There are two ways to approach winter from a training perspective: To stay tucked under warm blankets and sleep the winter away, or to toughen up, get out of bed and set your body up for a few early spring PBs. – BY RAY ORCHISON

The human body is an incredible machine. It only maintains the structures it believes are needed for survival. In other words, use it or lose it! There’s nothing quite like hitting the snooze button and rolling over under a warm duvet on a cold or wet winter morning. And given that we’re out of the official running season, you can be forgiven for hitting the snooze button every now and then. The problem is when the snooze button becomes the norm…

Within seven to ten days you lose your sharpness or racing edge when you stop training. It’s not a problem following a hard season or key event. In fact, it’s normal, as we allow our body to recover and repair itself before we begin to build up again. When you stop training for two to three weeks and longer, however, you begin to lose base fitness. This means that your endurance systems, which have been built over months of hard work, together with your muscles, begin to atrophy or waste away. So if you go into full hibernation during winter, you come back into spring requiring lots of hard work to get your systems back to where they were before.

Keep Ticking Over
The better approach to winter is to allow yourself a few easy weeks with one or two extra lie-ins, but keep the body ticking over at a maintenance level. Yes, you won’t be firing on all cylinders, but you should maintain a level where, given a few weeks of focused training, you’ll be race-ready or pretty close to it.

The type of sessions will depend on what you’ve built over the months, and the areas you want to work on. If you’ve improved your speed, strength and endurance, then at this point you’ll possibly reduce your speed and endurance and work a little more at maintaining or even building your strength. If you’ve greatly enhanced your endurance, then this is a great opportunity to maintain a certain level of endurance while working on building your speed. Basically, winter is a great opportunity to work on your weaknesses while maintaining your strengths.

Motivate Yourself
This all sounds great… until that alarm goes off in the cold dark hours and suddenly all motivation goes out the window. It is extremely difficult to get out of bed on a cold or wet morning when you have no purpose for doing so. So, one of the best ways to get motivated is to have a goal in place. For a beginner this might be to run your first 5km race. For a novice, it might be to move up to the half or full marathon distance. For an advanced athlete, it could be looking to PB at 10km or a half marathon. Winter also gives us a great opportunity to spend a little more time at the gym and to eliminate any muscle weaknesses or imbalances.

The worst possible thing you can do when the alarm goes off is to start thinking about it. The more you think about it, the more excuses you will come up with. When that alarm goes off, don’t think about it. Just turn it off and get up! The other alternative is to put the alarm far away from the bed, so you have no option but to get up to turn it off. Once you’re up and out the door, it’s usually not as cold or as bad as you thought it would be, and before you know it, you’re back from your session, standing under a warm shower, feeling good about yourself and glad that you got out there and did it.

Try these winter-warming tips for surviving the cold months while still getting in your running fix.

1. Dress Right
You want to be warm without sweating so much you get a chill later from damp clothing, so you should be slightly cool when you start your run. Wear layers of technical fabrics that wick sweat away from the skin, with zippers at the neck and underarm area to vent air as you heat up. Also, wear gloves and a hat to prevent heat escaping from exposed extremities. After your run, get changed out of cold, damp clothing as soon as you can, because your core body temperature drops as soon as you stop running.

2. Warm up
Move around indoors enough to get the blood flowing but without breaking a sweat. Run up and down your stairs, or use a skipping rope, and a speedy house-cleaning session works, too.

3. Deal with Wind
Start your run into the wind and finish with it at your back, so you won’t be blasted by cold air after breaking a sweat, but to avoid a long, cold first half, you can break this into segments, such as running into the wind for 10 minutes, then turning to run with the wind at your back for five to seven minutes, and repeating.

4. Get Motivated
Make a date to meet someone for a run, because there's no backing out when someone is waiting. If running solo, tell yourself that you can turn back after five minutes if it's really bad – chances are good you’ll stay out there once you get going.

The inaugural Over The Moon Trail Run Series, hosted by Two The Core Events in association with Modern Athlete Magazine, was held on the evening of Wednesday 17 June in Johannesburg. Offering a technical 10km route for the more serious trail runners and a 5km shorter route for those looking to just enjoy themselves, the event was held at the RideFree Bike Park in Modderfontein Nature Reserve, and this was the first in the series of four events for 2015.

Entry to the race included sponsor giveaways, glow in the dark paraphernalia, as well as a free boerewors roll and first beer, while event frills such as music and fun for the whole family were also on the cards! Added to that, awesome prizes were up for grabs for the winners of each event, including weekends away at City Lodge, Subaru travel bags and a TimeX Ironman watch.

