SEPTEMBER 2017

SOUTHERN AFRICAN EDITION

RSA R40.00 (VAT INCL)
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 CONTENTS September 2017
THE LOOP 08
RAVE RUN 12
EDITOR’S LETTER 16

62
THE 7 HABITS OF

45
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE
MARATHONERS
Use these cutting-
SPRING edge strategies
to set appropriate
SHOE BUYER’S race-day goals, train

GUIDE like a champion, and

persevere when the
Our team of wear- going gets tough.
testers put the latest BY BRAD STULBERG
models through their AND STEVE MAGNESS
paces on roads around
the country, to help you
find your perfect pair.
68
BY RYAN SCOTT
105 RUNNING
LIFE HACKS
Simple tips, tricks and
tweaks to improve and
upgrade every aspect of
How many your running life.
pairs of running BY JOE MACKIE
shoes do RW
readers own?
Find out on 78
page 29.
OUTER LIMITS
‘Ultra’ ultra runners go
really far. What inspires
them to take on some
of the world’s toughest
endurance events –
ON THE COVER and what can we learn
from them?
Bumper Shoe Guide..................45 BY LISA ABDELLAH
Injury Prevention......................40
Your First 10-K...........................35
105 Life Hacks............................68 86
42.2-K Training Plan..................66
On-The-Run Snacks..................42 ABOVE AND BEYOND
‘Ultra’ Ultra Runners...................78 Trail-running legend
Kilian Jornet’s record-
breaking ‘run’ up the
world’s highest peak has
redefined the boundaries
of our sport.
BY DUNCAN CRAIG

4 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES GARAGHTY

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 CONTENTS

WE’RE ALWAYS
RUNNING AT
RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA

P H OTO G R A P H B Y G L E N M O N TG O M E RY
19

24 42
FIVE WAYS TO SPRING
CLEAN YOUR DIET
Eat a fresh diet to slim
down, gain energy and
nail your spring races.
Visit runnersworld.co.za/
springback

ON THE COVER
38 A sk RW Timing the carbo-
HUMAN RACE

SEPTEMBER
load, fast snacks, and warm-up
essentials.
19  ueen Of The Desert Working
Q 40 Body Shop Eight yoga poses to

mom Shelley Bolle ran 250km –
across one of the harshest deserts
in the world.
22 I Ran It Off! An engineer reaps the
performance benefits of a healthier
weight.
23 The Singlet He knows it all.
2017
stretch and strengthen running
muscles.
41 The Sports Scientist Does Caster
have an unfair advantage?
42 Natural Energy Power your next
long run with quick DIY energy
bites. PICK FROM 20 NEW MODELS + EDITOR'S CHOICE + BEST BUY + BEST DEBUT

24 Dog Lessons You expert guide to BUMPER 17-PAGE SHOE GUIDE

pacing your pooch.
29 Runner By The Numbers Our RACES+PLACES
INJURY-PROOF
YOUR BODY! 16-W EEK
readers reveal their running-shoe In 10 Mins A Day MARATHON
PLAN
Start Now!

habits. 95 R
 acing Ahead Beginners P66
SMASH YOUR
FIRST 10-K!
DIY ENERGY!
On-The-Run Snacks

BEST
You Can Make!

HIGH-MILEAGE
PERSONAL BEST COLUMNS MADNESS

TIPS
Lessons From SA's
'Ultra' Ultra Runners
"I Sweat

EVER!
Through My
Paws..."
RUNNING WITH DOGS
P24

TRAINING 26 L
 ife And Times
09279

105 Expert Hacks to

34 Build Your Own Crew Because Just One More
9 771021 566004

Boost Training, Improve

Your Diet & Fire Up Motivation! SEPTEMBER 2017
SOUTHERN AFRICAN EDITION

(No. 76: Drink More Wine!)

RSA R40.00 (VAT INCL)
NAMIBIA N$42.50

long runs are better with an BY SOLLY MALATSI

www.runnersworld.co.za

entourage. 28 R
 oad Scholar
Runner – Kim Baas wears
35 Beginners You can log 10km (and Fat-Shaming For Guys top by Lorna Jane, watch by
much more) in one run! Here’s how. BY PETER SAGAL Garmin, shorts by adidas and
36 The Fast Lane For a stronger finish, 98 B
 ack of the Pack shoes by New Balance.
your legs need to know how to take High-Tail, Mr Ponytail!
a beating. BY BRUCE PINNOCK Hair & make-up by
Colleen Paioni

Photograph by
6 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
Sean Laurenz
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 THE LOOP READER COMMENTS

THE INBOX

WINNING LETTER RUN, BABY, RUN!

PARALLEL UNIVERSE When I ran during my
In the July 2017 issue of second pregnancy, I had to
Runner’s World, an RW force myself to take it easy
staffer revealed his most when I felt uncomfortable.
annoying distraction on the In dealing with that ‘heavy
run is ‘people who shout out leg’ feeling, and frequent
your name during a race, toilet breaks at the side
just because they’ve seen it of the road, I watched
printed on your number’. But my speed and distance
what if the supporters stood take a disappointing
there mute, with their hands nosedive. So why do it?
in their pockets? What if Well, pregnancy can be
we weren’t even allowed to stressful, and running
talk to our fellow runners? helps to keep my mind
At races, I can’t imagine in check. It fills my body
myself being in a space with positive endorphins –
where I’m so sure of myself which can only be good for
that I don’t need words of my impending new arrival.
encouragement. I’m an For now, I have to accept
introvert, but when it comes
to running, I love hearing
that in the next 40 weeks,
I’m going from ‘runner’ to
WHAT
runners’ tales of triumph and
disaster. – MARK KRUG, JOHANNESBURG
‘preggie runner’. – DIA HARVEY,
JOHANNESBURG
ARE THE
STRANGEST
THE POLL THINGS
YOU’VE
12%
WHAT TIME
DO YOU
PREFER TO
RUN? ENCOUNTERED
Afternoon
ON A RUN?
“Ostriches on were too tired to
Naval Hill in run, and that was
Bloemfontein.” his only option.”
– Karen Bente – Melanie Elsworth
Holmgaard
“A traffic cop
“A guy who was informed me I
running next to was running at
the main road in exactly 9.2km

69%
a small Kalahari per hour.”

19%
town, at 5pm. He – Caroline Busby
was wearing a Alleson
diving mask and
Morning a snorkel!” “A Toyota
Evening – Eugene Luck Quantum full of
sangomas, on
“At a parkrun the R40 between
Runner’s World reserves the right to edit readers’ there was a guy Nelspruit and
submissions. All readers’ submissions become the sole running with Barberton. They
property of Runner’s World and may be published in
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a small child stopped to ask me
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and a dog under Badplaas. Strange
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This month’s winning letter will receive a pair of Budds By DJ Fresh Bluetooth
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 THE GALLERY INSTA OF THE MONTH

#INSTARWRUN
We asked you to show off your running experiences.
Here are three submissions that made us envious!

“Epic Skukuza sunrise trot this morning #skukuza #running #lovetorun!”

– @bridgie_tlttc
P H OTO G R A P H B Y G E T T Y I M AG E S /G A L LO I M AG E S (O S T R I C H )

“IT’S LIKE TRAVELLING BETWEEN

“We came, we saw, we conquered!
#spurtrailseries done and dusted. Smiles
and medals all round! And guys, we even
ran/climbed through an old mineshaft!
#howdamncool” – @razmatazzio
“A cold, chilly #parkrun this morning at
#rietvlei with the sister @linellemuller1.
Shoes are taking some serious hits
going off-road.” – @yolindidewet
WORLDS IN JUST ONE RUN. FROM
JURASSIC PARK-LIKE LUSH FOREST,
TO CRACKING GLACIERS AND ICY
SNOW. PARADISE! #MONTBLANC”
– @MEGMACKENZIE1

AUGUST 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 9

 RUNNER’S WORLD PROMOTION

SA’S
Southern African Edition. A joint venture between Rodale Press, Inc and Media24 Magazines.

EDITORIAL

Editor MIKE FINCH (mike.finch@media24.com)

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the worst Gear Editor RYAN SCOTT (madibapi@gmail.com)

ONLINE
excuse the Scientific Editor DR ROSS TUCKER
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RW staffers
have heard CONTRIBUTORS

for skipping Govan Basson, Carin Bevan, Tudor Caradoc-Davies, Casey Crafford, James Garaghty, Tobias Ginsberg, Roger

RUNNING
Jardine, Craig Kolesky, Sean Laurenz, Solly Malatsi, Jacques Marais, Sven Musica, Nick Muzik, Lindsey Parry,
a run? Bruce Pinnock, Ryan Sandes, Sue Ullyett, Ferdinand van Huizen, Erik Vermeulen, Bruce Viaene,
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Ricky Gates, Alex Hutchinson, Andrea K Laue, Jobe Lawrenson, Joe Mackie, Steve Magness, Mitch Mandel,
Mark Matcho, Jessica Migala, Rami Niemi, Monica Prelle, Andy Rementer, Sebastien Montaz Rosset, Sage
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 RAVE RUN

MELTON
WOLD, KAROO
HIGHLANDS
Photographs & words by…
Jacques Marais

Runner…
Peter Kirk (and Misty)

GPS Location
31°28’02.6”S 22°20’32.7”E

Grading
All levels.

Duration
The 6km loop around the dam
and airstrip will take an average
runner less than an hour.
However, you can bump this
up considerably by heading
into the game area to the west
– the 30km loop will take at
least three to four hours.

Best Time To Run

This is the Karoo, so you
should expect sizzling summer
temperatures peaking in
the mid-40s, despite the
high altitude on the inland
plateau. Run early during
the hotter months, and pack
enough water. On the flip
side, temperatures on winter
days and nights may drop
well below freezing – if you’re
there then, wear layers.

Terrain
Hard-packed gravel trails,
stretches of fist-sized rocks,
sandy dual tracks and eroded
game footpaths. This part of
the Karoo Highlands is less
arid than you’d expect. There
are sections of marsh in the
grasslands, especially after
rainfall during summer.

