Category: Features

On 21 June this year, less than a month after winning his third consecutive Comrades Marathon, Stephen Muzhingi received news that he had been waiting months to hear and made him grab his phone and ‘tweet’ “Hot news! Just got confirmation that I have been invited to run the New York Marathon, a dream come true. NY, NY – Gonna eat a big apple!”

Only the world’s top elite marathoners are invited to run New York each year – everybody else has to try to get one of the highly prized entries, with thousands upon thousands turned away each year. But thanks to the persistent efforts of his manager, Craig Fry, who had been negotiating with the New York Road Runners (NYRR) since January to secure Stephen’s elite invite, he will be lining up at the front of the race on 6 November.

“I have never had the speed to qualify for this status, but since winning three Comrades, I have been included. I have a sub-2:20 marathon time but have never really raced a marathon properly, so this will be a true test for me. My aim is to run a 2:10 or faster, which I know I can do, and all I can say is thank you to NYRR for the invitation, and to Craig for making this happen for me.”

RUNNING FOR MOM
Stephen was due to run in Switzerland in September, but had to cancel those plans when his mother fell seriously ill. Sadly, she passed away a few weeks later. Stephen says it was very hard to lose her, and he wants to run New York in her memory. “My family sacrificed a lot for me to get to where I am now, so it is sad that she won’t be able to see me run my first race outside of Africa. But I will give my best for her.”

“My training took a back seat while she was so sick, but I was in decent shape already, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, I ran at a high pace for a longer period than I would normally in this year’s Comrades, because I was making sure Fanie Matshipa did not get away from me, so I know I have the stamina to run 42.2km a higher pace.”

GOING FOR FOUR
After New York, Stephen says his focus will return to the Comrades, where he will be chasing a fourth consecutive win in 2012. The only other runners ever to manage more than three wins in a row are Arthur Newton (four) and Bruce Fordyce (eight), and Stephen is aiming to join this select club, but he also has his sights set on another goal. “Most of all, I want to break the Down Run record. In 2009 I ran the second-fastest time ever, 5:23:27, and the record is Leonid Shvetsov’s 5:20:49 from 2007. I know I have it in me to do it.”

In 2008, a couple of friends got together to ride the 94.7 Cycle Challenge in memory of Jessica Madison Bain, a friend’s daughter who had passed away from cancer, and they decided to dress up in cow suits to draw more attention to their drive to raise funds for cancer research and care. However, none of them realised that their ‘small’ fundraising effort would eventually grow into raising millions of rand for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation.

In their first year of fundraising, they raised R230 000, followed by a massive R2.4 million in 2009. This grew to a whopping R3.6 million last year, and since the charity was started, close to R7 million has been raised. In the process, the CHOC Cows also extended their initial cycling endeavours to various other gruelling sporting events, including the Comrades Marathon, the Absa Cape Epic and the Otter Trail run. Some of the crazier cows even climbed Kilimanjaro and cycled the Alps in Cow gear!

“Comrades was an awesome experience, four guys in Cow suits created an enormous amount of exposure for our cause and the support and enthusiasm along the route was something to behold!” says Richard Laskey, one of the founding members of the Cows. “The Otter Trail Run was a privilege to be a part of and probably the toughest event of the year, through some of the most majestic settings in our beautiful country.”

Another big event for the Cows in 2011 was the Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour, where they were supported by the JB Express, a group of about 200 cyclists from Cape Town that were riding in memory of their friend who died from cancer. The JB Express had their own T-Shirt design, but incorporated CHOC’s Cowprint pattern. Together the Cows and the JB Express were able to raise enough money to buy a Toyota Quantum for CHOC.

“I don’t think any of us ever thought it would grow as it has done. It’s just amazing what can be accomplished by normal, everyday people. I think that there are so many people out there who would love to make a difference and get involved, but they just aren’t sure how to do it,” says Richard.

SPOTTING THE COWS
These days you can find people in Cow gear at many of the popular cycling and running events across the country. The herd has grown from an intial six Cows in 2008, to 132 in 2009 and 270 in 2010. As of the end of September 2011, there were 250 registered Cows, including almost 20 kiddies! And more cows are registering every day, a clear sign that more and more athletes are realising that while participating in the sport that they love, they can at the same time make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

The Cows’ fundraising target for the 2011 Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge is R4.3 million. The money will firstly go into refurbishing the paediatric oncology wards of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. “In addition, we are going to buy Cow Awareness Busses that will travel the rural areas and raise awareness of the warning signs for childhood cancer. If diagnosed early, up to 80% of childhood cancer cases can be cured!” says Richard.

WANT TO BE A COW?
It’s simple, just join the herd! Or get your friends, family and kids to join the herd! Registering is VERY easy, just enter your details on www.thecows.co.za and the CHOC Cows will be in touch shortly thereafter! Otherwise you can make a donation through www.thecows.givengain.org. For further information, please contact [email protected].

The main driving characters behind the Cows are Kerrin Bain, Steve Bunyard, Karyn Davey, Tanya Genis, Richard Laskey, Steven Proudfoot, Alberto Riccardi, Roberto Riccardi, Cordi van Niekerk, Grant Bain and March Bainbridge. And they say the journey as Cows over the last three years has meant a lot in their lives. “Probably the most significant thing is, that we have met and made the most awesome mates along this journey, which although it had an extremely sad beginning, has grown and inspired so many others to have faith, hope, humility and fun, and to remember to love living life! Everybody has just one chance at living life, so join the Herd to be a voice for those that can’t be heard and have fun whilst making a significant difference!”

At the end of September, a tall, thin runner wearing the blue and white of Western Province and a determined look lined up in the 6km race for men aged 60 to 64 at the SA Cross-Country Champs in Bloemfontein. Awie Veldsman was there to defend the national title he won in 2010, and he expected to see his usual rivals, the “Two Mikes,” alongside him – Mike Hirst from Central Gauteng and Mike Du Bruto of Gauteng North. Instead, he found himself being challenged by Eric Quibell of KwaZulu-Natal in a tactical race that went right down to a final sprint, with Awie winning in 23 minutes and 50 seconds and Eric crossing the line two seconds later.

“I had never run against him before, so didn’t know what to expect, but relied on my sprint speed to win it,” says Awie. “One of the guys had opened a big gap on us in the first lap, but I decided to let him go because I thought he would fade and come back to us. In the second lap we caught him and then I just did enough to stay ahead of Eric and save something for the finish. Then with 100 metres to go I kicked.”

Awie was delighted to retain his title, but says he felt the pressure. “The guys know me now and everyone wants to beat you when you’re the champion. At national level, the grandmaster category is very competitive these days, because more top runners are staying in the sport longer, having built up years of experience, so it’s the guy with the strongest mind that will win. And we always have the mind games, talking about how unfit or tired we are!” laughs Awie. “But despite being so competitive, we get along very well, and no matter the result, we always shake hands and wish each other well after a race. So after the race in Bloemfontein, I chatted to Eric and he said he’d come to the Champs to win gold, so now he’s looking forward to the rematch in Durban next year.”

SPORTING GENES
Born in Worcester and raised in the Strand, where he worked for Somkem and Denel, Awie (61) is now retired and still living in the Strand, with all six sisters and three bothers living nearby. He says that his sporting genes are very much a family trait. “My grandparents and parents were sporty, as were all my brothers and sisters. Three of my sisters were good sprinters, with Elizabeth earning Western Province colours. Another sister, Miena, made the national Proteas netball side, in the days of segregated sport, and played against England.”

“I began running at school and held numerous records in the 100m and 200m sprints. I also played wing in rugby, and after school I continued to play for the St Georges club in Strand, where I won many club prizes and was selected for zonal teams. But running was always my big interest, and when I gave up rugby just before I turned 30, after a collarbone injury, I took up running again. I was also motivated by the fact that my sister had provincial colours and I didn’t… yet.”

RUNNING SUCCESS
Awie joined Helderberg Harriers in 1979 and still proudly runs in the club’s distinctive red and white stripes, but says he was never a prodigious racer. “I usually only did five or six races a year, choosing the ones I wanted to do well in and concentrating on training the rest of the time, but I always did all the cross-country races.” He earned Western Province (WP) colours for the first time in 1984, going to the SA Half Marathon Champs, and went to another three 21km Champs and two 15km Champs while still running in the senior category. He was also selected for the WP Cross-country team for the SA Champs for the first time in the mid-80s and has been selected every year since then! “I only missed one or two SA Champs due to illness or injury, but I was always selected for the team.”

In 1988 Awie won bronze in the sub-veteran (35-39) age category at SA Cross-Country Champs, and when he reached the veteran ranks (40-49), he was a regular podium finisher at provincial and national cross-country champs, but a national title still eluded him. When he moved up to the master category (50-59), he regularly won not only the WP Cross-country Champs title, but also the provincial road titles for 10km, 15km and 21km. Then in 2007 he made it to the top step of the podium when he won the 55-59 category at the SA Cross-country Champs, and a year later added another bronze to his collection.

But it was in 2010 that Awie really reached his ‘golden years’ in terms of running, and he says the last two years as a grandmaster have been the highlight of his running career. In 2010 he won the WP and SA 10km titles, as well as the WP and SA Cross-country titles. And now in 2011 he has done even better, retaining the provincial and national titles at 10km and cross-country, and also adding the SA Half Marathon title!

IN IT TO WIN IT
After all these years, Awie says he still loves running. “When I can’t run, I feel like I have missed out on something, but I actually don’t train that much, just do quality work, so I am never overtrained.” He attributes his success not just to fitness and natural speed, but to strength of mind. “I like to watch other runners, so I can quickly sum the other guys up, find their strong points or weaknesses with a bit of surging, which tells me if I can beat them. And the tougher the race and stronger the competition, the more I like it. I don’t like just running to finish, I want to race hard! Then you know that when you get a medal, you really had to work for it. That is so much more satisfying.”

When I hear the words “family holiday,” I conjure up images of a road trip with four arguing siblings crammed into the back of an old Mercedes, biltong sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs next to the road, and two parents on the verge of giving their kids up for adoption when they finally arrive at the overnight stop. This is not the Van Kets family’s idea of a family holiday, though.

They recently returned home after covering 6 772km in 148 days on foot, bike and canoe. The expedition, called Tri the Beloved Country, began and finished in their home town of East London and went all around South Africa. Kim ran a total of 2 409km, cycled 3 748km and paddled 615km to set a new record for the fastest human-powered journey around South Africa and raise money for the Carel du Toit Centre in East London, where deaf children are taught to speak. All this with her husband, Peter and five-year-old daughter, Hannah in tow.

AN IDEA IS BORN
The Van Kets family are no strangers to adventure. Mom, Kim has been a runner for almost 20 years and the medals on her wall include Comrades and Two Oceans ultra medals, as well as numerous other road races. However, it was when she discovered trail running that she really found her niche and in the last two years she has completed the 250km Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, the Rhodes Ultra-marathon, the Amatola 100km and the Baviaanskloof Marathon, while she was the first woman home in both the Addo Elephant 100 Miler and the 270km Transkei Ultra from Port St Johns to East London.

Dad, Peter spends more time on the water and is a South African champion body boarder, certified yacht master and ocean rower. He also won the Cross-Atlantic rowing race with partner, Bill Godfrey in 2007 before becoming the first man from Africa to row across the Atlantic Ocean on his own.

Kim explains that she wanted to show her daughter with this expedition that motherhood should not prevent her from achieving her aspirations. “You know how it is, women are not very good at inconveniencing anyone in pursuit of their dreams and I wanted to demonstrate to Hannah that she CAN do so one day. Achieving one’s dreams is not the exclusive domain of dads and both Pete and I wanted to show her this with my expedition.” All that was left was to find an expedition big enough to do this and the idea for Tri the Beloved Country was born.

“My husband has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean twice. The expeditions took him 50 days and 76 days, so I had a huge credit balance and wanted to do something big, so I initially started looking at possible races. The longest one I could find was only about 700km, which seemed a bit naff and wouldn’t put a dent in my balance. I started thinking about running around South Africa, but realised it would take too long, so I decided on three disciplines to speed things up a bit.”

FROM DREAM TO REALITY
“The idea started brewing in 2008 and for a long time it wasn’t much more than a dream. I started planning and preparing physically in about June 2010, approximately nine months before I set off. The plan was to run along the coast from East London to Mozambique, covering a marathon a day, then cycle the inland border (100km a day) until I reached the southern border of Namibia, where I would kayak (50km a day) until I reached Alexander Bay. I would then run from Alexander Bay, via Cape Town, back home to East London.”

Of course, the logistics involved in the trip were immense and Kim wasn’t planning on doing this alone, something which made it a tad more difficult. “I could never have been away from my daughter for five months, so I had no option but to have the family come along. My support team consisted of my husband, a gap year student, Kirsty Borbely, and Hannah, but in actual fact, Kirsty, Peter and I were Hannah’s support team! Despite the fact that it was amazing sharing the experience with Hannah and Peter, it made it infinitely harder. There was no rest, as the moment I was done running, cycling or paddling for the day, I had to go into mom mode. My standards were also much higher because of Hannah being there, such as what we ate and where we stayed, and it all became more complicated. One constantly worries about malaria, sunburn, tick bites, home schooling and the fact that she had very little interaction with other children for weeks at a time. It was very hard to focus and be single-minded, but fortunately women are pros at juggling!”

THE EXPERIENCE
Despite all the difficulties and hardships, Kim says she would not replace this experience with anything else in the world. “It was so much more than I expected, on every level. Much tougher, much further – I estimated 5 500km, actual distance was 6 772km – and much more relentless, but more beautiful and more positive in every respect than I imagined, too. People along the way were mostly incredulous and thought we were mad, but on the whole the people we really engaged with were filled with enthusiasm. One of the huge positives was the incredible goodwill I encountered along the way. I never once felt threatened and was amazed at the care and concern I was shown by people of every race. I learned to accept the kindness and hospitality of complete strangers every day and we all experienced huge personal growth because of this.”

“I had so many unforgettable experiences along the way: Being called a ‘ramkat’ by an ancient farmer in the Kalahari, eating crocodile sosaties on the banks of the croc-infested Limpopo River, running through the night in torrential rain in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, sleeping on sand banks in the Richtersveld after a hard day on the river, seeing a leopard on the beach… and always the people we met along the way.”

CHALLENGES AND SPEED BUMPS
If you’re going to be covering the distances that Kim did, there are bound be injuries and she suffered a minor calf tear 10 days into the expedition and a stress fracture 650km from home. However, Kim says she never for one moment considered giving up, even though she had to cycle the last few hundred kilometres with one leg. She says the injuries were not the greatest challenge, though; just getting the laundry done and having to be a mom for a five-year-old after a very long day on the road proved to be a far greater challenge!

But none of these challenges were going to keep her from achieving the goals she set for herself. She completed the distance with five days to spare, demonstrated to her daughter that moms can be heroes too, had the adventure of a lifetime, and managed to raise some much-needed funds for the Carel du Toit Centre. That last goal is still ongoing, and Kim is working hard to raise further money for the centre (see details below).

WHAT’S NEXT
At the moment, Kim is enjoying her home and having clean laundry every day, but she is already contemplating her next challenge and admits that pushing oneself is very addictive! But that will have to wait for a while, as it’s Peter’s turn next. He will be racing on foot to the South Pole together with team mate, Braam Malherbe in December 2011 and January 2012. In the meantime, we can look forward to Kim’s book about the adventure, and wait with bated breath to see what she takes on next.

If you want to make a donation to the Carel du Toit Centre in East London, you can do so on Kim’s website, www.kimvankets.com, or you can make a payment directly into their account:
Carel du Toit Trust
Nedbank Vincent Park
Account Number: 120 602 8726
Branch Code: 120 621
Ref: Your name, contact details and Tri the Beloved Country.

Kim would like to thank her support team and sponsors, without whom this journey would not have been possible:
Global Business Solutions
Mpekweni Beach Resort
SPAR
New Balance
Rocky Mountain Bikes
Fluid Kayaks
Go2 Websites
Protea Hotels
Khamkirri Augrabies

After running the Comrades nine times, Philip Waudby began to wonder why he does it to himself, and he realised he needed a cause to stay motivated. That was also when he heard about the KAEM and he decided to tackle the Kalahari for a cause. “That’s just me, you know. If I can make a difference in someone’s life, I’m happy.” Since then, Philip has finished this gruelling race three times. The first time in aid of the Red Cross Memorial Children’s Hospital and the second and third time for the Starfish Foundation. In total, he raised R130 000 for these charities, but this year Philip has decided to take his fund-raising to the next level.

SUNFLOWER FUND
The charity he chose this year is the Sunflower Fund and it is a cause that lies especially close to his heart because his mother, Joan passed away from Leukaemia in 2002. The Sunflower Fund is committed to increasing the South African Bone Marrow Registry by raising funds to pay for tissue type tests for those who cannot afford them. By getting more people on the registry, it increases Leukaemia-sufferers’ chances of finding a donor that can help them in their fight against cancer. And, according to Philip, if he can increase their chances of recovery just marginally, he’ll be satisfied. He is aiming to raise R1 million this year and has expanded his challenge exponentially to reach this figure.

THE PLAN
This year, Philip will not only be running the 250km of the KAEM, but before the race even begins he will run approximately 1 000km from Benoni to get to the start. He’ll set out from the Benoni Northerns Athletics Club on 25 September, run approximately 80km per day for 12 days and reach the Augrabies Falls Lodge two days before the race starts, if all goes according to plan. Then he will still run through the Kalahari Desert with the rest of the field before returning home – in a car. All in all, that will equate to approximately 1 190km in 19 days.

Philip says he has had immense support from his family, friends and fellow club members, but preparing for this immense challenge has been especially difficult because his wife and biggest supporter, Alison, passed away recently. They were supposed to take on this challege together, with her accompanying him as support on the road, but Philip is determined to carry on, not only for the Sunflower Fund, but also in her memory. “Failing is not an option. There’s no way that I’m not going to finish,” he says.

It goes without saying that the logistics in planning and executing a journey such as this are enormous, and Philip says he would not have been able to get this far without the help of his support team and close friends, Michelle and Theo Harding, Pat and Vick Shaw, Robert McClaine, Colin Rothery and Rennette Crock. They will also be accompanying him on the road to the Augrabies. Furthermore, he would like to thank Wessel’s Caravans Hire, ER24, Xtreme Trackers, Flora Margarine and GU Energy products for their support.

SUNFLOWER SUPPORT
You can track Philip on his journey to the Augrabies on www.xtremetrackers.co.za and you’re welcome to give him a call while he’s on the road. Phone him on 083 715 6098 for more information, or just to give him a word of encouragement. If you would like to contribute to the Sunflower Fund, you can sponsor Philip on his journey or simply make a donation to the Sunflower Fund (see details below).

Sponsor Philip:
Go to www.backabuddy.co.za and search for Philip Waudby.

Or make your donation to:
The Sunflower Fund
Absa Bank
Account Number: 4501 834 719
Branch Code: 632005
Ref. Number: GTNG/PHIL WAUDBY 742.5M4M (Very Important!)

1 EAT BREAKFAST EARLY
• Eating breakfast early kick starts your metabolism, boosts energy levels and helps control your appetite for the rest of your day.
• During sleep, your body processes the last meal you ate the evening before. Waking up with an empty stomach and continuing your daily activities may be a struggle without replenishing your energy. A healthy breakfast refuels the glycogen stores in the body that supply blood sugar.
• Starting with breakfast can also encourage your metabolism to work, thus expending calories. The key to any weight-loss goal is consuming fewer calories than your body can burn in a day.
• Eating breakfast first thing in the morning will reduce the likelihood that you will find yourself making poor choices at the vending machine at work. Moments of weakness occur when hunger is unbearable.

2 SWOP THE BAGEL FOR EGGS
According to the International Journal of Obesity, individuals who ate eggs for breakfast instead of bagels had a significantly greater reduction in body fat. The egg-eating group in this study also had a greater success rate in losing weight when the healthy breakfast was combined with a reduced-calorie diet throughout the day.

3 DON’T STARVE
Many people try starving themselves in order to cut calories and hopefully lose weight. Starving, however, results in the opposite happening. If you reduce your calories too much, or don’t eat for long periods of time, your body decreases its metabolism and stores fat, and this can lead to cravings.

4 BEWARE OF LIQUID CALORIES – THEY ADD UP
Liquids like fruit juice, sweetened fizzy cold drinks, and milky drinks (including coffee) can add significant amounts of calories to your daily intake. One can of a soft drink equates to about eight teaspoons of sugar. One mega cappuccino contains 12 grams fat, while one cup of fruit juice contains six teaspoons of sugar!

5 REPLACE FATTY RED MEAT WITH FAT-FREE PROTEIN-LIKE LEGUMES
Enjoy more meals made with beans, peas and lentils, such as baked beans in tomato sauce, vegetarian chili, bean burritos, three-bean salad or falafel. Add beans, peas or lentils to soups and salads.

6 CHECK THE FAT CONTENT
Read package labels and choose lower fat versions of salad dressings, frozen foods, cream soups, etc. To be called “low fat”, a food must contain less than three grams of fat per 100g/ml.

7 SPICE IT UP MINUS THE FAT
Flavour foods without adding fat by using lemon, salsa, mustard, ketchup, herbs and spice.

8 SWAP BREAD FOR TORTILLAS
One tortilla equates to the same amount of carbohydrate as a third of a slice of bread.

9 WATCH PORTION DISTORTION
A simple practical guideline to use for your dinner plate is:
• 1 fist or ? plate whole grain, unrefined carbohydrate.
• 1 fist or ? plate lean protein.
• 2 fists or half plate vegetables.
(Remember to count starchy vegetables as carbs rather than vegetables).

10 TRACK YOURSELF
Use handy tools like downloading applications on your cell phone to track your eating, exercise and progress. Check out Mynetdiary.com or Fatsecret.com.

Becoming a drug addict had nothing to do with my upbringing, family life or any other dysfunctional story that leads some people to do drugs. A lot of perfectly normal adults get caught up in this trap, simply by being too arrogant to recognise that it could happen to them! Well, after trying my first ecstasy tablet and having been told that it was so awesome, I spent the next year trying to experience that first high, which truth be told is nice. However, what they forget to tell the novice drug user is the down side of the drug, which at times wanted to drive me absolutely crazy with depression and a feeling of uselessness. I would, on an average weekend, take up to 20 pills, but the anticipated high never came. In fact, the more drugs I took, the lower and more depressed I felt.

After having taken ecstasy for about a year, I was offered a new drug called CAT. Again, I was told how great it was and again I foolishly went ahead and took it. Before snorting it, I looked at the line that was cut for me and I remember thinking to myself: “Walt, you are about to go on a rollercoaster ride that is going to get out of control!” But being an arrogant fool, I decided that I was smarter and in control of myself. That was the beginning of a three-year tornado that blasted through my life, and more importantly, through the lives of my family.

DESTRUCTION
Not only did it damage my health, drain my finances and alienate my clients, who lost faith in me, but sadly my ‘girls’ (wife and daughter) eventually asked me to get out of the house because they could no longer live with me and my erratic behaviour. You see, throughout 2004, the drug got a hold of me so tightly that I was taking up to 10 grams a day. I would go without sleep for days, would not eat, lost a lot of weight and became terribly paranoid. Eventually on 15 October 2004, my family left me at home during one of my neurotic outbursts and would not come home. My daughter didn’t even want to talk to me on the phone, let alone see me. She stayed at a friend’s house, refusing to come home.

I eventually convinced my wife to come back and when she came home, I took the stash that I had on me and flushed it down the drain in front of her. And so my self-rehabilitation started. Little did I know what was in store for me, but I eventually did it “cold turkey” with the love and support of my wife.

FIGHTING WITHDRAWAL
I spent the next three months fighting my withdrawal. I did not even have the courage to walk out of my room. I stayed in there and slept for days on end, only to wake up, eat and sleep. I was so disconnected from the world, that when the 2004 Tsunami in the Far East happened, I was oblivious to it until some time later. I also ate myself from the sickly, unhealthy 75kg frame to an overweight 100kg. One morning in early January 2005, I woke up from what seemed to be a deep sleep and as I opened my eyes, the world became clear of the glaze that I had had in my eyes for years. I felt that day that I had turned the corner.

I started the fight to get my mind and body healthy. You see, had I been in a rehabilitation centre they would’ve helped me with my mental state in conjunction with the physical. But I decided to pull myself together, be humble and address my problems one by one. Which I did!

STARTING OVER
I got myself back into a gym and what a struggle that was. One day, for some reason, I decided to climb on a treadmill and attempt to run a little. I did a 10-minute session and loved it. Soon I was pushing the sessions from 20 minutes through to one-hour sessions, and I always climbed off the treadmill feeling a high.

A few Comrades running friends of mine would see me on the treadmill and they would often invite me to go for a run on the road with them. My response was always the same: “Me on the road? No way!” One day while running on the treadmill, one of the personal trainers told me I should raise the inclination on the treadmill, as that would help me get fitter and stronger. So I did, and before long I was running my entire session on inclination and as fast as possible.

BECOMING A RUNNER
Early in 2006 friends invited me to go for a 6km run on the road and I finally accepted. I loved it, and that was the beginning of my new and now permanent high. I quickly joined Johannesburg Harriers and started training for my first race; the Tough One 32km. Little did I know that even though I was now doing something healthy, if I overdid it I would break down – and I did. Injuries plagued me continuously as the transition from soft treadmill to the hard road took its toll on me, and shin splints in particularly were a problem.

Nevertheless, I pressed on and did my first Tough One in 3:06. I was so happy that day. I could not believe that I had just finished that race and declared loudly to a friend that I wanted to run Comrades. He looked at me, this totally exhausted novice, and said, “Walt, Comrades is this race times three!” I said I didn’t care, I would do it!

I continued to run with shin splints until one morning while out on a run, I heard a bone make a funny noise. I had a stress fracture, and was forced to take three months off, but all the while I couldn’t wait to get back on the road again. I did eventually get back, but for the next three years I could never get myself ready enough for Comrades. All types of injuries plagued me continuously and my running was confined to a social type activity.

MEETING THE RIGHT COACH
In 2009 I decided to enter a marathon with the aim of finishing in sub-four hours. I eventually finished in 3:50 and thought that would be my qualifier for Comrades 2010. Then I met John Hamlett in September 2009 and he kindly agreed to coach me. I explained to him that I had been plagued with injuries and he famously said, “Don’t worry, I will take you to the mountains and fix you.” I thought I had just met a lunatic, but I also knew instantly that this is what I wanted for my running. John also put me on a special diet and within three months I lost 17kg. He trained me from a 3:50 to a 3:14 marathon, and I was full steam ahead for Comrades 2010.

Training camps with John consist of him taking his athletes to the mountains of Dullstroom in Mpumalanga. Average runners like myself get to train with professional Comrades gold medallist athletes and gain experience of running with them. Running in Dullstroom is a feeling of absolute bliss; it is out in the countryside where you can run for hours on end with no site of a car, or even people at times. (Just watch out not to tramp on a snake though!)

PUSHING MY LIMITS
Over Easter 2009, we were in Dullstroom on a training camp. I’d been running for some two hours on my own – the pro’s had left me for dust! – when I saw John riding his bike towards me. I thought he was coming back to keep me company. Well, he did keep me company, but he also told me to pick up the pace! After having already run for some five hours that day, my pace was suddenly pushed from 5min/km to 4min/km and he kept me at that pace for a good 30-minute stretch.

After that session, John told me – knowing that I’d been a heavy addict – that he wanted to show me what our bodies are capable of doing when we treat them well. After that training camp, I also realised what he had meant about “fixing my injuries in the mountains.” You see, my injuries are gone. That’s not to say they won’t ever come back, but I’ve learnt how to look out for the injuries and avoid them for most part.

MY FIRST COMRADES
One day while out running with some friends, we came across some guys who we considered to be great runners, as they had finished Comrades in about 8:30. Back then I thought I’d be happy with a 10-hour first Comrades finish, but to my surprise I ran my first Comrades in 8:21. All I can say is “Thank you, John Hamlett!” I would love to run a silver at Comrades within the next five years, and after seeing what I can achieve with the right preparation, I fully expect to do so in 2012, with a sub-7:00 within five years.