With the sun tucking behind the mountain, the temperature was only going one way… down! But in spite of the cold, just over 100 runners braved the temperatures and the dark to take part. A hush descended over the lake as Alistair “Allycat’ Cronk began the race briefing, followed by a bit of a warm-up for the runners conducted by Elsabe Venter, and then they were off for some fun on a brand new, never run before route at the RideFree Bike Park. The first 800m were flat or downhill, then the route climbed a long, gradual hill towards the top of the highest point, before descending through the bush on technical single track back to the finish.

The 5km race was won by Dudley Turner in a time of 24:52, and he was followed in by Jason Meredith (25:09). The women’s title was claimed by Debbie Ward in 26:45, with a lead of 1:15 over second-placed Nicola-Jayne Kirkby. The more challenging 10km race came down to a sprint finish as Bennie Roux and Raymond Orchison burst out of the bush and headed for the finish straight side by side! Bennie’s legs proved to have the edge over Raymond’s as he claimed a narrow four-second victory in a time of 38:31. For more results visit www.twothecoreevents.co.za.

Here’s what a few runners had to say about the route:
Ashleigh: “The route was challenging and involved a lot of single track, but all round was very enjoyable.”
Lauren: “The route was very flat for the first part, which was great because we could get into a rhythm before it got sandy and rocky! It was my first night trail run, so it was disorientating with the lamp – you never know where to step, but the runners warn each other about puddles or descents in the trail. Then there were some hills and single track for the next few kays!”
Carina: “I found the route hard but had fun doing my first night trail run.”

The vibe around the event was described as amazing, especially in the freezing cold conditions, and the many fire pits proved a most popular feature before and after the race as the runners looked for some warmth. (And a few shots of Sherry lent a helping hand, too!)

The next Over The Moon Trail Run takes place on Wednesday 15 July, again at the RideFree Bike Park in Modderfontein Nature Reserve, starting at 7pm. Bring your friends and family, grab a beer and a boerie roll, and enjoy the vibe at this fun event. R110 gets you a 5km entry and R130 gets you a 10km entry. Visit www.twothecoreevents.co.za to enter – closing Tuesday 14 July at 12pm.

‘What now?’ asks many a runner just days after Comrades… After months of hard training and the massive toll 87km will take on your body, it’s time to plot those running goals for the second half of the year, but do it wisely!

Your past three months would have consisted of many long runs, anything from 20km and up, all run at a slow, Comrades race pace. These runs are called LSD or Long Slow Distance runs. The point of LSD is to train the body to: (1) withstand the pounding of running from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, (2) become efficient at using fat as an energy source in order go the full distance, and (3) become biomechanically efficient at the slower Comrades race pace and therefore train the muscles to run for hours on end at that pace.

However, the problem with running LSD almost every weekend for the last three months is that you have trained the body to run slowly. If you’re hoping to run a few PB’s in the second half of the year, there are a number of things you’ll need to address.

1 Don’t Hibernate
Recovering from a massive undertaking like Comrades is extremely important, but avoid falling into the trap of going into hibernation for months. From a physiological perspective, the body only maintains what it feels it needs to survive. This means that we quickly begin to lose muscular endurance and strength when we stop exercising completely. Studies have shown that we lose about 10% of our strength and about 30 to 40% of our muscular endurance within eight weeks of no training.
Therefore, give your body enough recovery time to repair the muscle fibre damage caused by Comrades, but then get going again. Take 10 to 14 days full rest and then gradually start to introduce cross-training and a few easy runs. If you still have an ache in your legs, then hit the pool.

2 Need For Speed
With recovery done and dusted, set yourself a few goals for the second half of the year. It’s difficult to get up in the cold mornings if you don’t have a purpose for doing so, and setting goals gives you something to work toward. Post-Comrades is the ideal time to take your training to a new level. For months you’ve essentially been doing a few thousand kilometres of base training. If you stay off the road until September, you’ll have a lot of work to do before you’re back to the level you are now. Instead, focus on the shorter distances and gradually build speed. Improving your times over 5km or 10km has a knock-on effect for your marathons and ultras. This will take your training to a new level and put you on the front foot for your goals in 2016.

3 What weaknesses?
There’s a good chance that as your weekly mileage increased in the build-up to Comrades, so you started to experience a number of niggles, or even full-blown injuries. Every year, a large number of runners, against better judgement, will arrive at the start line and attempt to complete Comrades while nursing an injury. Often it’s these runners who risk their lives by taking anti-inflammatory drugs during the race. If you need a drug in order to finish a race, then you should not even consider starting! These great races are not going anywhere.

Niggles and injuries are a result of muscle imbalances or specific muscle weaknesses. These are exploited through repetitive motion (lots of LSD). The increase in mileage pre-Comrades places such a big energy demand on the body that one cannot focus on endurance, strength and speed training at the same time. It’s a recipe for disaster. This means that pre-Comrades training should have a main focus of endurance. Now, with Comrades behind you, the second half of the year is an ideal time to identify your imbalances and weaknesses and to work on improving them.

The bottom line is that there is life after Comrades, and these guidelines will give you some direction.

Para-athlete Dylan Da Silva was born with the physical disability Phocomelia, the malformation of his arms, but he has not let that hold him back from becoming a talented young athlete who is now ready to take the triathlon world by storm.

When Dylan was three years old and got his first bike, he immediately asked his father to take the training wheels off. “He refused, so I took them off myself and was riding on my own that very day. No-one taught me to ride a bike, or to drive a car, and I live like an ‘abled’ person,” says the 20-year-old from Johannesburg, who has always been an avid swimmer and cyclist, and then took to running as well when he challenged himself to do a triathlon in 2014.

His transition to triathlon was smooth after amazing performances in 2012 and 2013 as a para-cyclist in the C4 category, winning countless gold medals in time trials and with national records on the track under his belt. On the triathlon scene, he soon scored a Gauteng Champs win in the PT3 category, then added the SA title and the All Africa Champs title as well. “I was dependent on my swimming and cycling then, but a lot of people don’t realise that the running action requires a lot of work, so as I progress, I figure out what works,” he says.

Waves of Wins
In between the triathlon titles he also picked up the SA and Gauteng Championship para-cycling titles, but his multisport achievements had gotten him noticed and he was selected for the South African Para-triathlon team for last year’s ITU World Triathlon Grand Finale in Edmonton, Canada, where he finished 10th in his category. “Before the start, I sat by the water and looked either side of me and knew that it was a dream I wanted to work on,” says Dylan. Last year’s form as well as a win at the Buffalo City ATU Paratriathlon African Championships in the beginning of 2014 gave him the push to train harder.

His start to 2015 saw his performances get still better as he picked up a win at the Buffalo City ITU World Para-triathlon event in March. Then came what he considers his best performance as he won at the WTS Discovery World Triathlon in Cape Town in April, edging out fierce competitor and friend Stan Andrews, as well as blind para-triathlete Hein Wagner. “I work hard, training twice a day, because there is more competition and that just motivates me,” says Dylan.

Will For More
With the ever-present support of parents Melissa and Manny as well as long-time girlfriend Micaela, plus help from biokineticist Justin Jefferey and sponsor Biogen, Dylan reckons he is on the brink of still better results. He has been picked for the South African para-cycling team to participate at the World Cup in September, and he says he is hoping to find sponsors to help him continue to compete at the highest level. “Sport is my avenue as an ADHD child, and I know my family has gone through a lot, but I want to do well, get points for the World Tri Champs, and go get a podium there, and show the world that disability is nothing,” he says.

The Da Silva family would like to thank everyone who has supported Dylan in his nine years in sport, and ask that any potential new sponsors who would like to support him should please contact [email protected]

With the Comrades Marathon just around the corner, it’s a good time to take a look at some of the common mistakes runners make when it comes to tapering in the final weeks before a big race.

So you’ve done the mileage, put in the hours on the legs, and gotten your muscles ready for that long target race, and now you’re following the training programme instructions to taper down your training so as to arrive at the start line feeling fresh. However, this is a time when many runners make costly mistakes, whether it is doing too little running, deviating from a normal routine, or getting too worked up. It’s easy to ruin months of hard work during what should be a relatively easy few weeks of training.

1. Resting Too Much
Over-tapering is the single most common mistake made, which can lead to feeling flat on race day and also increases the chance that you’ll get sick, as your metabolism and immune system can be thrown out of sync due to the sudden change in activity and decreased demands on the body. So, instead of suddenly feeling fresh as a daisy when you reduce mileage, some runners actually don’t feel that good after a few easier days.