Configuration
Running through the grassland
marshes and shimmering
vleis after a rain shower is
rewarding. Endless plains
unfold from the guesthouse,
along the dam wall and into
the game camps, where you’ll
find at least 40km of gritty
gravel roads and 4x4 tracks.
The surface is pretty rocky
in places – watch your step
as you dogleg back onto the

12 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 13
MELTON WOLD,
KAROO HIGHLANDS

plains, on the opposite side of

the dam. Chances are you’ll
spook herds of dust-puffing
wildebeest or eland, as you
approach the gravel airstrip
along the floodplains.
Slog further south, past
an abandoned diamond
mine, then look out for a
sign showing the way to
an excellent example of a
brachiosaur fossil, which is
approximately 5km from the
homestead. Outstanding
birding makes running here
even more worthwhile.

Refuel At
At Die Rooi Granaat Deli
and Restaurant, friendly
tannies cook decent-sized
farm breakfasts and mouth-
watering lunches. Also worth a
try: homemade confectionery,
milkshakes, biltong, goat’s-
milk cheese and delectable
tarts (rooigranaat.co.za/
082 805 2982)

Other Activities
Old truck museum; indigenous
nursery; a geoglyph of a riverine
rabbit; camping; MTB routes

Interesting Fact
Loxton is one of the few dorps
in South Africa that still has
a working irrigation-canal
system.
This peaceful, serene rural
village is being rejuvenated
by a mini-renaissance. Every
second person you meet has
come from the city in search
of fresh air and big-sky spaces,
and they can’t wait to share
some ‘Loxton love’.
The town lies at the
heart of the riverine rabbit
conservation area; but there’s
more to this part of the
Karoo Highlands than a few
endangered bunnies…

Getting There
Many roads lead to Loxton,
but the easiest way is via the
N1, towards Beaufort West.
Then, follow the R381 for
approximately 105km, towards
Loxton. Melton Wold is
situated a further 40km along
the road to Victoria West.

FOR MORE AWESOME

RUNNING PICS, VISIT
RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA /
RAVERUN.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 15
 EDITOR’S LETTER
AN EXISTENTIALIST’S
GUIDE TO THE
LUNCHTIME RUN
A midday motivation to ourselves…
LET’S DO LUNCH.
We can meet in the square, and head out
on that 5.5km route that takes us through the
Waterfront. We’ll love it.
We’ll need to make sure we get the timing
right on actual lunch, though. If we eat too
early, we’ll be starving by 3pm; but if we
eat too close to run time, we’ll be fighting
digestion as well as heavy legs. So I guess we’ll
“It’s our run… we can do whatever we like.”
have a mid-morning snack, and then hold out
for a proper meal until after our workout.
OK, so we’ll be outside the building, ready
to run, at 12.30pm? That’s great, because I have
a deadline to conquer; and I can focus on that,
knowing there’s freedom to look forward to.
I’m not sure of the pace we’ll run today: but
we can start easy, on the way out through town.
It’s a little annoying having to stop at traffic
lights, but we’re not like those people who jog
on the spot, waiting for the lights to change.
Maybe we’ll throw in a few fartleks once
we’re on to the paved stuff and there are no
intersections to worry about. I love that bit
that runs past the restaurants – we can give it
some stick while the rest of the world orders
their sandwiches.
I prefer doing the route anticlockwise. It’s
tougher at the start, but the reward is a faster,
more scenic finish; and if we’re not feeling it,
we can always jog that last, slightly downhill
16 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
kilometre back to the office.
It’s great to run with others sometimes.
Some of those ‘others’ are faster, so we can
push ourselves a little harder. But today it’s
just us and our thoughts… so very existential!
Even though there’s no-one else with us
today, it’s not like we’re going to be lazy here.
Sometimes it’s great to push hard in sections,
feeling fast, before slowing to a jog and
“WHILE THE
PREDOMINANT
VALUE OF
EXISTENTIALIST
recovering for that next surge. It’s our run… THOUGHT IS
we can do whatever we like.
In fact, I’m even going to make this run ‘private’
COMMONLY
on Strava. (Probably a good thing, because if ACKNOWLEDGED
anyone saw the file, they’d probably wonder why
TO BE FREEDOM,
there are all those pace drop-offs; not to mention
the Nietzsche reference in the name.) ITS PRIMARY
Remember to warm up; and then to jog that VIRTUE IS
last 300m to the office. Let the legs cool and
P H OTO G R A P H B Y G E T T Y/G A L LO I M AG E S ( N I E T Z S C H E )
give some space for those endorphins to flow AUTHENTICITY.”
in, while we hydrate and shower. - WIKIPEDIA
By the time we’re done, we’ll be back at
our desks with minds refreshed and a body
pulsing from the effort.
Now turn to page 77, and read tip 105…
Let’s go!
MIKE FINCH
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
@MikeFinchSA
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 HUMAN RACE News, Trends, and
Regular Runners Doing
Amazing Things

MEET THEING
SK
MULTI-TAM
MO

Queen Of
The Desert NAME:
SHELLEY BOLLE
How a working mom AGE: 33
of two ran 250km HOMETOWN:
across one of the CAPE TOWN
harshest deserts in
the world.
BY CARIN BEVAN

Shelley Bolle doesn’t let anything

hold her back: not even crutches.
Back in 2007, she ditched a pair to
‘run’ her first half marathon.
Eight years later, Shelley was
inspired by a blog written by trail
legend Ryan Sandes, in which he
described what it was like to run
across the Atacama Desert.
At the time, she was knee-deep in
parenting her two kids (then aged two
and four), had just started a new job,
and considered herself an average
runner. How on earth could she just
up sticks to run across the world’s
driest desert? Besides, she would
need thousands of dollars just to
travel to South America!
But the same can-do attitude that
P H OTO G R A P H B Y R O G E R JA R D I N E

had prompted her to cast aside her

crutches and run 21km made this
hare-brained idea seem plausible.
“I thought, Hang on… why can’t I do
this? she says.
With that, Shelley decided: she
would run the Atacama Crossing in
October 2016.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 19

Training
She began crowdfunding for

“I CAN’T DO
the event, which was then only
20 months away. As friends and
family bought into her dream, the

MUNDANE OR
money started pouring in.
Now there was no turning back.
Shelley got in touch with Ian

MEDIOCRE
Waddell, who had coached both
Ryan Sandes and Daniel Rowlands
to victory at the Atacama Crossing.

ANYMORE.”
“Ian is phenomenal,” she says.
“He has a holistic approach
to training: it’s more about
maintaining good spirits than
achieving good times.”
In the past, Shelley and her
husband Eligh had taken turns to
go out and run, according to when
they could fit it in around their
busy schedules. But once she had
built up a general level of fitness,
Waddell prescribed an intensive
training programme.
Shelley ran in blocks of 25km
over a period of four days,
committed to two weekly gym
sessions, and had one rest day.
“It was intense,” she recalls. “But in
the end, that’s what got me through.”

Challenges
With less than four months to go,
Shelley rolled her ankle. The injury
wasn’t too serious; but even so,
she had to take four agonising
weeks off running, to allow the
ligaments to heal.
Injury wasn’t the only challenge
she faced. Often, she had to
sacrifice family time – and her
new job – to meet the demands
of Waddell’s programme. And
both of her children contracted
tonsillitis at the same time.
“There was always something
that was either compromised or
failing,” she admits.
Nevertheless, she persevered.
And in October 2016, she boarded
a flight to Chile.

Atacama
Shelley arrived in San Pedro de
Atacama, the race’s host town,
one week before the event was
due to start. She needed to get
used to being at high altitude.
“Breathing at 2 400m above sea
level was no joke,” she recalls. “It hit
me right away. I could barely walk!”

20 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 HUMAN RACE QUEEN OF THE DESERT

Within minutes of having started Slowly but surely, Shelley knew I’d crossed the finish line.”
the race, Shelley was gasping for became accustomed to the high ABOVE: Bolle, Shelley completed the Atacama
air. The dry heat caught many altitude and murderous terrain. and fellow Crossing in just over 58 hours,
runners Tina
novice runners unaware, as it She even began to enjoy the and Ginko, in 72nd place out of around 120
instantly evaporated the sweat on experience of coursing across with whom she runners who had started the race.
became firm
their skin. dunes, salt flats, canyons, rivers friends, make She crossed the finish line hand in
“It was as though everybody and sandy Inca paths. their way past hand with her ‘desert sister’, Tina –
was covered in white salt.” Her favourite leg was the Los Ojos a fellow participant Shelley met at
(‘The Eyes’).
Physically, the race was infamous ‘Long March’ (77km). the race and bonded with.
gruelling. On day two, Shelley “I was walking through the Physically, Shelley felt wrecked:
reached her lowest ebb. desert, at night, with only the hungry, sleep-deprived, filthy. A
“It seemed to go on forever. I’d stars in the sky to keep me three-year-old hip injury had flared
see the tips of camp flags in the company. Acknowledging where up again.
distance, and think I’m close! But I was and what I was doing was But none of that mattered.
when I reached the top of the next the most profound experience I’ve “It had taken 20 months of hard
hill, I’d see seven more just like it.” ever had.” work to get to that point,” she
When Shelley finally reached Family and friends followed her says. “I was struck dumb.”
the camp, fellow South African feat closely, via updates from race
Dirk Diemont was pacing up and organisers, and through her sister Fitter, faster, stronger
down at the day two finish line. He Natalie’s Facebook shares. Afterwards, Shelley took a three-
was waiting for her. “Eligh woke up at 3am (South month sabbatical from running,
“When I saw his friendly face, African time) each morning, to to allow her body to recover.
I burst into tears!” she remembers check if I’d reached the camp. He “At first, I worried I would lose
fondly. sat there on tenterhooks until he all that fitness.”
But since taking her break,
Shelley has returned to running
stronger, fitter and faster.
“The other day, I ran 20km – just
like that!”
Her running performance
The Atacama Crossing: Fast Facts wasn’t the only thing that changed
in Atacama.
• T he Atacama Crossing is one of the main events in the 4 Deserts “All the time I spent, either alone
Race Series, together with the Gobi March in China, the Sahara or having intense, meaningful
Race (currently run in Namibia) and the Last Desert in Antarctica. conversations, caused me to
• Each race covers 250km, over seven days, and is self-supported: reflect on my life.
only water and a tent are provided. “I came back from the desert
• It’s considered one of the world’s most prestigous endurance races. a completely different person. I
• In 2010, South African trail legend Ryan Sandes became the first can’t do mundane or mediocre
runner to win all four races. anymore. Next on my bucket list
• For more information about the series, visit 4deserts.com. are the Gobi and Sahara races. I’m
completely hooked!”

