandering and you just can’t keep your mind on the job,
rather quit the session. It’s pointless to practise swimming unless you are
focussed.

?        
If your body is tired
from a long bike and/or run session at the weekend, rather use your swim
session as active recovery. Do a nice long leisurely swim and focus on strokes
per length rather than time. This way you work on technique but give your body
a rest.

?        
Think of your swim
session as practice rather than training. You’ll get fitness through your
practice as well as your bike and run sessions.

?        
Set the primarily
goal of your swim sessions to extend your ability to focus on your form the
whole time, and not on fitness. Practising extending your focus in the pool
will make the open water race experience easy, because there will be no room
for outside elements like crowds and rough water.

?        
Spend a whole session
just doing drills and no swimming, but be sure to know why you are doing the
drills, otherwise it’s pointless.

In short, you can use your swim practice to give your body a rest and
get your brain to do the work.

MEET THE CREW

Each month Modern Athlete
will feature some of our Dare to Tri Academy members here. This month we chat
to two of our novices, Jean Louw,
who with wife Lara is one of three
husband and wife teams registered at the Academy.

A couple of years ago I watched a triathlon sprint
series event on TV and thought that it looked like a lot of fun and a good,
healthy lifestyle that we could do as a family. I am an entrepreneur and
believe anything you can perceive and really believe can be achieved. I also
enjoy aiming for the highest possible goals and therefore I made it my goal to
one day complete Ironman. So the Modern Athlete Dare to Try Academy seemed like
the perfect vehicle to help Lara and I get fit by
following a specific programme with other novices, serving as a motivation that
we are not alone.

Starting the training was initially difficult. My wife
and I haven’t exercised for years and I have never trained for anything to a
point of being fit. Being part of the Dare to Tri Academy is my chance to be
fit and push myself to the limit. My wife comes from a sporting family, but she
suffered an injury back in primary school that prevented her from continuing
with her sport.

We have just completed our second BSG triathlon and
feel that we are now starting to get more confidence and feel more comfortable
in each discipline. There is some competitiveness between Lara and I. She finished
four minutes ahead of me at our first triathlon and I had to dig deep in our
second event to beat her by two minutes! It’s great fun that we are more or
less on the same fitness level.

We really enjoy the BSG sprint triathlons and would
like to keep doing them. Olympic distance is our next longer distance goal
before we tackle the 70.3. Then one of our dreams is to travel abroad and do
triathlons in different countries with our kids.

DARE TO TRI PARTNERS

Total Immersion South Africa – Respected swim coach and Total Immersion SA founder Georgie Thomas has
completed many triathlons, including three full Ironmans here in SA, as well
competing in the 70.3 Half Ironman World Champs and World Long Distance
Triathlon Champs. More info at www.totalimmersionsa.co.za.

DNALYSIS Biotechnology – Founded to bring state-of-the-art molecular
technologies to the South African health and wellness markets, DNAlysis has
developed a range of genetic tests that allow for the personalisation of diet,
exercise and nutrition advice according to an athlete’s unique genetic make-up.
More info at www.dnalysis.co.za.

Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa – Presented by World Endurance South Africa (in
collaboration with World Triathlon Corporation), the specialist triathlon event
organiser responsible for the highly successful Spec-Savers Ironman SA and
other triathlon and endurance events around South Africa. More info at
www.ironmansouthafrica.com

Modern Athlete magazine – South
Africa’s biggest monthly publication for everyday people who embrace the modern
approach to health and fitness, covering road running, trail running and
multi-sport as well as cycling, swimming and adventure racing. More info at
www.modernathlete.co.za

There were plenty of “Ooohs” and “aaahs” from the audience at the
annual FEAT (Fascinating Expedition & Adventure Talks) event early in
October in Johannesburg, as the panel of guest speakers took turns to present truly
inspiring seven-minute talks on their adventures:

?        
Ed February: With 30 years’ climbing experience on more than 200
routes, Ed spoke about mountaineering back in the day without today’s technologically
advanced equipment.