THE SOLUTION: Most runners will find that reducing weekly mileage to 80% of maximum will provide a sufficient respite from the training load without leaving them feeling flat or sluggish, but the secret is to maintain some intensity throughout the week and not just do easy runs. Yes, your hardest workouts are now behind you, but it’s important not to lose all your momentum, so you still need some quality work, like an interval sessions, or better yet, a 10km tempo run where you do the first 5km at race pace, then the second 5km as fast as you can, to give your legs a good workout. This firstly allows you to practise race pace for the big day, but also boosts your confidence with a strong, fast finish.

2. The Wrong Workouts
The next common mistake many runners make is to change their entire programme from long slower mileage designed to prepare for a long race, to just doing shorter speedwork in order to feel faster, or because they are scared of doing any more long workouts and arriving at the start tired. The problem with this is that your muscles will not be used to all the shorter, faster running and will fatigue quickly, and you will not be practising your race pace for the big day. The taper period is an ideal opportunity to get in this vital practice, especially for the start of the big race, and you’ll get crucial pacing feedback from your body to prepare you for the race.

THE SOLUTION: Do two workouts per week, one of them a longer, race pace run, the second a shorter run broken up into race pace segments with up to three-minute easy rest segments in between. This will help you maintain your race pace preparation while the rest intervals will ensure that the workout is not too hard.

3. Weight-gain Worries
In the last week of the taper, the most difficult aspect is usually the mental perspective. No matter how hard you’ve trained, chances are you’re going to worry about not having done enough in order to finish the big race. (Bruce Fordyce always tells runners that it is better to arrive at the race slightly under-trained than over-trained and tired.) Then there is the fear of putting on weight during the final week of tapering, due to running less and eating more to carbo-load for race day, where the increased calorie intake is bound to pack on some extra weight that must then be carried through the race. Typically, the desire to avoid weight-gain wins the battle and glycogen stores don’t get built to the max.

THE SOLUTION: First, remember that a little weight-gain is OK, since you’re storing extra fluids. A full gas tank is much more important than a wee bit extra weight on race day. Therefore, the experts recommend that you augment your normal eating habits with regular ‘grazing’ on healthy, energy-filled snacks in between your main but small meals, so that you avoid that stuffed feeling.

Hop on to your search engine, type in the phrase ‘training programme’ and you’ll find dozens of helpful yet overwhelming results, so make sure you understand and can keep going with your chosen programme for the best results.

Planning your training for a big race can be daunting. How long should your long runs be? What type of speed should you be doing and when? How many hill repeat sessions do you need? So you download one of the thousands of options glaring at you in your browser and now you’re ready to roll. It’s a better option than blindly trying to figure your way through what you think you should be doing for the next 100 days of training, but you still need to customise, adapt and tweak to suit your own needs. These generic training programmes are designed to be suitable for the masses and will never be an exact match for you. If you’re looking for a specific training programme for you, then you need to go to a coach, but now that you have your downloaded programme, here’s what you need to do.

1 Listen to your body

Unless the coach who developed the training programme has a crystal ball, there is no possible way to know anything at all about you – apart from the fact that you’re a runner and that you’re planning on completing an event. Only you know when your body begins to ache or when you’re waking up tired and fatigued. You know when you’re getting sick or when you’re heading for an injury. You know when your body is not handling both the training load and other outside stressors. You know all these things because your body tells you, so learn to listen to your body.

2 Make it your own

Unless the programme already comes in an editable spreadsheet format, start by opening a blank spreadsheet and retyping the programme. Next, insert your planned long runs and races – most programmes for the ultras will have suggested time frames for a qualifying marathon – and adjust the training in the weeks leading up to and following these long runs and races. With just these few adjustments you’re individualising the programme to your own needs.

3 Rest and Recover

This leads on from point 1: You know your body. Determine if the rest and recovery scheduled in the programme is adequate. If not, adjust by adding additional recovery days where you feel you may need them. You can also move rest and recovery days around, but always remember that a hard day should be followed by a recovery or rest day. Allow for some flexibility in each week’s training so that you can listen to your body when it’s calling for additional rest.

4 Keep it up!

Following a programme often keeps us motivated and helps us to listen to the body and overcome the mind. The mind says things like, “It’s too hot! Maybe I should rather just run tomorrow.” All you have to do is stick to the programme.

Good luck in the coming months and may you achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Traditionally, tight forwards in rugby – props, hookers and locks – were renowned for being big and heavy, built for scrumming and mauling, and didn’t like to run that much, but in the modern game, forwards have to be fitter, faster and more mobile. One of these modern locks was former Springbok Selborne Boome, and this has helped him become quite the trail runner since retiring from rugby.