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF 4DESERTS.COM SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 21

 HUMAN RACE RUN IT OFF CLUB
Worth
His
Weight
I RAN
OFF
In Gold
4 KG!
8 An engineer
ran it off – and
reaped the
health and
performance
benefits.
The Wake-Up
I was neither a fat nor a skinny
kid – sometimes I was heavy
for no apparent reason, but I
also went through periods of
my life where I was slimmer,
because I had to walk or
run long distances to farm
schools. When I became
an adult, I started a job,
got married and had kids.
Life became comfortable,
and I indulged in and
enjoyed unhealthy food and
takeaways.
I visited the doctor with
a minor ailment, but after
checking my vitals he told
me my blood pressure
was dangerously high.
The doctor recommended
I reduce my salt and red
meat intake, and introduce
healthier alternatives
like veggies and fruit. He
also advised me to start
exercising.
22 HAVE YOU RUN OFF SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT AND CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
SHOW US YOUR BEFORE-AND-AFTER USING #RWIRANITOFF ON INSTAGRAM
OR TWITTER, OR EMAIL YOUR STORY TO RWLETTERS@MEDIA24.COM.
The Shake-Up
I had just moved jobs,
which didn’t make sticking
to training easy. But when
a new gym opened up in
Witbank, offering more
affordable rates, I saw it as
an opportunity to enlist the
help of a personal trainer
there. I also made use of a
circular running track inside
the gym. Losing my first
15kg was motivating.
My friend Lucas had been
road running for a couple of
years, and convinced me to
join him. And the rest, as they
say, is history: I have since run
three Comrades (PB: 9:15.14).
The Reward
I’m training for a sub-9:00
Comrades. The benefits
have been huge: before I
started running, I suffered
from back pain that became
so bad, I even considered
buying a new bed.
Besides having banished
back pain for good, I don’t
get sick as often now, my
blood pressure has returned
to normal, and I’m full of
energy. And now I’ve reached
my goal weight, my focus
has shifted to improving my
running performance.
All this was made
possible by controlling what
I eat – including protein and
low-GI food in my diet – and
becoming active. Here’s to the
(better) second half of my life! –
AS TOLD TO LISA ABDELLAH
Thokozani
Buthelezi
Age: 40
Home Town:
Pietermaritzburg
Height: 1.83m
Occupation:
Metallurgical
Specialist
Time Required:
3.5 Years
Then: 124kg
Now: 76kg
PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED

Because running isn’t just about string vests.
EXHIBITIONIST
Can I take my shirt off
on a group run, even
though the weather
isn’t that hot yet? –
SHANE, DURBANVILLE
Why do you want to take
your shirt off, if it’s not
that hot yet? Do you suffer
from a genuine medical
condition such as Uhthoff’s
phenomenon, which causes
your body to overheat? Are
you running in the mountains,
or through the centre of
town? Are your nipples so
majestic that the rest of the
world needs to witness their
glory? Do you have a tattoo
of a flatulent dragon on your
back that you want to take
for a test flight?
Deep down, you know
the answers. For the most
part, taking your shirt off
is unnecessary. Today’s
running garments are light,
moisture-wicking, and
designed to keep you as dry
as possible, without weighing
you down. And besides, it’s
not even a good idea in very
hot conditions, because you’ll
expose yourself to harmful
rays; and in winter, the sweat
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY REMENTER
HUMAN RACE
The Singlet
on your skin can get cold
quickly. So, I’ll ask you again:
why do you really want to
take your shirt off?
SPEAK TO THE WIND
When I meet runners,
they always ask
me about pace,
mileage and PBs, but
I don’t want to talk
numbers. How can
I respond without
being rude? – JOAN,
EAST LONDON
One of my favourite Instagram
accounts is a bloke called
@ultraromance. He’s a
vagabond cyclist who criss-
crosses the USA with a ragtag
“I spoke to the east wind this morning,
flew on the wings of a Pel’s Fishing Owl…”
bunch of cycling hippies, riding
through beautiful landscapes
and basically living free of most
of the structures the rest of us
are encumbered with.
A cycling holy man – think
Eddy Merckx, spliced with
Hansel from Zoolander – this
guy rides for the sheer joy
of it. Ask him about pace,
mileage and PBs, and he’ll
probably respond with: “I
spoke to the east wind this
morning, flew on the wings
of a Pel’s Fishing Owl; and
yes, I love peanut butter, my
child – probably too much.”
My point: you don’t have
to go to the extreme of
abandoning your family to
traverse SA like the running
equivalent of @ultraromance,
in order to unsubscribe from
the PBs, pace and mileage
gang. If you run for different
reasons, talk about those
when people ask you inane
questions about stats and
times. If they think it’s rude,
then see how they like being
showered with random,
competitive, nonsensical
questions.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 23
ASK THE TRAIL STAR
Ryan Sandes
I’m buying my
first pair of trail-
running shoes.
Any advice?
– ADRIAN, KNYSNA
A comfortable fit is vital.
Attend a demo-run event,
where you can test various
models.
Personally, I look for
flexibility – shoes that move
and adjust their shape
as my feet move over
technical terrain. With all the
lightweight materials on the
market these days, it’s easy
to find a nimble pair.
Another thing to consider
is the ‘drop’, which is the
difference in height between
the heel and toe. If you’ve
been training injury-free in
your road-running shoes,
then it makes sense to find
a pair of trail-running shoes
with a similar drop. A 7mm or
8mm drop works best for me.
The midsole needs to be
responsive, in order for you
to receive feedback from
the trail. So the shoe should
be neither too hard nor too
soft and spongy; but the
upper and outer sole of the
shoe should be hardwearing
enough to handle tough,
technical terrain.
Your forefoot should have
room to spread out in the toe
box, but not so much so that
the shoe feels clumsy – on
technical trails, you want your
footing to be confident and
precise. Lastly, buy shoes
with good grip, so that you
don’t slip on muddy, wet and
rocky trails.
Ryan Sandes, a.k.a. ‘Hedgie’, is
the 2017 Western States 100-Miler
champion.

Dog
Lessons
Running with a dog
can be one of the
most rewarding
experiences.
Trail runner Sue
Ullyett has been
doing it for years…
RUNNING IS GOOD FOR US, we know that; but
it’s also good for our four-legged friends.
The best way to stay motivated is to
have someone reliable to run with – so
why not your dog? They’re always happy
to see you, they get really, really excited
to head out the door, and they won’t let
you down like a training partner might on
a cold winter’s morning.
24 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
You get your fix, and your pooch gets
some exercise at the same time.
No, not all dogs are built for running;
but most healthy dogs love it, even if
it’s only for a couple of kilometres. Still,
whether you’re a parkrun newbie or a
committed marathoner, there are a few
things you need to think about first.
1. Make sure your dog’s up for it
You can’t go from the couch to a half
marathon in one session, so don’t expect
your dog to. They need to be eased into it.
Start off short and slow – perhaps
around the block, or to your nearest park
– and gradually build up to longer runs
once they get fitter. The average dog can
run between three and 10km, so keep that
in mind when planning your routes.
You may also want to check with your
vet first, just to be certain. Dogs such as
bulldogs, pugs and most Kardashian-
handbag breeds are better off going for an
easy walk rather than a run. And be careful
with older dogs, as they can develop
injuries and joint pain just like we do.
HUMAN(?) RACE WOOF!
On the other hand, shepherds, terriers
and retrievers love to run, and some
breeds (such as vizslas and the Africanis)
can go for days. Use common sense: if
you’re heading out for four hours on the
mountain, don’t take your sausage dog!
2. Choose dog-friendly routes
I always head for the forest or park, and
minimise time on the road – for both of
us. Running on the road can hurt your
dog’s paws, making them raw and sore.
On a warm summer’s day, too, it helps
to stay off the road and stick to grass
and dirt paths. Dogs overheat quickly,
and will often keep going even if they’re
hot or exhausted. They also only sweat
through their paws, and cool down
through their tongues.
Plus, they’re running in a fur coat – so
don’t take them with you on a hot day.
Always run with water, or make sure
there’s lots around for them to drink (or
plunge into, as is the case with my Roxie).
3. Pack runs and leashes
Make sure your dog is well socialised
and used to other dogs and people,
particularly if you’re running in a group or
an organised event. Check your dog can
walk properly on a loose leash before you
take it running with you. Make sure the
leash is comfortable, and doesn’t cause
chafe – a chain leash is not a good idea.
I’ve trained Roxie to run on-lead, and it
works well, apart from when she’s tired or
1
when she spots a squirrel – then I either
run with my arm way behind me, or have
it almost dislocated from its socket.
It’s way more fun for both parties if you
can take them to a place where they can
run freely. But dogs are easily distracted
by other dogs, squirrels, even smells; so
make sure they will come back to you
2
when you call or whistle.
4. Pick up after your dog
When you gotta go, you gotta go – and
it’s the same for your pooch. Always have
a few small plastic bags tied onto the
leash, and pick up after your dog. There’s
3 nothing worse than stepping in it, so be
mindful of others around you!
P H OTO G R A P H B Y S U E U L LY E T T ( R OX I E )
Remember, the whole reason you’re
doing this is to have fun – and to get fit,
4 but try and learn a few things from your
dog too. The joy, when they see you
putting on your shoes – have that same
enthusiasm for your training session.
Roxie goes mental, and I can’t help but
take some of that energy on board!
PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAN LAURÉNZ

