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Beyond My IMPossible

Roxanne MartinFeatures, News1 Comment on Beyond My IMPossible

When we feel empowered to tell our stories, there are no limits to how much we can inspire others. Through BEYOND MY IMPOSSIBLE, adidas is empowering 11 women to cross their first marathon finish line, at the 2022 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in October, while sharing their journey to the start line with the running community. 

The Coach

COACH KATHLEEN SHUTTLEWORTH 

Living out her core value, “Driven by passion, pursuing excellence” since 2004, Coach Kathleen has guided numerous athletes to achieving provincial and national medals in track, cross country and biathlon.

She’s also helped many runners of all levels to conquer their first marathon or achieve that elusive personal best. Now she is putting her considerable talents to helping 11 women tackle their first marathon.

 

The Runners

ZOE BROWN
Age: 32
Resides: Rondebosch 

Bio: Zoe describes herself as an “ordinary girl with an extraordinary job.”

She’s a radio presenter for The Flash Drive from 15h00-19h00 on KFM 94.5, and a TV presenter on the Expresso Show on SABC 3. 

Follow Zoe’s journey @zbzoebrown 

NCEBAKAZI DYANI
Age: 26
Resides: Rondebosch 

Bio: Ncebakazi runs with the adidas Runners Cape Town crew and is a hiking fanatic. She describes herself as an adventure enthusiast and the “coolest aunt, daughter and sister!”

Her latest adventure is being on a journey to finish her first marathon.

Follow Ncebakazi’s journey @dyanincebakazi 


LENISE SWANSON 
Age: 41 
Resides: Monte Vista 

Bio: As a medical doctor and mother of four, Lenise is an advocate for a healthy lifestyle. She loves taking on new challenges, and this year has chosen to compete in her first full marathon. Her future goal is to participate in major international marathons, while experiencing many wonderful countries and cultures around the world. 

Follow Lenise’s journey @lenise_swanson  

LEATITIA GRADWELL
Age: 45
Resides: Plumstead 

Bio: Leatitia is a wife and mom, who works in the pharmaceutical industry. She describes herself as a Christian girl from Mitchell’s Plain trying to better herself, and hoping it will empower other women in the process.

She believes that “we rise by lifting others.” When it comes to the Cape Town Marathon, Leatitia says she’s going to run with purpose: “I’m pacing myself and I’m going to end strong!”

YENTLE ARENDSE
Age: 33
Resides: Parow 

Bio: Yentle is married, has a son and two more stepchildren, and works at a signage company. Family is really important to her, as she lost her Dad at a young age, and sadly, also her mom at the end of 2020. She spends most weekends running, watching her husband and children play soccer, and watching English football.

Follow Yentle’s Journey  @yentlearendse 

JANA STEYN
Age: 30
Resides: Langebaan 

Bio: Jana spent most of her life in the bushveld of Limpopo. She recently moved to the West Coast in the Cape, and is fulfilling her dream to live at the beach.

Jana is a lawyer and enjoys going on all sorts of adventures while exploring her home country.

 

Follow Jana’s Journey @janasteyn92 

KAY ABRAHAMS
Age: 24
Resides: Somerset West 

Bio: Kay describes herself as a runner and a creative. Family and community is important to her, and she enjoys the outdoors.

She’s currently on a journey to completing her first marathon, the Cape Town Marathon.

Follow Kay’s Journey @kayabrahams 

SHAAKIRAH JAFTHA
Age: 27
Resides: Steenberg 

Bio: Shaakirah is a single mom, who was born and raised in the Cape Flats. She is an adidas Runners Booster, and has an absolute passion for running.

Her dream is to inspire change and make a difference through sport, specifically running. She describes herself as “inspired to inspire.” 

Follow Shaakirah’s journey @shaakirahjaftha 


ASHLEIGH BREDEVELDT
Age: 32
Resides: Southfield

Bio: Ashleigh was born profoundly deaf in Cape Town with an identical womb-mate. She received a cochlear implant at the tender age of five and obtained full language. Today she’s a go-getter who enjoys outdoor activities and exploring hidden gems in South Africa and abroad.