Last year’s Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 36km trail run in Stellenbosch was brutal. Low-lying cloud, heavy rain and strong winds sent the temperature plunging and many runners found the going extremely hard, but one runner who loved every minute of it was former rugby star Selborne Boome. “Conditions went downhill fast that day, but I am far better when it is cold than when hot, so I absolutely loved it,” says the 39-year-old fruit farmer from Elgin, who has also run the Wild Coast Wild Run with his wife Catherine, and just recently braved the wind in East London to complete his first 70.3 Half Ironman. “The 70.3 was tough, because my six-foot-six frame on a bike into the wind is not the most aerodynamic… but I enjoyed the challenge and plan to do more.”

 

When it comes to running, Selborne says his weight is more of a factor than his height. “I’m a largish unit at over 100kg, so for me to get going in a trail run is all about momentum. Funnily enough, I’m better going uphill than downhill, but I’m never going to win anything,” he jokingly says. “I actually played loose forward through school and varsity, and later shifted back to flank when playing oversees. I even played Sevens Rugby for South Africa, so I reckon I was far more mobile than I should have been as a lock.” As a result, Selborne says the transition to running after rugby was that much easier. “I was looking for something to keep fit, and trail running is better for my knees and back than running on the roads. There are plenty of trails right here in Elgin to run, so I don’t have to drive anywhere.”

 

Rugby Talent

Selborne (39) was born in Somerset West and also excelled in cricket, swimming and tennis, but rugby proved to be his best sport. He made his provincial debut in 1997 and helped Western Province win the Currie Cup that year, and from 1999 to 2000 he played for the Stormers franchise in Super Rugby. In 1999 he made his Springbok debut against Italy, and says being picked for the Boks for the first time was the highlight of his career. “My call-up was unexpected because I was still a young guy who had just played my first season of Super Rugby, and the Stormers didn’t have a fantastic season that year, but I got in as back-up to the older, more experienced guys.”

 

Despite missing the 1999 World Cup due to injury, Selborne became a fixture in the Bok team from 1999 to 2003, playing 20 tests and scoring two tries, and was part of the team that made it to the quarter-finals at the 2003 World Cup. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2002 he played in France with Montferrand before returning to the Stormers in 2003, then joined the Northampton Saints in England in 2004 before returning to SA in 2007 for a swansong season with the Blue Bulls. Having retired seven years ago after more than a decade of playing top level rugby, Selborne admits that he still misses some aspects of the game. “I especially miss the competitive nature of sport, the camaraderie and the team environment, but I don’t miss the travelling and all the hotels and airports!”

 

Fruitful Endeavours

Since retiring he has worked in the Western Cape fruit industry and took over running his father’s fruit farm in Elgin in September 2013. “I really enjoy the challenge. We grow apples and pears and I am out in the orchards all the time. I even work with the picking teams, because I believe it is important to understand the whole operation and what it takes.” When asked if fitting running into his demanding schedule is hard, he says he has the answer. “I get up fairly early each day, before 5am, so that I can run. If I really have to, I will run after work, but that cuts into my family time with my wife and two daughters, who are now eight and six, so I prefer the mornings. And I want to fit in more races if I can.”

The longer the race, the stronger the finish… if you’re a female endurance athlete. That’s what the scientific research studies keep showing! 

In the last stretch of the 2014 Comrades Marathon, eventual women’s champion Eleanor Greenwood looked like she had strapped on an imaginary jetpack! She was running at 3:59min/km, clocking 27 minutes and 50 seconds for the last 7km. This was not only her fastest segment of the race, it was just about the overall fastest time of the day for those last 7km – race winner Bongmusa Mthembu was three seconds slower, and the only athlete to go faster over that stretch was sixth-placed man Mncedisi Mkhize, who clocked 26:56. What this proved, yet again, is that female athletes can rev their proverbial engine a bit more in the latter stages of an endurance race.

NO SLOWING DOWN

In a recent study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers at Marquette University in Milwaukee in the US gathered information about finishers at 14 marathon events. With over 90,000 participants’ data and finishing times, the researchers compared each runner’s time at halfway with one at the finish line to determine pace. The results showed that men slowed down more than women, covering the second half of their journey around 16% on average slower than their first half. Women averaged 12% slower in the second half of their marathon. Going further into the data, the scientists also looked specifically at runners who slowed considerably in their second half by 30% or more, and found that more men (14%) fell into this category, compared to just 5% of women.

An earlier study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research also looked at how men and women who broke five hours in the 2007 and 2009 Chicago Marathons paced themselves, and found that more women were able to stick to their average pace without slowing down markedly between the 30km and 40km markers. Taking the weather conditions of these two races into consideration, the evidence points to the fact that women can maintain their speed better than men, and the study concluded that it comes down to how our bodies work, with women burning a higher percentage of fat the longer the run goes on, while men turn to burning more carbohydrates for fuel. And when men run low on carbs, that’s when they tend to hit the dreaded wall… and slow down markedly. Researchers also suggest that women tend to have a larger surface area-to-mass ratio than men, allowing heat to leave the body more rapidly, which can lend itself to better endurance and a faster finish.

MEN ARE FROM MARS…

Whether it really is how we’re built, or purely psychological, there are clearly several factors at play here. While the boys can usually trump the girls with speed – that’s just genetics – the girls can outwit by holding back to avoid the zombie shuffle over the finish line. One might argue that men tend to go all-out early in a race because of their naturally more competitive wiring, whereas women may start a bit more conservatively, but whatever the reasons, the results show that women tend to finish long runs stronger and faster.

When Hanneké Dannhauser entered her first obstacle course race last March, she put herself on a startlingly fast track to the World Champs of obstacle racing just seven months later, despite breaking her ankle along the way. No wonder she’s earned the nickname GI Jane!
– BY SEAN FALCONER

Having heard about the Jeep Warrior Series in February 2014, Hanneké just knew that obstacle course racing was meant for her. The 26-year-old from Bloemfontein was working part-time as a personal trainer and had spent a lot of time in the gym herself, and the challenge appealed to her – but not some entry-level starter course… No, she entered the Black Ops elite race at Warrior #2 in Midrand on 2 March! “I come from the farm, so I went straight for the hardest option,” she says with a little giggle – and she proceeded to finish third in the women’s field, but realised where she could improve in order to be more competitive.

“In February I was running over seven minutes a kay, so I started training athletics with coach Rufus Botha, who has coached many top runners, including Zola Pieterse, and now I am running four minutes a kay,” says Hanneké, who used her steadily improving pace and stamina to win the next Warrior event in Irene. Then she also won in Hartbeespoort (May) and Ballito (July), but in September the Tarzan Swing obstacle at Warrior #6 in Hartbeespoort took its toll, and after numerous attempts at swinging across, an exhausted Hanneke fell and fractured her ankle. Undaunted, she carried on trying until she made it through the obstacle, then limped home in third position.

That saw her miss the Stellenbosch leg of the Warrior series in early October, but she had enough points in the bag to be selected to go to the OCR World Champs in Cincinatti, USA, in late October, and just eight weeks after her injury, she finished fifth out of 70 elite women. “The World Champs was a bit intimidating, especially since I had recently been out injured, but I really enjoyed the event,” says Hanneké. “The obstacles were not as tough as in SA, but there was a lot of up and down in the running. Overall, I think our SA obstacle racers are right up there with the best in the world – so I think we should invite them to come compete here in our races!”

Brutal conditions
A few weeks after the World Champs, Hanneké was back in action at the Warrior Nationals in Gauteng, looking for another win and the points to clinch the 2014 series win. She led for much of the race, but on a brutally cold and wet day, she couldn’t match Dominique D’Oliveira’s strength towards the end of the course and had to settle for second place on the day and in the series. The decisive moment came on the third-last obstacle, appropriately named Breaking Point, a tough combination of ropes, rings, chains and monkey bars.

“It was terrible out there for all of us, with many athletes unable to finish the course. We were so cold that they eventually gave us space blankets to wrap around ourselves while we were waiting at some of the obstacles,” recalls Hanneké. “Dom was breathing down my neck all race, but I thought I was going to win it, so I went into that obstacle without resting. I’ve learnt this year to do races at my own pace, and I made the mistake of pushing too hard at that point. So it was really hard to watch Dom get through it before me and disappear up the trail, but we have really bonded this year and have a wonderful friendly rivalry going. The best athlete on the day won – I gave it my all and was happy with second.”

I want more!
Unsurprisingly, Hanneké is now raring to go with the 2015 season, with all the Warrior, Impi, Gladiator and Spartan events pencilled in on her calendar. “Obstacle course racing has become my passion, and I feel I have always had the talent, but am only just discovering how good I can be. I also love that I can see my success and my healthy lifestyle inspiring others, especially younger girls. As I always say, look up, get up and never give up – because that’s where success comes from.”