Just One
More
When your body
tries to tell you
something, listen.
You ignore it at
your peril.
BY SOLLY MALATSI
I DON’T RECALL the exact moment I
sustained my injury. I’d just finished
a 20km run, on a glorious day in
February; there had been no crack
or niggle. My preparation for the
Comrades had been going well,
and I already had a sub-four-hour
qualifying marathon in the bag.
But later that day, I felt a stinging
pain in my right shin. I tested it out at
my workplace by walking from the
ground floor to the fifth – and it hurt.
To be on the safe side, I called my
26 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
HUMAN RACE LIFE AND TIMES
physiotherapist to explain what had
happened, and booked a session for
the following day. My only concern
then was that this was the first time
my right leg had acted up.
“Don’t run until I’ve assessed
the damage,” she warned. “It could
be worse than it feels. Don’t take
chances, Solly.”
Half-heartedly, I promised her: I
wouldn’t run.
But I was only 11km away from
reaching my February target of
300km. All I needed was one more
run. Just one more. Giving up when
I was that close to a significant
milestone would have been
tantamount to pulling defeat from the
jaws of victory.
So the following morning, I took a
painkiller before my run, to minimise
the pain. I also made a concerted effort
not to think about my discomfort.
The first kilometre was fine. So was
the second, and the third.
According to my pace watch, I
was averaging 6.30/km, which by my
standards was slow. Nonetheless, I
was happy with my discipline.
But by the fourth kilometre, that
stinging sensation in my shin had
returned. And it was potent. Still,
either relentless fortitude or reckless
resilience made me persist to the fifth
kilometre.
But it was becoming abundantly
clear that I had inflicted more
damage to my shins: now, the pain
was excruciating. Every step stung.
Change of plan
“Just get to six kays,” I whispered to
myself, in consolation. “Then rest for a
while, and then jog back to the gym.”
I walked and jogged. But by the
time I got there, I was in devastating
pain. I couldn’t run at all, let alone
reach my monthly milestone.
Sometimes, novice runners make
the mistake of ignoring the warning
signs their bodies send them. They
see resting as giving up, a sign of
weakness – or in my case, defeat.
Mental strength is a rare skill,
yet all athletes must have it to
realise their athletic goals. But the
hard work, loneliness, discipline
and indefatigable hunger for self-
improvement it takes to push for
“…the guilt-ridden knowledge that
I was putting my body at risk…”
faster times and longer distances
often makes it hard for us to accept it
when our bodies fail to respond.
My body needed rest, and I should
P H OTO G R A P H S U P P L I E D ( S O L LY M A L AT S I ) ; I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y M A R K A R E N D S E
have been mentally strong enough to
skip that run; because deep down, I
knew, lay the guilt-ridden knowledge
that I was putting my body at risk of
long-term physical damage.
There was bad news. My
physiotherapist diagnosed a severe
stress fracture. She recommended
that I undergo a dual-phase bone
scan on both tibias.
Devastatingly, it revealed that I
had indeed sustained a stress fracture
on the distal third of my right tibia
– one so severe that the only way it
could heal was if I spent six weeks on
Solly Malatsi is a
Member of Parliament crutches, and abstained from running
for three months.
and one of ASICS
South Africa’s Which turned out, in the end, to be
Frontrunner athletes. the longest three months of my life…
You
Tube

Fat-Shaming
for Guys
Men are not immune.
BY PETER SAGAL
BACK IN MAY, women’s athleticwear
company Oiselle started a campaign
encouraging women to embrace
their bodies, no matter what their
shape. This brought back a memory
for company founder and CEO, Sally
Bergesen. She posted it on Twitter:
“‘Keep eating like that and you’re
going to be a butterball’,” quoting a many women themselves – judged
male relative, when she was 12.
She then invited women to share
their own stories of body commentary, aware that we men are not immune to
cutting and kind, using the hashtag
#TheySaid. A torrent of responses
28 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
HUMAN RACE ROAD SCHOLAR
ensued. “‘You have such
a pretty face. It’s a pity
you’re so fat. No man
will ever marry you.’ –
My mother”. “‘You’re
so skinny; what could
you possibly be upset
about?’ – girls at my
school”. “‘When we’re
done having kids, we’ll
nip that, tuck that, and
lift those.’ – my ex-
husband on the last day
he ever saw me unclothed”.
I read these with a kind of
rueful horror. While I completely
understood how terrible this all
was, I wasn’t surprised. I live in this
world, too. I have daughters. I have
lived with and loved women. And I
have, like everybody else – including
them on how close their bodies came
to an impossible ideal. But I’m also
imposed standards of physique, either.
In the privacy of their bathrooms,
people of both sexes stare at mirrors
and contemplate where they have
fallen short – or more often, exceeded
the allowable margins. I wondered:
what is being said to men about our
bodies, and who is speaking?
Mostly, it’s not other men. Many
#TheySaid responses cited things
said by other women, because in our
culture, women constantly conduct
what academic literature calls ‘fat
talk’, in which they critique their
weight, physique, diet, present failures
and future hopes. Men: not so much.
As Northwestern University, US,
psychology professor Renee Engeln
once put it: “Men talk about body
dissatisfaction when they’re eating
and when they’re at the gym. Women
talk about body dissatisfaction when
they’re talking.”
But that doesn’t mean men aren’t
listening, mostly to the megaphone
of culture. Women have always been
compared to different physical ideals,
varying by culture and era, from Peter
Paul Rubens’ plump ladies to Twiggy’s
bony ’60s style to Gal Gadot as
Wonder Woman, an eternally shifting
array of standards similar only in their
unattainability. For men, though, it’s
only been in the last 30 years that
a cultural bodily ideal has become
fantastical. In 1934’s It Happened
“Today, Clark Gable
would be playing the lead’s
nerdy best friend.”
One Night, Clark Gable takes off his
shirt to reveal a distinctly untoned,
slightly hairy chest – and far from
ending his career, that image was so
sexually charged that men all over
America allegedly stopped buying
undershirts. Fast forward to the 2017
movie Baywatch, in which Zac Efron,
playing a ‘former Olympic swimmer’,
has muscular arms, bulging pecs, and
ripped abs – yet looks scrawny next
to his co-star, Dwayne ‘The Rock’
Johnson. Today, Clark Gable would
be playing the lead’s nerdy best friend.
While women are told they must
be thin – with a growing emphasis on
Peter Sagal is a muscle tone and athleticism – for men,
3:09 marathoner body anxiety is far more focused on
and TV host. muscularity and size, and it starts early.
ILLUSTRATION BY MARK MATCHO
 One study of male action figures shows
Shoes
RUNNER BY THE NUMBERS
that their plastic physiques have pumped up
over the last 35 years. My 1970s Spider-Man Running gear has evolved and diversified: style
Halloween costume was a plastic face mask has become more scientific, and sport-specific
and smock; today it’s a fibrefill-padded torso hijabs have caused a stir. But ask any runner
with built-in abs and bulging biceps. what their most important item of kit is, and
For men, even if fat isn’t the mark of the answer will always be the same: shoes.
shame it is for women, it still says lazy, goofy, A Runner’s World survey in which 500
readers took part revealed we don’t all
the comic relief rather than the hero. Even treat our running shoes the same – and
pudgy movie stars – Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill – most of us don’t own a walk-in closet
eventually appear in gossip rags showing off packed to the rafters with colour-
new, lean bodies. If the old mark of success coordinated pairs.

1-3
was a Wall Street belly filling out a R50 000
suit; now it’s the Silicon Valley flat stomach
riding a R50 000 carbon-fibre bike. To be a
fat man is to be seen as, essentially, unserious.

It is a terrible thing to be shamed, by

the culture or your partner or your parent
or yourself, because your body does not THE NUMBER OF PAIRS OF RUNNING
fit some preposterous ideal. But for some SHOES 336 READERS SAY THEY OWN.
of us, whatever dark reason we began

Thirteen
our journey, we got to a bright place – be
it a mountain top, or the finishing chute
of a marathon. To this day, I still hear
an internal voice telling me I should be of our readers own seven to 10 pairs.
bigger, stronger, leaner. I’m resigned

62%
to never being able to shut it up. But at

21
the same time, I’m a lot healthier and
happier than when I first responded to
that pressure by starting to run 35 years
ago. Would I be happier still had I never
felt the urge, however insidious, to try Readers clean
to remake myself in the pursuit of an their shoes after
every run.
impossible ideal?
I put it to Bergesen: would she rather

162
have never heard those comments, if that OF OUR READERS
meant she never would have achieved what ARE BRAND-LOYAL.
she has? “If body shaming was the only way
I would find and love running, then yeah,

103
I would take the lumps,” she responded.
“But I don’t believe they’re cause and effect. Readers clean their shoes
two to five times a year.
For me, the bigger draw to running was
the ability to get healthy and recover from

95
substance abuse, particularly alcohol.” Readers
In fact, she said, internalised body didn’t even
dysmorphia – an obsession with perceived Readers either don’t know they
or aren’t able to had to clean
imperfections – hindered her in her decision rotate their shoes. their shoes!
to start running and re-assert control over her

302
life. She came to realise that running would
benefit her, for good and real reasons; but to
get there, she had to put aside false ones.
P H OTO G R A P H B Y JA M E S G A R AG H T Y ( S H O E )

So my presumed bargain is, in fact, no

bargain at all. The purpose of running is
not to become like anyone else – an actor,
a Greek statue – but to become a healthier,
stronger, and happier version of yourself.
To tell anyone – men or women or yourself
– anything else will not help them get there.
In fact, it will hold them back; because to ask
the impossible of anyone, most especially READERS ROTATE BETWEEN ONE AND THREE PAIRS.
yourself, is to guarantee failure.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 29

10km PEACE RUN

10 KM ENTER NOW
PEACE RUN / WALK
17th September 2017 • START TIME 07H10 • CUT-OFF TIME 1HOUR 50MIN
www.sanlamcapetownmarathon.com
 PERSONAL BEST TRAINING 34
FUEL 42
GEAR 45

Long runs
that make
up 20 to 30
per cent of
your weekly
volume build
endurance
and mental
grit.
So go long!