Ashleigh is a graphic designer, a deaf awareness advocate, and is always ready to take on a new challenge!

Follow Ashleigh’s journey @jog4pizza 

MELISSA ABRAHAMS
Age: 35
Resides: Bellville 

Bio: Having experienced health challenges after being diagnosed with PCOS during her infertility journey, Melissa now considers running her medicine, her coping mechanism, and her quiet time with God. She says she is running towards the vision of becoming a happier, healthier individual, wife, and mother one day soon!

Follow Melissa’s Journey @melissaabrahams


TRACEY ABRAHAMESE
Age: 40
Resides: Plumstead 

Bio: Tracey is a 40-year-old single mother to a young daughter and two fur babies. She is passionate about flowers, fitness, fierce females, furry friends, and the outdoors.

Tracey is an advocate for mental health and women’s empowerment, and she firmly believes that women need to uplift, encourage, motivate, support and celebrate each other.

Follow Tracey’s Journey @justcallmetrace_fitness

Dylan Rogers: A Comrades Convo with my Dad

Roxanne MartinColumns, NewsLeave a Comment on Dylan Rogers: A Comrades Convo with my Dad

Dylan Rogers is a sports journalist with Johannesburg radio station HOT 102.7FM and part of the Big Joburg Drive Show, which you can catch 3pm to 6pm Monday to Friday on either 102.7FM or streaming on hot1027.co.za. He’ll be running his first Comrades Marathon in August, after accepting a dare from a friend, who has pledged to donate R500 to charity for every kilometre of Comrades that Dylan is able to complete. This is a special podcast where Dylan chats to his Dad ahead of his first Comrades Marathon.

Ed Sean Gets a Cool Surprise

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Ed Sean Falconer received a very cool product-drop this week from Under Armour, as we were introduced to the much anticipated Iso-Chill range. After all, it’s not every day you open a package with dry ice in it, ‘smoking’ away!

The new Iso-Chill range expels heat immediately from the body when touched, making it the perfect gear for running and training. Specially designed fibres lay flat against your skin to evenly disperse heat, so it literally feels cool to the touch. With added titanium dioxide to absorb UV Energy and quickly move that heat away from your body, the tech is proven to increase your comfort and output, even during those high-pressure runs on really hot days.

Sean will be putting the gear through its paces – indoors for now, as we wait for Cape Town to unfreeze – and reporting back in the the mag. In the meantime, if you want more info on where to get hold of this amazing product range, check out the button below, or the very cool insert we have running in our latest Modern Athlete Mag!



FIND OUT MORE

UA Ambassador Tatjana Tells Us More!



“Every season you feel like you need to take it up a notch, which is a challenge considering that swimming is a very technical sport and requires a vigorous training regime,” says Under Armour ambassador and Olympic Champion Tatjana Schoenmaker.

“I wouldn’t be cool and calm if I knew I was skipping sessions or not giving 100%, because it’s the constancy of your training and constant ability to strengthen your mental muscle that helps you stay on course. Also, having the right training gear is crucial and can have a major influence on your performance. The UA Iso-Chill gear keeps me cool when training, helping me boost my training performance.”

What Do You Need in a SmartWatch?

Roxanne MartinNews, Win3 Comments on What Do You Need in a SmartWatch?

We are in research mode and want to know what you are looking for in a smart watch. To help us collect this data, we need you to answer a few questions in the form below. We know ‘time is money,’ so to provide some incentive, we have two prizes up for grabs, a HUAWEI nova 9 SE phone valued at R7999, and a HUAWEI nova Y70 Plus phone valued at R5799 up for grabs. You an put yourself in the running to win one of these prizes by putting your virtual pen to paper and completing the form below.

Under Armour ISO-CHILL is as Cold as Ice!

Roxanne MartinNewsLeave a Comment on Under Armour ISO-CHILL is as Cold as Ice!
Under Armour Iso-Chill makes you feel cooler so you can work longer. 
 