?        
Elizabeth de Speville: In 2011 Liz read
about the Camino
de Santiago walk in Spain online, started walking regularly for training, and
is now a firm believer that the only way to see a place is to walk it!

?        
Elsie Bezuidenhout: Her mountain journey started with Kilimanjaro,
then she climbed Aconcagua and Erebus, which motivated her to climb the highest
peak on each continent and join the Seven Summits club. Only Everest remains…

?        
James Lea: Together with his friend Mark Yetman, James went
on what became known as the ‘Big Ride Africa,’ taking in 19 countries and
clocking 15 458km over six months.

?        
James Pitman: He was one member of the three-person team to
fly their South African designed and built light aircraft, Sling 4, around the
world, including a 30-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

?        
Keith Jones: The amusing adventure of a yacht master managing
a dismasting in the Caribbean, blowing his engine in Patagonia and again in the
Falklands, and recording probably the slowest crossing of the Southern Ocean.

?        
Martin Dreyer: After discovering there is more
to life while working on a commercial fishing boat in the icy Pacific Ocean, he
not only won numerous Duzi Canoe Marathons and the Land Rover G4 Challenge, but
also established the Change a Life Academy.

?        
Rob Thomas: Having grown up on the slopes of Table Mountain and Devil’s
Peak in Cape Town, Rob has many stories to share about the adventures of being
a mountain rescuer.

?        
Christo Smeda: After winning the sponsored
adventure prize at FEAT 2011, Christo took his friends Regardt Botes and Flip
du Plessis and circumnavigated the island of Zanzibar on Stand Up Paddle (SUP)
boards.

AMAZON
ADVENTURER

FEAT organiser Lisa de Spellville then announced a surprise bonus speaker,
solo adventurer Davey Du Plessis, in his first public appearance since his traumatic
near-death ordeal on the Amazon River in South America. Davey had set out to cycle
from Arequippa to Chivay in Peru (145km, mostly uphill), followed by a five-day
hike to the source of the Amazon on Mount Misimi, then cycle 465km to Crusco
and finish off the adventure by paddling 4 500km to the mouth of the Amazon.

With the gruelling bike legs behind him, Davey gave his bike away and
set out on the paddling leg. However, the rapids were far
bigger than he had expected and his kayak was too fragile, so he stopped at Quillabamba
and purchased a tractor tyre as replacement! More worrying was the fact that
there had recently been 30 kidnappings in that area, allegedly by a drug cartel
operating in the area. Davey had seen local people by the river, who seemed intrigued
by his appearance but never posed a threat, until he came across some kids that
initially also seemed harmless. Suddenly he heard gunshots and felt numbness in
the back of his neck, then fell into the water. “My arms felt like they were no
longer part of my body, and it was almost a peaceful feeling drifting
underneath the water with my eyes open,” he says.

Once he
regained his senses, he managed to get his head above the water, where the
shots were still coming, then clawed his way onto the riverbank. “I was waiting
for what I thought was death,” he says. Then instinct kicked in, making Davey
get to his feet and run for help. When he saw locals after about 5km, he tried
to call for help, but with a bullet lodged in his throat, no sound came out. Then
they wanted money in return for helping him, but Davey had no money left…

After
being left to lie in a boat for four hours, Davey started coughing blood, which
fortunately sparked some urgency amongst the locals, and he was passed from one
tribe to the next until he reached a hospital in Pucallapa, where X-rays showed
that he had been shot in the head, neck and chest, with bullet fragments lodged
in his lungs and heart. Davey underwent successful surgery to remove the bullets,
but the shrapnel in his heart will need to be closely monitored for the rest of
his life. “The greatest message to have come out of this whole
incident was seeing how people from all over the world managed to connect and
offer assistance that ensured my wellbeing,” says Davey.”

MA: The financial situation at ASA has been described as very serious
and CEO Frik Vermaak was recently fired following an enquiry into financial
mismanagement. What exactly is the situation and does the sport have any money?

JE: Things are tight and will be for
a few months, but we are working on recovering our financial strength. Since
2009 there have been constraints and by the end of last year we had stabilised
the ship. This year required financial prudence in everything we did. That did
not happen and we now need to watch every cent that is spent. This may involve
some structural changes and changes in the way we do things, but we will make
sure that we get everything back to normal as soon as possible.

MA: Several sponsors have withdrawn from the sport in recent years, or
look set to withdraw, including Engen, Old Mutual, Nedbank and Yellow Pages, sparking
fears that nobody wants to invest in the sport. Is this the case?

JE: Sometimes a sponsor does not
renew due to strategic decisions, other times because they are unhappy, but unfortunately,
when a sponsor does not renew a sponsorship everyone just says they pulled out.
For example, Yellow Pages’ contract ended at the end of the last season, and for
some reason people are saying they pulled out. Whether they enter into a new
contract or not depends on further discussions.

There is interest in the sport from sponsors. The
challenge is to meet both parties’ expectations before we finalise anything. In
some cases (thankfully only a few), sponsors believe they are buying the sport,
but the relationship is far more complicated. The sponsor is, usually, buying
the branding rights to a product the sport is offering. If the product is weak,
the sponsor will get less coverage and could spend their money better
elsewhere. If it is strong, the challenge is to correctly evaluate the price
for selling the rights. That is what we are busy with – determining what our
strongest products are and how we can strengthen them to be more attractive,
while also evaluating their worth correctly. That way we give more value to the
potential sponsors we are talking to while also ensuring that we get the
revenue we need to run the sport. The initial results will be seen soon, but if
we get the exercise right, then we will reap the benefits in a year or two’s
time.

MA: Controversy accompanied the final team selection for track &
field for the London Olympics, with some athletes going that had not met the
full selection criteria, while others in a similar situation were left at home.
How did this come about?

JE: The final team selection was done
by SASCOC. We presented the names of athletes and they made the final choice.
The one athlete who did not meet the requirement of two A-standard performances
did meet the exception made for 2016-potential. He made the World Indoor Champs
final in 2012 and is the African Champion, so he was hardly a surprise or
high-risk choice. He made the Olympic final and recently broke the SA record,
so it was clearly a good selection. We still feel that other names we put
forward should have been selected, but SASCOC obviously had their reasons for
disagreeing.

MA: Our athletes seem to be having an up and down time of things on the
world stage, so do you think we’re moving in the right direction in terms of
development of talent and coaching?

JE: In South Africa we have an
unrealistic idea of what constitutes success. We contested nine track &
field events at the Olympics and had six finalists. Hardly a failure! Then at
the World Half Marathon Champs, Stephen Mokoka came eighth, behind some greats
of the sport. In general, over the last two years we have been competitive. Having
said that, it is because our athletes are good, not the systems. We are busy
working with the IAAF to introduce their coaching qualification system here,
because coaching is an area where South Africa has fallen too far behind. In
fact, this has happened at all training levels – in technical officials and
administration as well.

We also need to look at our competition structure,
because I am not convinced it is contributing to improving the depth of our top
performers. Just take road running, for example: How many courses do we have that
are conducive to fast times? Probably a handful in the entire country. We also
have major prize money in minor races which are not well organised or on
difficult courses, which entice the top athletes to run them instead of
focusing on a few quick and slick events. It is great that our mass
participation model is strong, but our model at elite level is non-existent.

Also, the disjuncture between the schools programme
and the national federation is a major source of concern. Unfortunately, the
schools body has stated that they will not work together with us on a national
junior championships again. The only losers are the athletes. Government also
seems to be confused as to what its role is in this mess. Sorting it out has to
be one of our priorities if we want success in 2016 and beyond.

MA: Your leadership style has sometimes been described as autocratic,
and some people say you are unapproachable. How do you respond to that?