THIS MONTH Go Long

PHOTOGRAPH BY MILES WEAVER SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 31
PERSONAL BEST GO LONG

32 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPHS BY MILES WEAVER

 Key
The whistle shrills a few times, Workout
and Coach Andrew Kastor shouts,
“Line ’em up!” The Mammoth Who
Track Club – including American Mammoth Track
marathon record holder Deena Club
Kastor and Greek 10 000-metre
Olympian Alexi Pappas – finishes What
their warm-up. It’s Friday, which 10km to 15km at
means the workout is a long tempo tempo pace (the
run – and that means they’re on the hardest pace you
legendary ‘Green Church Road’. can hold for about
Located near Mammoth Lakes, 40 to 60 minutes)
California, at 2 134m above sea level, with a group (see
Benton Crossing Road is nicknamed next page)
for the green church that sits at its
intersection with Highway 395. The Why
club began training here shortly It teaches your body
after Deena, Meb Keflezighi (now a how to process
three-time Olympic marathoner), the byproducts of
and coaches Joe Vigil and Bob a hard effort, and
Larsen founded the group in 2001. your mind how to
“Both Larsen and Vigil believed handle prolonged
the most important workout was discomfort.
the weekly tempo run,” says Kastor,
who is Deena’s husband. “To get the When
stimulus they wanted, they needed a Weekly, gradually
location that was relatively flat, with increasing the
minimum traffic.” distance until you
Green Church Road meets those begin tapering for
standards – and offers a wide bike your goal race.
lane to keep pacers and runners Reduce mileage
safe. Deena, Keflezighi, and Ryan every third week for
Hall trained here prior to the US recovery.
championship and record-breaking
races. Before Keflezighi left for the How
Athens Olympics, his bike pacer gave Run 3km to 5km with
him a chunk of asphalt from the road the group at an easy
as a good luck charm. It worked: pace to warm up, and
Keflezighi returned with a silver then perform strides
medal. The road has hosted workouts and drills. Determine
ever since. about how long it

THE ROAD
Because the run is structured to will take each runner
allow the whole team to finish at to complete that
about the same time, the women line day’s distance, then
stagger the start so

TO GLORY
up while the men spend a few more
minutes shaking out their legs. Saudi everyone finishes
Arabian Olympic marathoner Sarah around the same
Attar sets off first, pushing the pace as time. Run at a hard

Scores of pros have she fades into the distance. As Deena but sustainable effort

used this famous and Pappas approach the line, Deena as you focus on
catching the runners
route – and this long looks over her shoulder at her male
teammates, the jagged peaks of the in front of you and
tempo workout – to Eastern Sierra behind them. “Catch evading those behind
elevate their game. me if you can,” she says, and takes off. you. High-five your
friends, then run
BY MONICA PRELLE
three to five easy
kays to cool down.

Members of the Mammoth Track Club on ‘Green Church Road’. From left: Alexi Pappas, Daniel
Tapia, Deena Kastor, Sarah Attar, Reid Buchanan, and Coach Andrew Kastor.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 33

 PERSONAL BEST GO LONG

BUILD YOUR OWN CREW

You don’t need to be part of an elite club to reap the benefits of long efforts with others.
BY JESSICA MIGALA

DO Find running buddies whose

Rotate
leadership.
Forsman suggests
naming two or
three ‘captains’ who
rotate planning and
organising duties
between them, from
pace is close to yours, or
you’ll increase your injury
risk. You’ll know the pace
is too slow if it throws off
your natural gait, Maurer
says. To ensure you’re
not running too fast, you
DON’T should be able to carry on a

DO
one week to the next.
The captain creates Change conversation. (Runners with
time goals may work race-

Find the route and leads

the crew through it. your pace kilometres into some
long runs, and you may not

enough
( Things to keep in
mind, says Forsman: pace. be able to speak easily during
those, Forsman says.)

friends.
safety for a group of
pedestrians, ease of
navigation, toilets
If you’re assembling a group, enlist
along the way, and
at least three running buddies, says
course difficulty.) If
Kelly Maurer, director of training
the route lacks water
for Charm City Run – that way,
fountains, the captain
you’ll have at least one person to run
may also drop coolers
with if the snooze button or a sick
with water and sports
kid sidelines part of your group. Or
drink on the course,
you can join an existing run in your
or let the group know
area to ensure you’re never flying
that they should bring
solo. “Being in the company of fellow
their own fluids. He or
runners makes it easier to manage
she is also in charge DON’T
the inevitable mental and physical
of carr ying a fully Force
fatigue that accompanies a long
charged cell phone, in multiple stops. DON’T
run,” says running coach Matthew The night before or the morning Wear
case of emergency.
Forsman. Find a group through a of a group run is not a good headphones.
local running club or sports shop, or time to push the boundaries The point of running
via Facebook. of what agrees with you, says with friends is to
Maurer. If you have go-to safe talk to them. And if
meals, choose those. If you you’re with a group of
don’t, avoid spicy foods or strangers, it’s still worth
anything high in fat or fibre – chatting: “Runners
common culprits when there learn from other
are tummy troubles. Your group runners,” Maurer says.
will probably stop to rest, but You have a common
do your part to prevent the interest, so ask what
need for frequent, urgent ones. races your companions
are training for, their
favourite places to run
DO locally, and so on – you
Designate when. might discover a new
If you’re organising a group, pick a day and time and stick to it (e.g. Saturday at event or route. In any
7am) to eliminate confusion from the start: “Everyone can put it on their schedule case, carrying on a
and prioritise it, like any other appointment,” says Maurer. If members of the group conversation helps the
live on opposite sides of town, either choose a mutually agreed upon place in the kilometres pass
middle as the meet-up spot, or alternate starting points every other week. more quickly.

34 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017 ILLUSTRATIONS BY RADIO

 PERSONAL BEST GO LONG

BEGINNERS

DOUBLE
DIGITS?
SWEET!
How to work
your way up
past 10km and
far beyond.
BY JEFF GALLOWAY

When you need two

numerals instead of one to
log how far you’ve run in
a single outing, you’ve hit
a major milestone: many
recreational runners never
make it that far. The reason
you should bother striving for
more than 10 – beyond the
bragging rights – is that going
long, no matter how slowly
you’re moving, is the best
way to increase endurance.
More endurance often means
faster race finishes. And 1. Build wisely. 2. Move slowly. 3. Add fuel. 4. Recover right.
long, aerobic efforts can help Plan on doing a Your long-run pace On your long-run days, Have a snack (a good
you lose weight and keep it long run every other should be about 75 if you’ll be out for more 1 000 kilojoules) with
weekend, adding no seconds per kilometre than an hour or so, carbs and protein
off. Trouble is, if you go too more than 1km each slower than your have a sweet snack of within 30 minutes
far, too soon, too fast, you time. In between, shorter-run pace. 120 to 160 kilojoules of completing your
could end up injured. Here’s maintain fitness by If you usually run every 3km. A few wine run. To soothe tired
how to join the 10-Plus Club running or run- continuously, take walk gums or jelly babies muscles, consider
without getting hurt. walking for at least breaks (30 seconds work well. Make sure soaking your legs
30 minutes every after every minute of to wash snacks down in a bath filled with
other day. On long- running) on long runs. with sips of water, and cool water. Log an
run days, choose a If you use a run-walk drink more whenever additional 2 000
Jeff Galloway route that loops past strategy the rest of the you feel thirsty. to 4 000 steps of
is a 10 000-metre Olympian and your car or home week, shorten the run walking after you’ve
T H E P R O B L E M I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y JAY W R I G H T

well-known coach who promotes the so you can stop for periods and lengthen finished your run, to
run-walk method. water and snacks. the walk periods to prevent soreness in
go long. the following days.

The Problem The Fix with music or a podcast (at a safe, low
I find my short runs Running with friends is the surest volume). Do some mental maths. Compose
boring. How will I ever solution, but only if you’re comfortable a poem. Your brain might just need time
survive a long one? holding the same pace. Beyond that, to remember how to daydream. Once it
experiment: try different routes. Run does, time will pass much faster.

ILLUSTRATION BY RAMI NIEMI SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 35

 FAST LANE

QUAD
GOALS
A strong finish
depends on
how well your
leg muscles
can handle a
beating.
BY ALEX HUTCHINSON

36 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 PERSONAL BEST GO LONG

At the 2012 Madrid Marathon, Spanish researchers recruited 40 runners

to undergo a battery of tests immediately before the race, and again within three
minutes of finishing. The goal was to understand why so many runners fade in the final
kilometres of long events. When the results were tabulated, none of the usual suspects
– dehydration, high core temperature, low blood sugar, and so on – could explain which
runners faded the most. Instead, the best predictor was muscle damage.
With each stride, your quadriceps and calf muscles undergo ‘eccentric’ contractions:
momentum forces the muscles to lengthen, even as you try to shorten them to push
off again. This produces a steady accumulation of microscopic damage to the muscle
fibres. It’s well known that this damage causes the infamous next-day soreness after
a marathon, but the Spanish study showed that it can also hobble you during the race.
Runners whose pace dropped by more than 15 per cent from the beginning to the end
of the race had levels of creatine kinase and myoglobin – both byproducts of muscle
damage that can be measured in blood tests – that were 53 and 112 per cent higher,
respectively, than in those who maintained a steadier pace.
It’s tempting to assume that the faders simply didn’t train as much as the maintainers.
But age, experience, and training were not able to explain the differences, according to
Juan Del Coso, the study’s lead author. In research published earlier this year, Del Coso
and his colleagues showed that genes play a role in how susceptible you are to muscle
damage. Still, he says, there are some countermeasures that can help battle-proof your
leg muscles before a long race.