Under Armour has unveiled its Iso-Chillmicrofibre technology, this game changing technology made its debut in late 2019 as a replacement for CoolSwitch a crystal technology which sent a cooling sensation back to the body once the garment tissue was activated by sweat. The key difference between Iso-Chill and CoolSwitch is the introduction of the natural element Titanium Dioxide, which unlike its predecessor, expels heat immediately from the body when touched. 

Let’s Talk Fabric 

By flattening out the fibres within their garments and adding Titanium Dioxide*, the natural element, Under Armour has released a garment within Train and Run which quickly pulls heat away from the skin – allowing the human body to continue for an extended period, at maximum capacity. The specially designed fibres lay flat against your skin to evenly disperse heat, literally providing a cooling sensation to the touch. 

Optimum Performance

As top competitors will know, it can take a minute variant to give you a competitive edge, to create the podium finish, to define who wins and who comes in second. Under Armour added Titanium Dioxide to its ISO-CHILLCollection to absorb UV energy and quickly move heat away from the body. The exclusion of this concentrated heat allows the athlete to increase the max-out time and increase output in any hot, high pressure situation.  

Garments are available in both the run and train category in Under Armour Brand House stores nationwide as well as online at www.underarmour.co.za

Rising Sprint Star Signs for PUMA

Sean FalconerNewsLeave a Comment on Rising Sprint Star Signs for PUMA

Global sports brand PUMA has signed 22-year-old US-American track and field athlete Abby Steiner. The rising star’s victory in the women’s 200-metre final of the US Outdoor Championships in 21.77 seconds made her the second-fastest woman in the world over this distance up till that point in 2022, and this week she made it through to the 200m final at the World Athletic Championships in Eugene, going on to finish fifth with a time of 22.26 in her first appearance in a world final.

Steiner currently boasts impressive personal bests of 10.90 for 100m and that 21.77 for 200m, and she holds both the women’s indoor 200m American record with a time of 22.09, as well as the collegiate-level NCAA 200m record (outdoors) at 21.80, which she set at the NCAA Championships in June this year.

In 2018, Steiner was named her nation’s best high school female athlete, having excelled both in athletics and soccer. That year she began studying at the University of Kentucky (UK) on a dual-sport scholarship, but after tearing her knee ligaments on the soccer field, she decided to focus on the track, and Steiner cites this decision as a key to her track development: “Before, with soccer, I’d be training soccer in the fall, then I would come to track. I think really allowing myself to dive fully into the process of the periodisation of training that we do, so fall training and then going into indoor and outdoor seasons, it’s all really important in developing speed and getting to where you want to be.”

Eyes on the Prize

Since focusing solely on the track, Steiner has quickly developed into a world-class athlete. She won the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championship 200m title with a meeting record 22.38. Then in 2022, she completed a full sweep of medals at the next installment of the NCAA Indoor Champs, taking gold in the 200m (with a meeting record 22.16), silver in the 60m (with a PB 7.10), and bronze in 4x400m relay.

Next up was the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Champs, where she won gold in the 200m and set that 21.80 NCAA record, added a bronze medal in the 100m with her 10.90 PB, and helped her UK varsity team win the 4x400m relay (in another meeting record 3:22.55). Steiner followed that with her title-winning 200m run at the US Champs, with yet another PB.

Earlier this year, Steiner was named the National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and the 2022 Honda Sport Award winner for Track & Field, presented annually to the most outstanding women’s college athlete in each of 12 NCAA Division 1 women’s sports. Therefore, PUMA is thrilled to announce that she has signed to run in the company’s shoes and apparel. “Abby Steiner is one of the most exciting upcoming stars in Track and Field,” said Pascal Rolling, Head of Running Sports Marketing at PUMA. “We believe that she will have a brilliant career, and we want to be by her side and support her.”

Ready to Fly Faster

Steiner graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science in May 2022, and has been accepted to the UK’s physical therapy programme, but has decided to defer her enrolment in order to concentrate on her professional track career, and she is understandably happy to land a lucrative sponsorship deal with a sport brand so prominent and involved in track and field. “PUMA’s list of high-performance athletes is impressive and being one of them just feels amazing,” says Steiner. “I am very happy to be part of the PUMA family now, and I can’t wait to take off.”

More About PUMA

PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For more than 70 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs about 16,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany.