Category: Racing

The Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (KAEM) is a 237km race over six stages in seven days. This year saw the biggest field in the event’s ten year history, with 73 participants from 12 countries lining up. And leading them home was South African race winner Dirk Cloete, of Irene Road Running Club. He told Modern Athlete all about his experience.

Experienced desert runners will tell you that the KAEM is infamous for its harsh terrain. It is a self-sufficiency foot race; competitors carry all their own supplies for the duration of the race. The organisers only supply water, fire and toilet paper.

The KAEM is a tough and expensive event, and I prepared well for it. Did I go out to win? I just wanted to do the best I could, and if I happened to be the fastest man I would be grateful. I was fortunate that one of South Africa’s most recognised trail runners, Bruce Arnett, also entered. He has won it twice, and it was an opportunity to measure myself against the best.

Day one was a nice ‘loosener’ of 28km. Over the first few kilometres, runners were clearly finding their pace and rhythm, some trying to fi nd a running partner. My backpack weighed more than 14kg and was much heavier than what I was hoping for. Bruce and I ran together and fi nished the fi rst stage at an average pace of 5:25min/km. It was more than a minute per kilometre faster than ever in the past for the fi rst stage and the talk that night was that ‘we were much too fast’ for the KAEM.

I am an experienced road runner and knew I could pace myself well. I planned to run the KAEM at a pace which I knew was safe, regardless of how much faster or slower it was than in previous races. Day two was a longer stage (34km). It was hot with quite a technical section to negotiate. Relaxing at the camp that night, a group of residents from Riemvasmaak protested against our overnight camp and we had to evacuate. Just after midnight, we set up at a new camp. I found it diffi cult to sleep; somehow only the experienced snorers fell asleep easily!

NEW ROUTE
Due to the trouble the previous night, the organisers had to mark a new route before the start of stage three. We eventually all started together on a shortened 20km run. Bruce and I decided to take it easy in anticipation of the long stage on day four. Rhodri Darch (from Wales) broke away from the group early on and after 14km, he was almost two minutes ahead of us. We started sprinting at a crazy pace of about 4min/km and with 1km to go, we caught Rhodri! We all had a good laugh and jogged home together.

Day four was the big one with 82.3km ahead of us. I had my plan worked out and took it easy. Bruce and I covered the first 10.5km over easy terrain to the fi rst checkpoint in an average pace of about 5:20min/km. In previous races, a pace like that was considered suicidal, as the race has always been won in an average pace of 7:30min/km and slower.

For most of the way, Bruce and I worked together. I left the 61km checkpoint ahead of Bruce, but I was pushing hard and the last 7km were challenging. It was pitch dark and hard to distinguish the quality of the road surface. I fi nished the stage in a time of 8:16. Bruce got home 20 minutes later in a time much faster than in previous races. By now it was clear that the KAEM 2009 would be won in a much faster time than ever before.

JUST WANT TO RUN
Day fi ve was reserved for a well-deserved rest, but I don’t know what was worse: running for an entire day or lazing around to kill the hours. The medical team spent a lot of time helping with injuries, especially blisters. The second-last stage on the sixth day was the most technical stage of the entire race. I fi nished in a time of 4:21 and extended my lead to 26 minutes.

On the last day, the organisers tried to get everybody in before the winner arrived. The fi rst group left at 5:30 on our last 25km journey. Bruce, Rhodri and I set off at 10:15. We decided to run together, but at a steady pace, as I wanted to see how close to 22 hours I could fi nish. With 11km to go, I took off. I was singing aloud with the music on my iPod, probably scaring the animals away! Maybe that’s why the
camera man stayed with me; he was not taking pictures, he was monitoring my mental health.

I crossed the fi nish line in a time of 22:02. My average pace was 5:35min/km. Bruce fi nished second in a time of 22:34 and Rhodri third in 23:52. My club mates, Henk Moen and Chris Koch, finished in sixth and tenth position.

MOIST EYES
As I finished, I got very emotional, but I believe one should enjoy it when things go your way. I’d worked hard and it was my moment to enjoy. You do this type of event not for yourself, but for everyone in your support team. My sponsors, SCE Automation Solutions, made it fi nancially possible for me to enter. I also had one of the best sport scientists, Prof. Jacques Rossouw, helping me with the physical, nutritional and mental preparation. I am forever grateful to my wife, Lynda and little boy, Damian, who supported and encouraged me through all the long hours of training. And then there was the incredible care and support of all the members of my running club, Irene. But above all I thank my Heavenly Father for the privilege to have  been part of the 2009 KAEM.

Winning or just completing such an event is a unique blessing, and one should enjoy every moment of it, as it passes so quickly and becomes only a precious memory. On my journey, I met the most incredible people. To fi nish is a major achievement regardless of the time it takes you. Congratulations to all my fellow competitors who fi nished the race!

Chanel Simmonds, 16, is South Africa’s top junior tennis player. She uses running to increase her fi tness level and to help her focus in her chosen sport. Having started her tennis career at the age of six, Chanel slowly worked her way up the South African Junior Tennis rankings. She is currently South Africa’s number one ranked girl under 18. She has been the National Champion twice and was chosen to represent South Africa in the senior and junior Fed Cup Teams, as well as winning Junior ITFs held around the world, which attract many of the top international juniors. Although Chanel has only played in three senior events, she already has a world ranking on the WTA Circuit.

Chanel’s motto: If you don’t like running, you won’t like tennis.

Simmonds is sponsored by Prince and is currently the 14th ranked girl in the World Junior Tennis ranking. She explains that it is running and working constantly on her fi tness, as well as practicing hard, that have given her the edge to attain her current level of tennis. Under the guidance of her experienced coach, Earl Grainger, Chanel has taken her training to the next level by including road running and speed work in her training routine, thus increasing her fi tness, leg strength and acceleration. The basis of tennis is a combination of physical and mental fi tness. For Chanel, running between 5-8km daily has helped improve her stamina. Various types of sprinting exercises, such as line sprints and fi eld sprinting, have helped increase her movement ability on the court. Another part of Chanel’s fi tness regime is strength training, which she incorporates by doing short bursts, running with a tyre strapped to her waist. At 16,
she is extremely focused and needs to be to hold her world ranking, Chanel is adamant that she never wants to lose a  match due to lack of fi tness, strength or stamina so you will defi nitely see her on the road.

Chanel was also crowned African Junior Champion in Morocco in March 2009, an event in which top players from all the African countries participate. The highlight of her career this year was the reaching quarterfinals at the French Open Junior. She is no stranger to the grand slams, having also competed in the US Open and Australian Open Junior events. She is also currently participating in Junior Championship at Wimbledon. Her coach, Earl, agrees that it is Chanel’s physical presence and fi tness that have played a major role in her achievements to date and he is expecting big things from her. These events will give her invaluable experience for the future. Chanel is part of the highly-rated Earl Grainger’s Tennis Academy based in Bedfordview. Grainger has twenty years of international coaching experience and has coached many top players. The Academy has a full day function and students are home schooled to give them the time they need to focus on achieving the best results possible in their chosen sport.

It has been a long time since South Africa produced a world class ladies tennis player and Modern Athlete wishes Chanel everything of the best in her quest. Hopefully, we will see her on the road at a few short distance events.

Competitive swimming requires a high level of fi tness and cardiovascular ability. When you swim, you get a full body workout which tones all of your muscles and defi nitely works your fi tness. One thing all swimmers swear by is that one needs to cross train in order to make additional gains in the sport of swimming. And this is where running features. Running is an excellent cross training option as swimming and running compliment each other in so many ways. Running burns calories fast, improves bone density, builds strength and makes you fast when you do the right track training – all advantages to swimmers who need to be lean and strong with low body fat.