1 2
Go Far
Among the many benefits
of a regular long run is
that it generates the kind
of damage you want to
avoid in the race itself.
Thanks to a phenomenon
called the ‘repeated bout
effect’, triggering muscle
damage even once
leaves those muscles less
susceptible to damage the
next time. The catch? Del
Coso believes you need to
include at least one long
P H OTO G R A P H B Y G A L LO I M AG E S / G E T T Y I M AG E S
Go Heavy
Another way to build up
your ability to tolerate
eccentric muscle damage
is with resistance training.
Do lower-body strength
exercises such as squats
and weighted lunges
twice a week during your
training cycle, cutting back
to once a week during
your taper. For maximum
damage protection, Del
Coso suggests including
3
Go Down
If you’re preparing for a
long trail race, you’ll face
the double whammy of
distance and downhills,
which amplify the
damaging effects of
eccentric contractions.
Levels of creatine kinase
after the 170km Ultra-Trail
du Mont-Blanc race, for
example, averaged more
than 13 000 units per litre,
compared with just 564 in

weights of at least 80 per the ‘high damage’ group

run that’s relatively close
to marathon pace – and
a half marathon isn’t long
enough. Schedule a 30-K
run at close to marathon
pace about four weeks
before a marathon, or else
do an extended warm-up
before a half marathon (or
an extended cooldown
a f t e r, i f t h e l o g i s t i c s
are easier).
cent of the heaviest load
you can lift – but be sure
th a t yo u ’ ve m a s te r e d
the correct form and
movements before
you at tempt any thing
this heavy.
at the Madrid Marathon.
In addition to resistance
training, make sure to run
plenty of downhills (on
a treadmill if necessary),
simulating the gradient,
distance, and pace of the
race. Experiment with
your stride to find ways
of descending as lightly
as possible, perhaps by
increasing your cadence.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 37

 ASK RW Whatever your
question, here’s the
answer. Better than
the internet!
TRAINING
Are both
warm-ups and
cooldowns
necessary
for easy
runs?
Warming up is always a good
idea – you’ll run more efficiently,
with less injury risk, if you prime
your muscles and joints with pre-run
movement. Start with five minutes
of mobility drills: the lunge matrix, in
which you lunge forward, to the side,
and backward with each leg, plus
front-to-back and side-to-side leg
swings. Then ease into your run with
10 minutes of slow jogging. Cooling
down isn’t as critical, as long as you
follow your run with simple strength
exercises (such as planks, push-ups,
and single-leg squats) that can build
more resilient muscles, meaning
they’ll feel stronger during your
workouts – and less sore after them.
– Jay Johnson, coach of university,
professional, and adult runners
FUEL
I only have 10 minutes to
prepare a post-run snack.
What should I make?
No matter how long you run, you need to refuel with carbs,
fat, and protein within 30 to 45 minutes, to replenish glycogen
stores and repair muscles. Try a smoothie with yoghurt or milk
for protein; nut butter, avocado, or chia seeds for fat; and
your favourite fruits for carbs. Or have toast with a banana
and peanut butter, or an egg sandwich with spinach and salsa.
– registered dietician Anne Mauney
38 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
RACING
Do I need to taper
before a tune-up race?
Do a mini-taper only if you intend to
push the pace (to get an idea of how
fit you are, or to practise goal race
pace). In the week before race day,
cut mileage by 20 to 30 per cent,
and stick to easy runs after Monday
or Tuesday. You’ll also need time
to recover: take a few rest or easy
days post-race, and wait until
any soreness has subsided before
returning to hard training. – running
coach Randy Accetta
GEAR
How do I know when
it’s time to replace the
insoles in my running
shoes?
A few factors determine when it’s
time to replace: level of activity,
brand and material, runner
weight, and insole wear pattern.
The most important factor is
activity level (mileage). High-
mileage runners (more than 40km
per week) need to change insoles
every three to six months. Lower-
mileage runners should change
insoles every six to 12 months. I
recommend looking for damage,
cracking, tearing, and flattening
of the insole to determine when
to switch. – Bryon G.P. Butts,
owner of Performance Footcare
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y S E A N L AU R É N Z ( LU N G E ) ; G A L LO I M AG E S /G E T T Y I M AG E S ( TOA S T )
MIND + BODY
Should I try to nail my
workout after a night
of crappy sleep?
A night or two of tossing and turning
won’t throw you off too much, and
you may feel more alert that day
(and sleep better that night) if you
run. If you’re chronically deprived,
your body might shout “I give up!”
– and you must listen. Running
makes muscles, bones, and joints
stronger only when those parts can
regenerate after you’ve taxed them.
Sleep is critical to that process.
– Matthew Edlund, author of The
Power of Rest

FUEL
Do spices and herbs
have any nutritional
value?
Besides adding flavour to your
dishes, herbs and spices also have
many health benefits. Turmeric,
garlic, and cinnamon may lower
or maintain blood pressure and
cholesterol, and decrease your
risk of heart disease. They also
have antioxidant, antiviral, and
anti-diabetic properties. Don’t
sweat the kilojoules on these –
one teaspoon has fewer than 40
kilojoules. – Dr Lipi Roy, author of
the blog Spices for Life MD
TRAINING
How can I
get rid of an
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y G A L LO I M AG E S /G E T T Y I M AG E S ( PAS TA ); F E R D I N A N D VA N H U I Z E N ( E A R P H O N E S )
annoying
mid-run
earworm?
It’s hard to enjoy your workout
while ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’
plays on loop in your brain.
Unfortunately, running creates an
environment in which earworms
can flourish: you don’t need
to expend much cognitive
effort, which leaves your mind
susceptible to musical parasites.
Try running to a playlist you
enjoy, with the volume low
enough to hear what’s going on
around you. If you prefer to run
sans audio, have go-to songs you
can sing yourself (aloud or just
mentally) until they take over.
– Dr Ira Hyman, lead author of a
2013 study on earworms
FUEL
When
should
I start
carbo-loading?
Don’t eat three bowls of pasta the night
before a race­– you’ll feel stuffed and
sluggish. Your body can’t top off your muscle
stores in one meal, anyway. For a half or
full marathon, start increasing your carb
intake two or three days before the race; for
ultramarathons, three or four days. Why?
Your muscles convert carbs to glycogen,
which powers your runs. Spreading out your
intake will stock your muscles for race day.
Aim for ten grams of simple carbs – such
as white pasta and potatoes – per day for
every kilogram of body weight. – registered
dietician Monique Ryan
GEAR
How tight should
compression gear be?
Most quality manufacturers of compression
garments will provide detailed sizing charts
(based on your height, weight, limb segment
lengths, etc.). Use those to find the perfect
fit. In general, it should feel noticeably tight
but not painful or pinching. It won’t be as
comfortable as tracksuit pants! – Dr Abigail
Stickford, assistant professor, Department of
Health and Exercise Science at Appalachian
State University, US
ILLUSTRATION BY GARY TAXALI
ASK THE COACH
Lindsey Parry
Should I
increase my
cadence?
– CHLOE, CAPE TOWN
Elite athletes run at a cadence
of over 180bpm, and it’s
common practice to try to
emulate what they do.
There is theoretical evidence
that running at higher cadence
leads to athletes keeping
their position better over
their centre of mass, because
they’ve shortened their stride.
But to truly benefit from
increased cadence, you should
also maintain a longer stride,
which increases biomechanical
stress. If you can master
increased stride frequency,
while maintaining stride length
and moving over your centre of
mass, you’ll reduce the load on
your joints and some muscles.
But there’s also evidence to
show this increases load to
the soleus (calf) and achilles.
Therefore, any changes must
be made with caution.
Try shortening and
increasing cadence, both up
and down hills. This helps to
reduce force generation going
up, and the pounding on the
way down. Both will spare your
muscles and reduce fatigue.
That said – through many
years of trying to change both
my own cadence and that of
the athletes I coach, I’ve found
that a) it takes a long time, and
b) when under stress, we go
back to what works best for our
unique biomechanics anyway.
Lindsey Parry is a qualified
biokineticist, Two Oceans and
Comrades silver medallist, and 2:47
marathoner. Email him at lindsey@
coachparry.com.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 39
 PERSONAL BEST GO LONG

BODY SHOP

JIFFY
MOVES
Use yoga to
strengthen
and stretch
1. Boat Pose 5. Listing Boat Pose
Keeping your spine long and legs together, Return to your V-sit and rock onto your right
major come into a V-sit. For the easier version, bend glute. For more of a challenge, lower your legs
running your knees or keep your feet on the ground. and upper body closer to the ground. Hold for
muscles in Make it harder by straightening your legs and five to 10 breaths, then repeat on the left side.
a matter of lifting your arms. Hold for five to 15 breaths.
minutes.
BY SAGE ROUNTREE

You already know

that strong abs, hips,
2. Cross-Legged Forward Fold 6. Cobbler Pose
and back muscles help
Cross your ankles and fold your torso over Bring the soles of your feet to touch and lean
you run more efficiently
your legs, stretching your outer hips for 10 to forward, stretching your inner thighs for 10 to
with less risk of injury.
15 breaths. 15 breaths.
But time can be tight
– especially if you’re
ramping up mileage –
and when it feels like
something has to give,
strength-training is often
the first to go. Instead
of scrolling through
Facebook or Instagram
post-run, wind down with
this eight-pose, eight- to 3. Twisting Boat Pose 7. Bridge Pose
10-minute core routine, Return to your V-sit, and keeping your spine From your back, knees bent, press your hips
which targets all the long and legs together, exhale to twist to one up and your hands down, engaging your
layers of your abdominal side. Inhale to centre, then exhale to the other glutes and hamstrings while stretching your
muscles, back extensors, side. Continue for five to 10 rounds. hip flexors. Hold for 10 to 15 breaths.
and glutes. Slotted in
along the way are some
stretches to give you a
break and improve range
of motion in your hips.
The moves take only a
short time, but they’ll help
you log hours of injury-
free running. 4. Cross-Legged Forward Fold 8. Locust Y Jumping Jacks
Cross your ankles with the other shin in front, Roll to your belly and lift your arms, chest,
and fold your torso over your legs for another and legs off the floor. Move through slow
10 to 15 breaths. ‘jumping jacks’: inhale, spread your arms to
Sage Rountree (sagerountree.com)
is a running coach, yoga teacher, a Y, and squeeze your legs together; then
and author of The Athlete’s Guide to exhale, bring your arms together, and spread
Yoga (R350, exclusivebooks.co.za). your legs to a Y. Repeat five to 15 cycles.

40 SEE THESE EXERCISES IN MOTION AT PHOTOGRAPHS BY MITCH MANDEL

RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA/JIFFYMOVES.

THE
CASTER
SEMENYA
DEBATE
Top
performances,
based on focused
training and
recovery from
injury? I’m not
buying that.
The intersex-athlete issue
is one of the most controversial in
sport, and South African Caster
Semenya has been at the forefront
of it since she won the women’s
800 metres at the 2009 World
Championships.
The bungling of her case – first
by Athletics South Africa, and then
the IAAF – exposed us to the idea
that a person can be genetically
male or female, but for reasons
that usually relate to how the body
produces and uses hormones, they
develop as the opposite sex.
Made Male
The problem for sport is that this
person may be ‘partly androgenised’
– androgenisation being the
biological term for ‘made male’. That’s
what testosterone gives to boys at
puberty: deepening of the voice,
hair growth, a different shape of the
P H OTO G R A P H B Y G A L LO I M AG E S /G E T T Y I M AG E S
skeleton, increased muscle mass and
reduced body-fat percentage.
Some of those are irrelevant, for
sport; but low body-fat percentage and
increased muscle mass and strength
are a big deal for an athlete, and that’s
why the issue is controversial.
Testosterone gives men huge
performance advantages, which
is why the sexes are separated for
fairness at Olympic events.
For decades, authorities have
PERSONAL BEST THE SPORT SCIENTIST
doing ‘gender verification’ testing,
the IAAF had set an upper limit for
testosterone, since this was the root
cause of the perceived advantage.
Based on some testing of female
athletes, and data from men and
women, they decided on an upper
limit of 10nmol/L – any female
who had a T level above 10 would
have to take medication to lower it.
For reference, 99% of elite female
athletes have a T level below
3.1nmol/L, so the upper limit was
three times higher than 99% of
women’s testosterone.
That was the so-called
‘hyperandrogenism’ policy that
Chand challenged at CAS. She won.
CAS ruled that, at the time, there
was insufficient evidence to defend
what was a discriminatory rule
(because it applied to women only,
and European law came into it). CAS
gave the IAAF two years to look for
better evidence, and a more sound
argument, and that two-year period
has now expired.
The IAAF published their evidence
earlier this year in a scientific journal.
They showed that women with higher
levels of T (but still normal) had a
performance advantage of 2% to 5%
in some, but not all events.
Unfair
advantage: Previous IAAF evidence on this
Low body-fat had also showed that nine of the
percentage and women participating in the 2011 and
increased muscle 2013 World Championships were
mass and strength intersex, which is a considerably
are a big deal for higher proportion than you’d find
an athlete.
in the non-athletic world, further
suggesting a benefit.
Will That Be Enough?
grappled with whether these women Will that convince CAS that the policy
– who live in society as female, is needed? I doubt it. CAS made clear
so that is their gender – should in their previous decision that they
compete in women’s sport. were looking for a ‘large’ advantage,
That all came to a head in 2015, comparable to what men enjoy over
when an Indian intersex sprinter, women in sport. That’s around 10% to
Dutee Chand, went to the Court of 12%, so I think the IAAF evidence falls
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have short of that.
them overturn the IAAF policy that But who knows? I thought CAS
(at that time) required her to take were wrong the first time round, and it
medication to lower her testosterone wouldn’t surprise me if they changed
levels to compete. RW Scientific Editor their ruling now – for shaky reasons,
Dr Ross Tucker has given the legal process last time. If
a BSc (Med) (Hons)
The Upper Limit Exercise Science
they did, and those women with high T
After the Semenya debacle in Degree and PhD have to go back onto medication, then
2009, the IAAF had come up with from the Sports I’ve no doubt they’ll all slow
a new policy that would not expose Science Institute. down considerably.
women to the kind of invasive testing Visit him at www. The controversy, on the other
Semenya underwent. Instead of sportsscientists.com. hand, is unlikely to slow down.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 41
 FUEL

NATURAL
ENERGY
Make your
own bite-
sized fuel
for the
kilometres
ahead.
BY JESSICA MIGALA

Even when you consume energy chews, gels, and sports

drinks, your long run may leave you dragging in the twilight kays.
“On runs over 20 kilometres, carb-only fuel often leaves runners
1 2
hungry. Protein and fat take longer to digest, so adding them to the All About That Base Everything But
mix delivers more sustained energy to prevent crashing,” says Anne Aim for 1 to 1.5 parts nuts (almonds, the Kitchen Sink
Mauney, a dietician and marathoner. However, she also points out cashews, peanuts, walnuts, or a Add mix-ins to taste.
that fat and protein can cause GI distress mid-run, so it’s best to test mixture) to 1 part dried fruit (dates, Try shredded coconut,
alternate fuels on shorter runs first. raisins, apricots, and cranberries oats, dried goji berries or
Energy bites are trendy sources of fuel that are made with nuts, supply a hit of quick-burning carbs; blueberries, and hemp,
dried fruit, and flavour enhancers such as cocoa powder and tart cherries contain inflammation- chia, or sesame seeds. Use
shredded coconut. “It’s hard to mess these up,” says Mauney. reducing anthocyanin protein powders or nut
Blend your ingredients in a food processor, roll into balls, and store compounds). This ratio ensures butters for your post-run
in the fridge for your next run. If you can’t stomach fat or protein you don’t go too heavy on fat or energy bites.
mid-run, snack on these for recovery. fibre, which can weigh you down.

42 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017


3 4
P H OTO G R A P H B Y G A L LO I M AG E S /G E T T Y I M AG E S ( E N E R GY BA L L S )
Sugar ’n’ Spice
Enhance taste with honey,
which supplies sugar for
quick energy. Also try vanilla
extract, cocoa powder, citrus
zest, or spices (cinnamon,
nutmeg, turmeric). Instant
coffee or espresso
powder provides a tasty,
caffeinated boost.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MITCH MANDEL
Pump Up the Crunch
Fold in your favourite
texture boosters, like cacao
nibs or puffed brown rice
gluten-free cereal (R49,
wellnesswarehouse.com) – a
fan favourite, because it’s
easy on the stomach.
PERSONAL BEST GO LONG
5
Pass the Salt
You don’t have to go
overboard: Just a few shakes
will give your body the
sodium it needs to replenish
the electrolytes lost through
sweat.
To avoid squishing, pack your
bites into a ziptop bag and store
in your fuel belt.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 43
Distributor: Ultimo, Stonewedge Office Park, Ground Floor, Cnr William Nicol Drive & Wedgewood Link, Bryanston 011 785 4700 info@ultimo.co.za
 PERSONAL BEST GEAR

2017
SPRING
SHOE
BUYER’S
GUIDE

ROAD-RUNNING SHOES
ARE LIGHTER: ONLY
THREE OF THE SHOES
WE’VE TESTED THIS
SPRING WEIGH MORE
THAN 300G, AND SEVEN
WEIGH LESS THAN
250G. THAT’S BECAUSE
BRANDS SUCH AS UNDER
ARMOUR HAVE MADE
SHOES FROM THINNER,
STRONGER MATERIALS,
AND OTHERS SUCH AS
PUMA HAVE INTRODUCED
LIGHTWEIGHT BY RYAN SCOTT
CUSHIONING IN & DR MARTYN SHORTEN
THEIR FOAMS. PHOTOGRAPHS
BY JAMES GARAGHTY

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 45

PERSONAL BEST GEAR

New Balance Sonic Fuel Core

R2 200
It’s an all-new design and look from New
Balance. Most notably, the new BOA fit
system takes the place of traditional
lacing, much like the Puma Disc system
we saw re-introduced in 2016. Tightening
and adjusting the system for a specific
fit happens with a few clicking rotations
to lock the foot down securely and
comfortably, via an overlay strap.
(The two release mechanisms, at 180°
departures from each other, were a little
less user-friendly.) The rest of the shoe’s
impressive performance is reminiscent of
the NB Vazee Pace; so fans of that shoe
will definitely enjoy this new option,
which is also good for performance
training over all distances.
weight: 243g

46 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 SPRING SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE

“
Salomon S-Lab Sonic 2 R2 599
This season we’re taking note of Salomon’s
new Vibe technology, which – like
compression socks – is aimed at reducing
muscle vibration, to help avoid injury; but
at the same time, it increases energy
return. This happens in the midsole, where
TRADITIONAL TRAIL
soft, lightweight Opal cushioning interacts
with springy EnergyCell materials. This is
SHOE BRANDS SUCH
Skechers GOmeb Speed 4 R1 849
Firm and fast, the GOmeb Speed 4 is best
also the first Salomon shoe to include a
geometric decoupling mechanism, which
AS SALOMON AND
suited to tempo runs and road races –
though if you’re an efficient runner like
helps with a smoother ride as your foot
transitions. Endofit technology has been
HOKA NOW HAVE
Meb Keflezighi, you can get away with
racing a marathon in it. To create a
used to create a light, uncomplicated
upper, which offers high-performance
ESTABLISHED ROAD
snappy, go-fast feeling, Skechers uses
a thermoplastic plate embedded in the
road runners a secure fit. Testers found
the Sonic best suited to narrower feet.
SHOES.
midsole foam. That’s unchanged from the weight: 216g
earlier version, but just about everything
else you see has been updated. The
upper is now flat-knit with hot-melt yarn,
to provide a secure, comfortable fit. And
the sole is no longer the pillar design
that has marked Skechers shoes since
their launch. Instead, the sole makes full
ground contact and has a durable, 2mm-
thick web of rubber for traction on the
heel and forefoot. weight: 192g

Skechers GORUN 5 R1 499

Skechers stuck with ‘4’ as the model
number for two years, because tweaks
to the last version were too minor to
warrant a new digit. This year, some
smart updates have refined the fit and
underfoot feel of an already sound shoe.
An updated circular-knit upper brings the
materials closer to the foot, while ample
venting lets the shoe breathe – much as
we’re seeing with all of the engineered-
mesh uppers. Testers raved about the fit,
which remained comfortable even at the
end of a long run, when feet are swollen.
The bottom of the shoe also has a new
look, with a thin web of rubber replacing
the pods of earlier models. This gives
the shoe more surface contact with the
pavement. weight: 213g

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 47

 Altra Escalante R2 399
Testers raved about how comfortable
the Escalante felt; many declared it the
best Altra has built to date. Boasting
the company’s first flat-knit upper and
an all-new bouncy midsole compound,
the Escalante offers a responsive, go-
fast sensation in training. The new
midsole foam is about as springy as it
gets, returning more energy than the