This year I didn’t run Comrades due to work constraints, which meant I could not put in the training required. I have promised myself never to line up at Comrades unless I’ve trained properly, and I knew that I wasn’t trained properly this year. So for now I’m focusing on running a sub-3:00 marathon and building towards Comrades 2012.

NEW LIFE
Coming into the Comrades finish in Durban last year, experiencing the crowd literally sucking you into the stadium, and seeing my wife as I ran into the stadium, I realised that without a doubt in my mind, there is no high like a runners high! I therefore now have a new outlook on life, and I want to say to all ‘would-be’ and current addicts: “If you want a real high, try some running. Enter a small race and experience that for a high.”

To my friends Mario Nunes, Ivor Biddlecombe and Steve Hugo, who helped me so much when I started running – THANK YOU!

Boost Juice Bars has grown from Janine’s kitchen in Melbourne, Australia in 2000, to over 260 stores on five continents, producing one million smoothies every day. They arrived in South Africa for the first time in 2007 and are still expanding at the moment. It has been an incredible journey for Janine and her ‘Boosties,’ but she says it has not been smooth sailing all the way, and they will never reach the finish line.

Janine grew up just outside Melbourne, left school at the age of 16 and dabbled with a range of different careers before she ended up as owner of Boost. She worked in various positions in the media, at gyms, in nightclubs, on a yacht in the Mediterranean Sea and in cinemas in Asia, amongst others. Along the way there were many failures and many successes, but it was her drive to succeed that kept her pushing forward, and ultimately pushed her to the top. “I believe all experiences offer you a chance to learn something, regardless of it being a positive or negative outcome, and I’ve constantly looked for my next opportunity to push forward, armed with the knowledge from a previous experience. I think Boost has been so successful because even though we do a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong, we are really quick learners. We know our faults and we constantly think of things we can improve on. What you can take out of the Boost story is that your education and background does not matter, opportunities are out there, you just need to find them.”

PASSION AND BELIEF
On a recent visit to South Africa, Janine spoke about the road to success and it is clear that her belief in herself and her concept helped her build a fledgling business into a highly successful chain. “I think it has been tenacity, common sense, advice, great support and on the job experience that got me where I am today. Although my qualifications are not traditional, I never believe that should get in the way of a strong work ethic, a curious mind always willing to learn, and a desire to constantly do better.”

She admits that the passion for her business has made it easier to spend so much energy on growing Boost, and believes it is this passion that also contributes to the success of the brand. “I am fortunate that I was able to build a career around values and a lifestyle that I believe in. Like everything, being passionate does not mean life is without its challenges, although without that spark, it would be very hard to have the sustainable level of energy Boost has required over the years.”

“My husband, Jeff and I took really big personal gambles early on when we launched the business in 2001. We sold our home and put every free dollar into financing our business. It paid off when we were the seventh fastest growing business in Australia three years later, but then instead of relaxing, we decided to open another 70 stores in one year in 2005. My point is, pressure is stressful and challenging, but I continue to push myself and enjoy rising to a challenge. I could have been satisfied with less pressure and regaining the security in my home, but for me the pressure continues to motivate and drive me to meet my next challenge.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
Janine is the first to admit that it was and still is extremely difficult to balance her work, family and active life. She says she often works 100-hour weeks and for the past 10 years she has had to put her life on hold as Boost was her priority, with her children and husband second and third in line. With more experience, however, she has realised the importance of being more balanced. “I have four great children, and have learnt it is important for me to take some time for myself at the end of the day, so I can continue to give my best to my family and my work. I am most proud that I have been able to be both a mother and businesswoman, and didn’t have to give up one dream for the other. It was by no means easy, but I do consider that as my greatest achievement.”

But true to form, Janine isn’t planning on slowing down and has plans for further expansion of the Boost brand as well as developing new brands. “It is important to continually keep challenging yourself and your team to do better. You simply have to continue to move forward and keep your foot on the accelerator. When I first opened Boost, I couldn’t see us operating in South Africa; however I also don’t believe in creating your own limitations. I love to win and business can be very much like a game, so when the game board kept getting bigger, it wasn’t so much the wow factor that kept me going. I simply continued working and kept rolling the dice.”

BOOST YOUR RUNNING
So when you go for your next run, whether it is a training run or a race and whether you run a PB or drag your legs to the finish, remember these lessons:
• Learn from experience, whether it’s success or failure, and use this knowledge the next time you run.
• Believe in yourself and be passionate enough to take a gamble.
• Use this passion to stay driven and always improve.
• Stay balanced. As passionate as you are about running and your next goal, a balanced life will ultimately help you run better.

Paul Kaye is a man who has seen it all: Elation as weary athletes reach the finish line to become Ironmen and women, sorrow as the last athletes wearily try to drag their bodies across the finish line before missing the cut-off time, and those unique moments, such as the marriage proposals and the ecstasy of pro’s setting new world records on home soil!

Not a bad job at all, you would think. But though it all sounds pretty glamorous and fun, it takes hard work and a special type of person to announce at gruelling distance events that takes many hours, such as Ironman, Two Oceans and Comrades, all races where Paul has left his mark on many an athlete.

THE ‘FACE’ OF IRONMAN
There are probably few athletes in South Africa who have done the Ironman and who don’t know Paul Kaye. Because as any Ironman will tell you, when you reach that red carpet, Paul doesn’t just make you feel like a hero, he makes you feel that the whole finish line was set up just for you, and that he personally has waited for you all those hours. And while he welcomes you home, he makes sure the spectators get involved. Ask any Ironman, it is one of the greatest feelings you will ever experience!

Paul has been involved with Ironman 70.3 and Ironman South Africa since 2006, and in the last two years has increasingly become in demand at international triathlons worldwide. So how does he do it? “I see myself as a thief who gets to steal energy and a little bit of everyone’s emotions. That’s what keeps me going.”

But Paul’s job involves more than just announcing; at most events he also runs the complete entertainment schedule, which means he hires the other announcers and DJs, chooses the music and creates the schedule of events. “The hardest thing about announcing is how do you say the same thing all day long, but in different words? I tend to watch body language and I watch the spectators. Of course, I also understand there is a holy trinity: Firstly you must make sure the event sponsors are happy, then you have to make sure the athlete feels like a hero and thirdly you need to make sure that the spectators enjoy themselves and are engaged, making them feel what the athletes are feeling. You run it almost like a radio show. The more you plan, the more structure you create and the more you free your brain for the magic.”

Ironman events have a special place in Paul’s heart. “Comrades also has amazing emotion at the finish line, but to me the finish line of any Ironman is more personal. You have people coming through one or two at a time. It’s a narrow finish line and you can see the look in their eyes. Any athlete finishing needs that moment of recognition and often athletes stop and say to me: ‘Say it!’ Until I call out: You are an Ironman!”

BACKGROUND
Paul started in radio at the tender age of 18 as DJ for his campus radio station. At the age of 20, he got a job at the former Radio Good Hope and that is when the radio bug bit; he quit varsity and on 28 April 1990 started working full time at Good Hope, making him the youngest DJ on FM Stereo in the country at the time. Soon he was doing commentating as well. “I met a guy who thought I had a good attitude and asked me to announce at boat races. At the first race that I announced, former Springbok rugby player Rob Louw got hit by a boat and nearly died! What a start!”

From there Paul’s announcing career took off, and he also did some TV presenting for the former Junior Top Sport on SABC, announcing at waterki events, the Cape Town Marathon and the former 5FM Energade Triathlon Series. “That was 1994 and my first exposure to triathlons, which eventually led to me participating in tri’s!”

BECOMING AN IRONMAN
In 2000 Paul was invited to Mauritius for a triathlon. “All the pro’s were there and they were all saying I was a big mouth, but have never done a triathlon myself! That’s when I realised my waistline was expanding and I can’t live forever. My son was about to be born and I realised I needed to get fit if I wanted to be an active, participating father.”

He did his first triathlon in a Speedo and Energade event T-shirt! “I had to swim breaststroke most of the way before getting out the water second-last. I got on my mountain bike with its bent frame and again got off second-last. Eventually the only person that finished behind me was a woman.”

In between announcing, Paul started participating in more tri’s. To cope with the stress of divorce in 2005, Paul decided to train even harder. “In 2006 my wife advised me she will be leaving the country with our two kids. Announcing at Ironman in 2007 was extremely hard and emotional for me, as I saw athletes crossing the finish line with their kids. I set myself a goal to also finish Ironman with my kids.”

Paul got an invitation to race the 10th anniversary of Ironman Austria and reaching the finish line, his dream came true. His kids were waiting for him. “My daughter was 15 at the time and I thought she would be way to cool to finish with me. But there she was in an Ironman T-shirt next to my son, who even gelled his hair for the occasion. My pain was gone and I crossed the finish line holding my two kids’ hands.”

In 2009 Paul met the love of his life, Kelly, at a Ken and Barbie Valentine’s Party for singles. “Every Ken had to bring a Barbie and every Barbie had to bring a Ken they were unattached to.” Paul and Kelly, who met the day before, decided to go together. After ending up in the party’s kissing booth, they were inseparable. Kelly, who worked as a stewardess on a luxury yacht, decided to work one more contract on the boat before settling, which meant Paul needed another distraction! He started training for Ironman Austria and in 2009 became a double Ironman, with Kelly cheering him on.

THE UPS AND DOWNS
As in any job, there are ups and downs, like the time when Paul had to announce at Ironman Nice after finding out that morning that his mom had passed away. “I had to fake it. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done.”

When announcing Paul allows the energy of the event to inspire him. “I try to look into people’s eyes, see their emotions and watch their body language. That has often inspired me to do things and say things. I don’t go to the finish line with a script, it just happens.”

Are the emotions of elites and Average Joe’s any different? “For the elites, they make a living out of it. The age groupers are ordinary people achieving something extraordinary. When I entered Ironman, I did so to test my limits, I wanted to know if I could sink to depths that I thought were impossible and then come out the other side? Ironman taught me all of that. Everybody that does Ironman learns something about themselves. Ordinary people all have a story.”

Paul believes triathlon is a growing sport in South African and that more runners are converting. “I go to all the sporting expos and from a mile away I see how many runners are converting to triathlons. Runners will try swimming and cycling, but it seems as if cyclists are very set in their ways, while runners are more open to change and adventure.”

FOCUS ON THE FINISH LINE
Paul and his wife recently started a company recently called Focus.on.the.Finish.Line, providing a total solution for runners travelling to different races. This includes bike transport, hotel accommodation, restaurant reservations, tours etc. “I came across this idea after spending so much money on equipment that had to be replaced because my bike was damaged in transportation. One day I said to Kelly, if only we could provide a solution to athletes which allows them to only focus on the finish line. And that is where the name for our business came from. Kelly comes from a hospitality background, so she knows how to deliver a level of service that is beyond excellent.”

Paul’s two big dreams now include putting together a race package for South Africans to travel to and participate in Ironman Austria. “It is one of the best Ironman events on the planet and I would love to share that with others.” His second dream is to become to triathlon what Phil Liggett has become to cycling. “I would love to one day announce at the finish line of the Ironman World Champs in Kona. I want to be one of those great South African exports.”

So, you want to become a top level professional athlete and make it on the world stage, go to the Olympics and World Champs, tour the world, get lucrative endorsement contracts, and get rich along the way as well, but you’re not exactly the world’s best runner… Not to worry, say some experts, because if you (just) put in 10 000 hours of training, you WILL reach the top and achieve your dream. So, all it will take is two to three hours of training a day for eight to 10 years, and a belief that you can be something special. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

But it isn’t that simple, says renowned sport scientist Dr Ross Tucker, who is based at the Sport Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town. “Several books and articles have recently been published that quote the 10 000 hour theory, which has its origins in a 1993 study by Anders Ericsson, where he looked at the performance ability of violinists, and showed that their playing ability was determined by the cumulative hours of training up to the age of 20. The best expert players had accumulated the magic number of 10 000 hours whereas those classified as merely good or least accomplished were found to have done only 8 000 or 5 000 hours of practice, respectively.”

“However, if the theory is that 10 000 hours of practice are needed, then you should not find a single person who has succeeded having done fewer than 10 000 hours, and nor should anyone fail having done their 10 000 hours. But it’s conceivable that there is a person in the least accomplished group who does 10 000 hours without cracking that performance level, and a person who does less but succeeds.” Here Ross quotes the example of Gobet and Campitelli’s study of chess players, where they looked at the time taken to reach the Master level. They found that one player did so on 3,000 hours, another took almost 24 000 hours, and some kept practicing but not succeeding. “That’s a 21 000-hour difference, which is two entire practice lifetimes according to Ericson’s model of practice. It seems pretty clear that practice, while important, is not sufficient for some, while for others, it’s not even necessary.”

BUT WHAT ABOUT SPORT?
Now these studies focussed on skill-based activities, but does their theory also hold for sport, not just the skills-based ones but also pure endurance-based codes? Ross can quote many examples of young athletes reaching elite competitive levels within a short period of time of starting a sport, including American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic medallist ever. These quick learners rarely need 10 000 hours to get there – one netball player from Australia made the international stage on a mere 600 hours of play. “My question is, how does one athlete become a world champion at 16, with relatively little training, whereas thousands of others, who train more over a longer period, will never even make the national team, let alone become a world champion? The answer is genetics and innate talent.”

“Of course, practice is vital for success, especially when you have a competitive sport where many are vying for the same medal. In that situation, the person who succeeds must train hard. But their ability to get more out of training, and also to start off from a higher ‘baseline,’ is just as important, and those are factors influenced by genes. The 10 000 hour concept is a nice motivational tool, a way to encourage more training, to inspire people to improve. The idea for elite performance is that the right person hears this and believes, and then does the training. But to attribute success to 10 000 hours of training, and to dismiss that genetics play a significant role, is not only grossly over-simplified, it’s wrong.”

As Ross puts it, producing champions is incredibly complex. The success of Kenya at distance running, or of Jamaica in sprinting, is due to hundreds of different factors, all interacting with one another, including not only socio-economic conditions and local culture, but also genetic factors. Therefore, if you take 100 aspirant athletes in Kenya, and 100 aspirant athletes in the USA, and expose them to the same training, you will not see anything like the same success rate – Many more Kenyan athletes will reach a higher performance level. And that is due to complex genetic differences.

ELUSIVE CHAMPION GENES
The problem is that genetic influence on exercise performance is dizzyingly complex, says Ross, which is why, despite the best efforts of scientists to identify definitive ‘performance genes,’ they have failed. This has been interpreted in some quarters to mean that these genes don’t exist, and therefore that training counts for everything, but the reality is simply that the contributing genetic factors to sporting success are too numerous, with too small an individual influence, and too complex to find… for now. “There is no such thing as a single gene that makes one person tall and another short. Instead, there are hundreds of thousands of different gene variants, and these variations change the phenotype, the effect of the gene, so that you and a friend may have the same gene, but you have different traits or characteristics. Now if we can’t identify a single gene that determines height, imagine how complex it is trying to find a gene that determines athletic performance!”

“Height is almost certainly simpler than something as complex as athletic performance, yet it requires almost 300 000 different genetic variants, and that helps us explain only 45% of it! How many more gene variants or DNA sequence variations might it take to explain sprint or endurance performance? This is why those genetic tests that supposedly tell eager parents whether little Timmy is going to be a sprinter or a distance runner are so over-rated. These tests screen for several genes, including perhaps the most famous performance gene, ACTN3, which is supposedly linked to elite sprinting performance. The problem is, the studies comparing Jamaican sprinters and east African distance runners find no differences for that particular gene. So critics are quick to point out that since the performance gene can’t be found, then it clearly doesn’t exist.”

CONCLUSION
However, Ross says he can still appreciate the value of Ericsson’s model, because it reinforces that we must better manage our entire sports environment to ensure that more potentially successful athletes are exposed to good coaching, good diet, competition, etc. This has implications all the way up to government level, where policies around sport are determined. “For example, in South Africa, sport is less accessible than it should be, partly because of the removal of sport from our school curriculum. We also have a dearth of coaches, and few facilities – and these factors combine to greatly reduce the chance that we’ll produce a great distance runner, regardless of the talent we have. It also has implications for parenthood, in terms of understanding whether a child should specialise early or be encouraged to be as diverse as possible with their sport choices.”

Ross concludes that it all starts with genetic potential. In high performance sport, there is no such thing as alchemy – you cannot make gold out of other metals. If you want to produce a champion, a gold medallist, then you must start out with the right raw materials. “Everyone will improve as a result of training. The lucky few will start out at a level that is higher than the rest, and will improve more rapidly through training. That this is linked to genes is unquestionable. Therefore, to become an Olympic champion, the very best of the best, you need to tick all the boxes. Genes is without a doubt one of those boxes, but so too are training opportunities. And so, is success genetics or training? It’s both. In fact, it’s 100% genetic, and 100% training.”