Pretoria-born Cameron van der Burgh recently made South Africa proud by becoming our very own world champion in the 50m breaststroke at the FINA swimming World Championships held in July in Rome. He fi nished in 26.74 seconds – smashing the previous record of 26.89 set by Brazil’s Felipe Franca da Silva. Cameron, the youngest South African swimmer to hold a world record, also won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke at the same championships. But more amazingly, just 11 days later, he broke three world records in 24 hours in the Telkom National Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg. He took 0.51 seconds off his 50m breaststroke world record, fi nishing in a time of 25.43. He then stormed ahead and broke his own 100m breaststroke world record in a time of 56.39, only to better it the next day with an impressive 55.99. Not bad for a 21-year-old!

This swimming sensation says fast running sprints help him to perform at his current high level. He trains six days a week, swimming 11km a day, combining aerobic swimming in the morning with lactate and threshold work in the evening. Twice a week, he sweats it out in the gym and three times a week he does gymnastic exercises to help him improve his core strength. Once a week, on a Saturday, he does sprint running on a track. Cameron does different sets of sprints, alternating between 50m and 150m sets. When he does 150m sprints, he runs the first few a bit more slowly and builds up to his maximum speed. Alternatively, he does a set of 50m sprints at maximum speed from the word go. He believes this has helped develop his fast twitch fi bres. “I have found these sprints really helped my swimming and have given me the best reaction time off the blocks.”

He does not believe in doing distance running as short distance swimming is an aerobic exercise that requires more speed than endurance. “My race is over in less than 60 seconds and long distance running won’t help me, but sprint running certainly does. I run 100m in 10.8sec on the track. Hey, maybe
I should take up running!” says Cameron.

He trains hard every day because a swimmer can lose fitness very quickly. Cameron explains the same muscles used in running are used when walking around every day. The same cannot be said about swimming. “Swimming is so different; there is no movement on land that can compare to it. You can start losing fi tness within three days of being out of the water; it’s like lying in bed for three days and then trying to walk fast,” says Cameron.

He has never been very unfi t. “I feel better as a person when I am in shape and therefore I never let myself go. Being healthy and living a good life is what I strive for.” Apart from swimming, he enjoys watching athletics on television and from time to time he enjoys jogging, mostly for fun and always with a friend. “I enjoy the chatter amongst friends while running. It puts me at ease and it is a time where I can really speak my mind. Running makes me feel healthy. It clears the mind and lets you think about what’s going on in your hectic life,” says Cameron, who has been active all his life. As a child, he was hyperactive and was on medication to control it. He eventually took up sport as a way to channel his excess energy. He has never done any running races but would consider doing the Two Oceans Half Marathon after his retirement from swimming. “I won’t be doing Comrades though. Comrades is crazy to me, but when I watch the race on television, I think of how brave those runners are. I am amazed that people can finish such a gruelling race.”

Cameron attributes his success to his self confi dence, hard work and attention to detail. “I believe in myself and hate to lose. I live to race. Sport is my life; it’s a refl ection of what I go through. I have fun knowing that I am being true to myself.” His mother, Beverley, was the fi rst person he called after becoming the world champion. “She has always been there for me and is a great support system to me.”

His amazing achievement only sank in the morning after the race. “When I woke up and saw my gold medal, I realised it was a reality. Becoming a world champion was no longer just a dream.” And what can we still expect from South Africa’s hunky poster boy of swimming? “An Olympic Gold in 2012,” says Cameron, who lives by these wise words; “Be yourself; not what you think you should be.”

FAST FACTS

Favourite food:	Paninis.
Favourite book:	Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.
First poster ever on your wall:	Coldplay.
Role model:	Richard Branson.
What does no one know about you?	I read Vanity Fair.
Dream car:	Audi S5
Favourite holiday destination:	Cape Town
Most romantic moment ever:	Being woken up with breakfast in bed.

Top cricket players are hardly ever at home. They are continuously travelling all over South Africa and internationally, training and playing the sport they love and are so good at. To become a competitive cricketer demands dedication and extreme fi tness. Cricket is not a continuous steady state sport and often the game demands a mix of endurance as well as short and fast sprints when batting and chasing down a ball. Cricket players are also on their feet for most of the day; not to mention all the strength movements such as leaping, jumping and turning they perform while trying to catch a ball. Scotland’s
cricket coach, Andy Moles, recently summed up the fitness required from top cricket players when he said that players have to become fi t to play cricket rather than getting fit by playing cricket. Increased base fi tness is essential if they want to do themselves justice at the current ICC Champions Trophy,
Moles said.

Gone are the days where cricketers could get by with a good eye for a ball and a well-balanced drinking arm. A lot of the olden day legends, in particular the top order batsmen, never really reached peak fi tness. The likes of Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock, Mike Gatting and David Boon may have had a few disagreements with current day ‘fi tness coaches’. Bob Woolmer and Hansie Cronje were probably the pioneers in the fitness trend for our national side, a trend that has intensifi ed in the modern day game. These days, if you’re not quick between the wickets in a one day or Twenty20, the opposition immediately identify the weakness and they will pepper the stumps you are running towards. With the help of TV technology, you only have to be an inch short and you’re OUT!

AB, who plays for the SA Titans, the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League and for South Africa, knows all about base fi tness and says he uses running to achieve it. His prowess on the fi eld made him the natural successor to Jonty Rhodes and he must be classed as one of the best fi elders currently on the international circuit. He takes fi tness very seriously and his fitness programme includes a lot of running. “Running fi ts in everywhere. Whether we’re playing games, practicing on the field or exercising in the gym, running plays a huge role in all of it,” says AB. He follows two different fitness programmes, depending on the time of the season. Pre-season training is a lot more physical than in-season training. Pre-season, he trains fi ve to six days a week. It normally consists of four cardio sessions (two fat burner runs and two high intensity fitness runs), three strength sessions (each player follows a specifi c programme worked out by their fitness trainer, Rob Walter) and four stability sessions (six to eight core stability exercises specific to the individual).

“Our runs are normally no longer than 12km, but I love running! So I make time for longer runs. I did the Knysna Oyster Festival Half Marathon. It was awesome. I’m a bit shy to share it with everyone but I did it in 1:40. It was my fi rst 21km.” These types of longer runs and consistent running have helped his cricket. “Cricket is mostly about mental strength and endurance, and running has helped me a lot with both!”

AB, an attacking top order batsman, has been active all his life. All the sports he has played up until now have involved a lot of running. One of the reasons he absolutely loves to run today, is that it makes him feel ‘fresh, fi t, healthy’ and good about himself. He has never been very unfi t; he remembers his first year after Matric when he was not as active as he had been at school. He quickly got a wake up call and started training and has stuck with it ever since.

Long distance running and the training it involves have been part of AB’s upbringing. His parents, have both run the Comrades Marathon! “Comrades looks like quite a challenge. I have absolute respect for the thousands that partake. They are legends. I just think 21km runs will suit me better. At least for now,” says the 25-year-old AB. Don’t be surprised to see him line up at the start one day. It seems
like the running bug is in his genes, like it or not.

AB believes that his family, combined with a lot of hard work and his faith, have made him the cricket player he is today. His sporting goals include pushing himself to higher levels and to become even fi tter and healthier. He is also a budding musician and released his fi rst single, “Show Them Who You Are” a while ago. A complete rock album is on its way. “I grew up loving sport and will always love sport but I do realise there is more to life. It’s all about fi nding the right balance.”

FAST FACTS

Favourite food and drink:	Pasta, passion fruit and soda
Favourite book:	The Bible
Favourite song:	Need by Collective Soul
Advice to young cricketers:	Look after your fitness and health from a young age
Ever wondered what AB stands for?	Abraham Benjamin
Which sportsmen do you admire?	Tiger Woods and Roger Federer
Life motto:	Dream your dreams with open eyes and make them come true