JE: There seems to be a misconception on the part of some
people as to how the system works. From the first day I was elected, I got
bombarded with people who wanted to meet with me about a range of issues, from
producing a TV magazine show to saying that they wanted to contribute if we
needed them. All of this was (and is) appreciated, but it is wrongly directed
to the guy at the top. On a good day I get about 20 phone calls and 30 e-mails;
on a bad one it can be as many as 100 calls and 250 e-mails. It is not possible
to deal with all of them. Most should be going to the person’s club or province
to deal with. Others need to be dealt with by our office.

The Board of ASA is not there to deal with matters on
the ground around the country – that is why we have clubs and provinces. Our
obligations are to give guidance and assistance to the provinces and to deal
with national and international issues. Also, the Board has to focus on longer
term strategic planning. Where people are playing obstructive political games,
they have to be left behind. If they then cry that what they call autocratic
decisions are being made, the answer has to be to ask whether they took the
opportunity presented to them to make their contribution when it was asked for.
We do not have the luxury of waiting for them anymore.

MA: Do you think the various players in athletics are pulling in the
same direction to rebuild the sport?

JE: It was inevitable that after many years of a strong
leader such as Leonard, there would be a jostling for positions when he left.
It was one of the unfortunate consequences of how the matter was handled that a
vacuum was created which led to people rushing for the top positions. It may
have seemed destructive, but at the same time it was natural and permitted the
sport to regain its shape. We have had three sets of elections in the past two
years and the competition for positions has become less and less during that
time, indicating a realignment and also a level of maturity entering the
equation. So, after two years of lots of different camps vying for positions,
the Board is pretty unified at the moment. The building can now start.

However, I have to add the caution that people
everywhere must also contribute to the fight to clean up the sport and not just
sit back and say that ASA must come and clean things up for them. That happened
earlier this year in KwaZulu-Natal. I was bombarded with complaints and was
called all sorts of things when I did not publicly intervene. We continued our
efforts out of the public eye to get KZN Athletics to address the concerns
being raised, but ultimately the clubs in KZN woke up to the fact that they had
to solve the problem themselves. They did and there is now a new administration
there. (Although it will be interesting to know if they have taken the steps
they wanted ASA to take.)

MA: What does ASA have in the pipeline in terms of plans and goals?

JE: It’s too early to disclose all the plans for the
future, but we already have a platform from which to grow. Few other sports are
practised in so many schools or have as many participants on a regular basis.
We just need to translate that into elite performances and we will be in the
top 10 athletics countries in the world.

TRAIL TO COME

Due to space constraints, we have left out the
question put to James on the formalisation of trail running, but we will cover that
in an upcoming edition when we speak to Altus Schreuder, the convenor of the
ASA sub-committee on trail running, which is currently working towards
establishing a national plan for trail running, with input from trail running
athletes, organisers and partners.

After
years of running up to 5km for general fitness, on top of yoga, gym, boxing and
other fitness activities, Nicolene Mostert recently began training for her
first 21km race at next year’s Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon, and it’s
all thanks to her work as a photographic sports model for adidas. The
well-known sporting brand was recently announced as the new technical supplier
to the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, and that saw adidas launch its Journey
to Two Oceans campaign – which they needed a ‘face’ for. And they chose Nicolene.

“I’ve
worked with adidas six or seven times over the last two to three years, and
have sort of become part of the adidas family, so they asked me to run the race
as part of their campaign due to me being the model in their shoots,” explains
Nicolene. “They offered to take me under their wing and train me for it,
because it will be my first half marathon, and it’s going well – I did my first
10km run the other day. My goal is to run a 1:50 at Two Oceans next year. The
big mental challenge for me is to learn to slow down and pace myself, because I
was always a sprinter at school.”

Originally
from Namibia and having gown up in Pretoria, Nicolene has lived in Sea Point,
Cape Town for the past seven years, where she works part-time as a model and
also does sports therapy massage at the Kranking Fitness Studio in the V&A
Waterfront. On top of that, that she is a single parent to daughter Belle (4),
so fitting in training is a challenge, but one she is enjoying. “Moving up to
21km as a 28-year-old single mom is not easy, but I am inspired by top South
African ultra-marathoner Adinda Kruger. I remember watching her train in the
gym when I still lived in Pretoria, and she only began running at 28 or 29, but
is now a top runner.”

“I’m
looking forward to seeing my running improve. There is a bit of pressure on me
now, but in an exciting, healthy way. I feel this is a massive honour to be
involved with a brand that I have enjoyed working for, as well as such a
magnificent race.”

Salads are part of our South African culture, but how
do we make them suitable to our own nutritional requirements as athletes while
also meeting our taste requirements? To make a meal balanced we should take the
following into consideration:

?        
It should contain all
3 macronutrients: Carbohydrates to
provide energy and fibre, protein to provide building blocks for tissue
maintenance and repair, and fat to provide essential fatty acids.

?        
It must contain
vegetables and fruit to ensure variety of vitamins and minerals and fibre.

?        
It should be low in
salt.

?        
It should contain
some dairy for healthy bones.

When designing your own salad for a main meal, think
of the traditional Food Plate Model to achieve a balance in nutrients. Half
your plate should always be vegetables, or one quarter vegetables and one
quarter fruit. Another quarter of your plate should be carbohydrates and the
remaining quarter should be protein. A small dairy portion should be made part
of the meal, either as part of the protein portion (e.g. cheese) or as a salad
dressing (using low-fat plain yoghurt).

Now that summer has arrived, fresh salads can be a
light, refreshing meal that can energise your day but still leave you feeling
light before a run, and you could start with these two delicious, recommended
salad recipes, which are perfect to fuel your running.

Asparagus, green
bean, chickpea and feta salad

Serves: 8 Time to make: 15 minutes

Main Ingredients:

2 large bunches of asparagus, trimmed and halved

400g green beans

1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas

1 small red onion, finely sliced

75g reduced-fat feta cheese

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1? tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1? tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

A pinch of castor sugar

Step 1 To make dressing, place balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dill and sugar into
a small bowl and stir well to combine.

Step 2 Blanch beans and asparagus in boiling water for about three minutes until
bright green and slightly tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water.

Step 3 Place asparagus, beans, rinsed chickpeas and onion into a large bowl and
toss with dill dressing. Transfer to a serving platter and crumble feta on top.

Ham, cheese and
potato salad with honey-mustard dressing

Serves: 4 Time to make: 45 minutes

Main Ingredients:

500g baby/sweet potatoes, boiled, drained and halved

400g can artichokes in brine, boiled, drained and
halved

1 yellow or red capsicum, diced

3 green onions, sliced

150g snow peas, trimmed and shredded

2 eggs, hard boiled, quartered

200g shaved ham, cut into bite-size pieces

100g low-fat cheese, grated or cubed

Dressing Ingredients:

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Step 1 Combine all salad ingredients in
a large serving bowl.

Step 2 Make dressing: Whisk together all
dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over salad.

Step 3: Place this delicious salad on a
bed of mixed lettuce leaves instead of adding a fruit, to increase the
nutritional value.

One of my most vivid childhood memories takes me back to 1976(age 9)
when Mom had placed me on the side of the Comrades road, water bottle in hand,
waiting to give it to Dad when he came past. Well, we messed up the handover
and I remember sprinting down the road after my Dad to give him his bottle. He
was running at a furious pace and needless to say, I never even got close to
getting the water bottle to him. I was picked up by Mom, dropped a couple of
kays down the road and managed a successful handover the second time around.
That was the year my Dad placed 89th at Comrades in 6:58:00, an unbelievable
achievement that my brothers and I can only marvel at now that we have
completed ‘The Big C’. For the record, we are four brothers, three of whom
completed the 2012 Comrades.

An even earlier memory takes me back to 1973.
The overnight train from Durban to Germiston was late and as I was very wary of
my grade 1 teacher, I made my Dad (who had run Comrades the day before) walk me
all the way to my classroom. I clearly remember taking an extraordinarily long
time to make our way from the bottom parking lot, over the sports fields, up
some steep steps and to my classroom. I have always wondered how long it took
him to get back to the car… especially now that I have my own experience of
recovering from the ‘Down’ Comrades, and the resultant very stiff legs the next
morning.

Throughout my 20s and 30s I watched the Comrades Marathon on TV, and in
1997 I happened to be in Durban on Comrades day and was privileged to witness
the victories of Charl Mattheus and Ann Trason. Every year I promised myself
that next year would be the year that I entered it, and over the years I have
handed over quite a few cases of beer to settle pub bets resulting from my
continued absence from the start line.

THE FIRST GO

In January 2008, aged 40, I joined Bedfordview Country Club and even on
that very first walk/run that I participated in, I already knew that Comrades
was the big hairy goal that I wanted to achieve. And so on 30 May 2010, I found
myself on the starting line in Pietermaritzburg. It really is an incredible
feeling being in the starting pens for one’s first Comrades, knowing that you
are going to be participating in a uniquely South African experience. The
actual morning was freezing cold, the atmosphere before the start was palatable
and the almost eight-minute wait to cross the start after Shosholoza, the National Anthem, Chariots of Fire, the cockcrow and the starter’s gun was totally
nerve-wracking.

For the first time while running, I experienced cramps in my legs, which
brought me to a near standstill within the first 20km. I made the Drummond halfway
cut-off with one-and-a-half minutes to spare, and then made the next cut-off
point (Winston Park), some 14km later with around two minutes in hand, but with
the continued cramping in my legs I eventually had to leave the course, having
completed 62km. That was the furthers distance that I had ever run. By that
stage I had no chance of making the next cut-off and decided that I would like
to see my brother Kevin finish, who was also running his first Comrades.

Despite not finishing, some of the highlights of my 2010 Comrades day
were:

?              
My brother Bruce
running about 7km with me, in his slops, from the top of Botha’s Hill to
Winston Park, and taking the infamous photographs of me running in stone last
position with my very own entourage of Comrades vehicles right on my tail.

?              
Being at the finish
to witness Kevin finish his first Comrades and to see and feel the real
disappointment for me at not having finished my first.

?              
Winning the Bailer of
the Year Award at the club prize-giving – thanks mainly to above-mentioned photo
shoot – and the genuine warm wishes of club members to tackle Comrades the following
year.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…

A year later, on 29 May 2011, I stood at the start in Durban better
trained, weighing less, and wondering if the ‘Up Run’ would bring me better
fortune and a first Comrades medal. I ran well in the first half, going through
Drummond in 5:34, leaving myself 6:26 to get inside the 12-hour cut-off, but my
second half did not start well, with the beast of Inchanga taking a big toll on
my energy. Bruce was now doing his first Comrades and I met up with him three quarters
of the way up Inchanga. We were glued together for the rest of the way to
Pietermaritzburg, but we were always running against the clock and we both dug
very deeply to keep moving forward.

It was very disheartening when the 12-hour bus went past us with about
15km still to go. Even with the best will in the world, we just did not have
the ability at that time to keep the 12-hour bus in our sights. Somehow we made
it to the top of Polly Shorts, but we had a big task to get to the finish
before the dreaded gunshot would signal the end. My watch had long since died
and my ability to process anything mathematical was just about non-existent, so
Bruce and I just resorted to a sprint/walk strategy to get to the finish.

We eventually got to the stadium, with Bruce just ahead of me. The atmosphere
was electric and the announcer was busy with the 10-second countdown as I
turned the final corner, so the finish line was in sight when the gun was fired
– I saw my brother finish in 11:59:50 and I was less than 100m short! I just came
to a total standstill on the field; I was more physically shattered than
disappointed. I eventually made my way over the timing mats at the finish line
and into the arms of Bruce and Kevin, who had hurdled the fence at the finish
to get to us, having finished earlier in 10:28:28. I was later told by many of
my club mates that there wasn’t a dry eye in the Bedfordview Country Club
gazebo after they had just witnessed the agony of my near-finish. I was treated
for dehydration in the medical tent and vowed that very same night that I would
be back at Comrades 2012.

THIRD TIME LUCKY

And so I found myself on the starting line in Pietermaritzburg once
again on 3 June 2012, praying that it was going to be third time lucky. I
really felt the pressure as many well-wishers told me that this was going to be
my year. Overall, I had a really fantastic race, despite some minor leg cramps.
I ran the entire way with Bedfordview Country Club members, I had tons of support
along the way and I was thrilled to bits when I got into the stadium and over
the line in 11:11. I thought I would break down at the finish, but in truth,
even though there were tears, my biggest feeling was an enormous sense of relief that I had finally finished Comrades. For the third year in a row, I
met my brother Kevin on the finish line and this time we were able to have a
hug of victory!

I was again treated for dehydration. My
medical treatment was an epic experience in itself, with me falling off the
stretcher on the way to the medical tent, then being put on a stretcher bed
whose leg collapsed, spilling me onto the ground for a second time, but I was
treated by a fantastic young doctor who was spending her birthday treating
fatigued Comrades runners.

NOW FOR NUMBER FOUR

Comrades 2012 was the culmination of not just getting the Comrades
monkey off my back, but rather, as one of my running mates put it, the hairy Comrades
gorilla! And this year my Bailer of the Year Award was replaced with the
Perseverance Trophy in recognition of my journey. Will I be back in 2013 to run
Comrades again? Absolutely! Maybe one day the four brothers will start a Comrades
together (come on, Trevor!). And to those mates – you know who you are – it is
now time for that Johnnie Walker Blue.

David Barnard was one of those runners who fell out of
love with the sport after a few years on the tar, but then the CEO of SANGONeT (Southern African NGO Network) discovered
multi-stage desert races, and rediscovered his love of running. “In the early 2000’s, I ran road races,
did Comrades, and it was all the same,” he says. “I had lost running for four
years, but at the end of 2009 I heard of the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme
Marathon and started up again.” He decided to run it in 2010 under the SANGONeT
‘No Pain No Gain’ campaign banner, to raise funds and awareness for NGOs, but
first he had to not only get running fit again, but also get used to running with
a heavy backpack filled with clothing, food and water, and in sand and high
temperatures. “You learn from your first time and you learn the tricks of the
trade,” he says.

Since that first desert
run, David has gone on to run several deserts around the world, and says his
running has brought him a sense of personal achievement. “Desert races bring a
new outlook to running. Some people think I’m crazy taking on these five to
six-day multistage races, but it’s great because there are no egos at events
like these. It’s about the experience, and people often do it for a cause.” All
the funds David raises through his running go towards helping SANGONeT provide
other NGOs in the country with services, advice and technologies. “It’s a hard
sector to get into – awareness is important and throughout my desert races we
profile a NGO daily to get the word out.”

RELENTLESS SAHARA

In 2011, David went to run
in Egypt, and despite being better prepared, he fought both dehydration and
fatigue “I came back better trained for Sahara, but it took its toll on me. The
heat was really difficult and it drove me crazy. All you want is water. You
can’t sit down because it’s hot. You can’t stand still because of the heat
radiating above.”

Every 8km, heaven-sent
water points would hand out one-litre water bottles, and roving Land Rovers moved
amongst the runners to fill up water bottles as well, but David says there was no
choice but to keep running. “The sooner you finish your stage, the more time
you have to recover. I learnt to manage that well. But you also have to hold
yourself back, because usually on the final day, the route can be Comrades
distance!”

GOING STILL BIGGER

Having raised
R100 000 in each of his first two runs, David felt the campaign needed a
bigger and better challenge in 2012. “We had to expand the campaign – three
deserts on three continents, and reach R1 million in fundraising” he says. That
has seen him complete the Namib Desert Challenge in March and the Gobi March in
China in June, and now Antarctica in November is the last challenge for the
year. “It will be a challenge in the cold. When the Highveld had the recent bit
of snow, people asked me if I was running and I said ‘No, it’s too cold!’ Now
I’ll have to expect those conditions.”

David’s training
philosophy is simple: Run every day. “You have to get used to running at least
six days a week. I try and get up to 130km a week, work on core training in the
gym for the tough terrain and do weight-training for my quads so that when I
race with my 7kg backpack, I’ll be prepared.” However, David knows that all he
does during the events is vasbyt.
“You get blisters, and sometimes there is no shade, like in the Sahara, but I
know that I must just keep going. It’s my motivation! To think I link my day
job with running is a bonus.”

For more info on the
‘No Pain, No Gain’ campaign or to make a donation, go to www.ngopulse.org/npng or www.facebook.com/Sangonet.NoPainNoGain.

She was 50,
between jobs, feeling down, and weighing more than ever. And her family had
started calling her Madame Dough due to her love of pastries. Sarah Jane
Horscroft knew it was time to make a plan. Then she received the Modern Athlete newsletter and read about
the Dare To Tri Challenge, calling for novice triathletes to apply for a slot
on the magazine’s Ironman 70.3 training squad. She had wanted to compete in
triathlons since her student days, so she entered, even though she didn’t
expect to make the squad.

When she discovered
that she had been selected, alongside 10 other novices, she admits she actually
had to go Google the Ironman. “I was not quite sure what I had set myself up
for, and was terribly shocked when I saw the distances involved, but to my relief,
I put two and two together and realised it was only a Half Ironman I was signed
up for!”

TRAINING TIME

And so Sarah
began following Dare to Tri Coach Derick Marcisz’s training programme, joining
group training sessions and attending the Dare to Tri Workshops, but being a
full-time wife and mother made it difficult to fit in training for all three
disciplines. In the end, she would ‘steal’ time, such as going for a run when
she had dropped off one of her daughters at an extramural activity, and she did
most of her training at 5am while juggling her family duties. “The hardest part
of doing Ironman 70.3, or any other triathlon, is finding the time to train,”
she says.

Sarah had
always been an avid runner, but she hadn’t swum since school and wasn’t too
keen on cycling, having never ridden in cleats before. It took her about eight
weeks to get the hang of them, which she did by cycling with her husband each
Sunday. The swimming side of things took off faster than she had expected,
though, largely helped by the Total Immersion course the squad did. “That
helped me gain confidence and taught me to swim faster with less effort, but my
first open water swim made me feel disorientated, which left me concerned for
the first leg of 70.3.”

THE BIG DAY

The day
before the race in Buffalo City (East London), the group went for an easy cycle,
but Sarah Jane developed a pounding headache and turned back. “I spent the rest
of the day in bed, took every vitamin tablet known to man, and slept all day
trying to recover. When I opened my eyes the next day, I felt strong and
prepared for what lay before me.” Fortunately race day produced perfect racing
weather, and she came out of the sea in 43:56, feeling exhilarated instead of
tired. However, she was scared of the bike leg, as she felt that she would only
just manage to beat the cut-off time. “I just prayed constantly that I wouldn’t
be one of the many athletes standing next to the road with a punctured tyre!”
she says.

“As I rode,
I kept the route map in mind and waited for that one massive hill to come. Then
to my surprise, I reached the end of the bike leg in 3:43 and could not believe
that the massive hill in my mind had never arrived.” That set her up
brilliantly for the run, and though the last 5km were especially hard, the
music was pumping and the supporters were cheering, which helped her come home
with a superb run time of 2:07 and a sub-7 finish time.

BIGGER AND BETTER

Since
then, Sarah Jane has completed a number of triathlon events, building on her
Dare to Tri training, and that saw her recently selected in her age category to
represent SA at the World Triathlon Champs in New Zealand in October. “The Dare
to Tri experience and completing Ironman 70.3 really has changed my life – you realise
what you are capable of. My family still can’t believe that I went from ‘Madame
Dough’ to international triathlete in a year!”