48 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

adidas Supernova ST (which uses Boost)
GEAR

and the Saucony Ride 10 (which uses a

full-length layer of Everun). Long-time
Altra wearers will be happy to note that
the shoe shares a last (the foot-shaped
PERSONAL BEST

form that a shoe is constructed around)

with the Torin and the One, so you get a
familiar, comfortable fit. But it also has
the same stack height as the Instinct, for
a midrange level of protection and road
feel. weight: 227g
 SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 49
ACTUAL WIDTH: 128mm

“
CREATED TO LET
YOUR FOREFOOT
MOVE INTO ITS
NATURAL POSITION
ON IMPACT WITH
THE ROAD.
Salming En Route R2 720
The name may be brand-new in South
Africa, but this Swedish company has
been building shoes for court sports such
as touch rugby and squash for a long
time. Now they’ve turned to creating
unstructured, low-to-the-ground, firm
and lightweight running shoes – such as
the racy Salming Race 5, for PB-chasers.
This new En Route model has a more
mainstream form than some of the earlier
Salming road shoes, with a soft heel and
plastic torsion unit in the midfoot for added
structure. The midsole features Salming’s
version of a bouncy EVA. For a training and
long-distance shoe, it’s lightweight, and
the thin upper helps keep the foot cool.
weight: 255g

50 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017


Brooks Launch 4 R2 149
A peppy daily trainer from Brooks, the
Launch has a firm heel and flexible
forefoot that enables you to run fast
when the mood strikes. This update has
more blown rubber in the forefoot than
the previous version, delivering a softer
(and quieter) landing, while also shaving
off some weight. An extra flex groove up
front makes the shoe bend much more
easily for a shoe this thick, which helps
make the movement from heel to toe-off
a lot smoother, and more efficient and
agile. The transition area of the shoe has
a rigid, X-shaped band of rubber, which
provides torsional rigidity. weight: 218g
Asics FuzeX Lyte 2 R1 400
We’ve found a zippy shoe for those up-
tempo days when you feel you need the
shoes to match your speed, but which
will still give you versatility. The midsole
and outsole remain largely untouched
from the first version, delivering
moderately soft cushioning from heel
to toe. The upper, however, gets a new
mesh package that wear-testers reported
was roomy enough to remain comfortable
on long runs, but compliant enough to
be pulled tight if you have a narrower
foot. It’s not the traditional shape and
structure of the Asics shoes we know
so well, but this change in shape – with
a wider forefoot, and very few stability
features – will appeal to those looking to
run on a variety of surfaces. weight: 258g
SPRING SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE
“
Puma Speed 300 Ignite 2 R2 000
The toe-off point of the Speed Ignite
(which used to be the Faas 300 Speed)
has always been a distinguishing
THE SPEED 300
aspect of this shoe. When looking for
a smooth transition in the last point of
IS LIKELY TO
contact with the running surface, an
exaggerated upturn, like the one found
INCORPORATE THE
in the Propulsion Zone+ of this shoe, and
a little less foam from the midsole, help
NETFIT SYSTEM IN
to make the process more efficient. A
one-piece upper and longer lacing area
THE NEXT UPDATE.
help lock the foot down; but testers
using both this shoe and the Ignite Netfit
commented how useful the new lacing
system would be, to give an even more
specific fit. To include the word ‘Speed’
in a shoe’s name means it has to be light;
this shoe ticks that box, weighing in at
just... weight: 220g.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 51
PERSONAL BEST GEAR

Reebok Supreme Floatride R2 499

Reebok continues its strong return
to performance running with the all-
new Floatride. The highlight here is an
exceptionally bouncy and lightweight
midsole. In recent years, every brand has
been whipping up its own version of a
high-energy-return foam, and Reebok
is calling its material Float Foam. In the
lab, the shoe delivered incredible energy
return scores, on par with some of the
most cushioned adidas Boost shoes we’ve
measured. On the road, that translates
into a well-cushioned, responsive ride
that makes you want to run fast. The
upper could use a little refinement, say
some of our testers; the stretchy knit
used in the front half of the shoe didn’t
deliver quite enough support for a few
of our runners. The moulded fabric in
the back half, however, does a good job
of keeping your heel centred over the
midsole. weight: 260g

“
THIS WAS MY FIRST RUN
IN REEBOKS – I’M LOVING
THEM MORE AND MORE
EACH TIME, INCREASING
DISTANCE FROM A
CAUTIOUS 5KM UP TO
15KM. – LISA ABDELLAH,
RW DEPUTY EDITOR
52 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 53
PERSONAL BEST GEAR

Under Armour
Threadborne Fortis R2 199
The Threadborne presents an upper
which reminded us a lot of a narrower
version of the ever-popular Nike Free
range. The idea is to let the shoe easily
take on the shape of the foot, rather than
the other way around. The Threadborne
fabric is the finest knit we have ever
seen on a shoe; it looks attractive, and
contributes to the lightweight nature of
the one-piece upper. The lockdown at the
lacing sector of the midfoot was the most
comfortable of all those tested – this is
due to fine nylon yarn, which has eyelets
that feel almost part of the tongue. They
integrate with the internal ankle bootie to
create a comfortable, snug wrap around
the foot. weight: 268g

54 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017


Hoka One One Clifton 4 R2 150
The Clifton, which has become a
lightweight training shoe and racing
option as well as a long-run shoe for a lot
of high-mileage runners, has undergone
a complete overhaul. One result is that
it looks sleeker – most noticeably due
to a line of paint on the midsole that
makes the shoe look like it’s closer to
the ground, giving the appearance of
a more traditional shoe. The foam has
changed too: you may sense a firmer ride
underfoot. Hoka One One has tried to
make this shoe more durable, so it won’t
crush out as much as earlier versions
did – yet every tester who picked up
the shoe was surprised at how little it
weighed. weight: 263g
SPRING SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE
“
YES, THE WORD ‘CLIFTON’
IN THE NAME OF HOKA ONE
ONE’S FLAGSHIP SHOE Under Armour Charged
Bandit 3 R1 999
REFERS TO THE CAPE TOWN At first glance, the lightweight look of the
Bandit gives the impression that it won’t
BEACH - A FAVOURITE OF deliver much cushioning, but the firm heel
and forefoot are very soft, and the new
HOKA FOUNDER NICOLAS dual-density-charged midsole helps with
a smooth transition to toe-off. The third
MERMOUD. version of the shoe is even lighter than the
last, and it keeps the foot locked down with
foot-form-hugging SpeedForm fabric and
an external heel counter. For such a good-
looking shoe, it’s a pity the plastic heel cup
needs to be so prominent, as it detracts from
the aesthetics of the shoe while doing its job
of securing the foot. A full covering of high-
abrasion-resistant rubber on the outsole
adds some robust attributes where you need
them most on a shoe. One last change is the
profile, which has dropped from 10mm to
8mm from heel to toe. weight: 260g
Brooks Ravenna 8 R2 299
The Ravenna has long been a moderately
supportive and cushioned shoe, capable
of handling both long runs and tempo
runs with ease. This year, Brooks is
labelling it as one of its ‘Energize’ shoes,
recommending it as the stability sister
shoe to the Launch (see page 51). The
shoes now share a number of similarities,
such as 5.5mm of blown rubber in the
forefoot for a softer ride and springier
toe-off, and an X-shaped patch of rubber
in the midfoot that smooths the gap
between heel and forefoot. A new air
mesh is more breathable than previous
versions, but the upper still has plenty of
structure to hold the foot steady, thanks
to an adjustable strap that locks into the
laces. weight: 297g
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 55
PERSONAL BEST GEAR PERSONAL BEST ???

Asics GT-2000 5 R2 300

We were excited about the direction
the GT-2000 4 took a year ago; and
given that the midsole and outsole are
unchanged, we like the fifth iteration
of this series too. “Long-time lovers of
the 2000 will love this one,” says Rizqa
Campa, a 45-year-old tester from Bo-
Kaap, who has run in versions of the
GT-2000 since 1996. “It has always been
a staple of my running. The shoe isn’t
anything fancy, which is good for me,
but it provides all-round good support,
and is comfortable for pounding out
the kilometres.” Other testers echoed
those sentiments, and praised the shoe’s
comfort. A seamless, breathable upper
wraps the foot smoothly.
weight: 277g

“
BEST FOR OVER-
PRONATORS - WHEN
FOOT LANDS ON OUTSIDE
OF HEEL, THEN ROLLS
INWARD EXCESSIVELY,
TRANSFERRING WEIGHT
TO INNER EDGE INSTEAD
OF THE BALL OF THE FOOT.

56 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

PERSONAL BEST ???

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 57

PERSONAL BEST GEAR

Saucony Ride 10 R2 400

“The Ride 10 has a great combination
of cushioning and flexibility, and is still
lightweight,” says Bill Harris, a fast masters
runner from Pretoria. “As a result, I found the
shoe to be very versatile for all-round use;
able to slog out a winter long run, but also up
to the task of toeing the line for a 10-K race.”
That’s exactly the kind of experience Saucony
was shooting for in this update – it focuses on
the underfoot experience, and improving the
fit of the upper. Saucony removed the second
layer of Landing Zone foam and upgraded
the midsole foam. In the lab, we found both
areas to be a bit firmer than before, but it still
offers plenty of cushioning without sacrificing
responsiveness. We also found the shoe far
more flexible, which a number of testers
noted positively in their assessments. The
upper now features an engineered mesh
in the forefoot that can expand a little to
accommodate wider or swollen feet – both
of which are common at the end of a long
road run.
weight: 280g

“
A NEW REQUIREMENT FOR
MANY IS VERSATILITY.
THIS STARTS WITH LIGHT
WEIGHT AND INCLUDES
EASY ADAPTABILITY TO
DIFFERENT SURFACES, AS
IN THE RIDE 10 AND THE
ADIDAS PURE BOOST DPR.
58 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 59
PERSONAL BEST GEAR

Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34 R2 000

The latest iteration of the Pegasus, the
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34, features a
design inspired by Olympic champion
Mo Farah. The original shoe was a
1983 vintage, which makes it the same
age as Mo! The nostalgia just keeps on
coming with the waffle-lug outsole that
characterises Nike’s heritage. Zoom Air
units in the rearfoot and forefoot, the
Fitsole sockliner, and the Cushion Foam
midsole create the soft, responsive ride
so many look for in this shoe. There were
big changes from version 32 to 33, but
only one major change from version
33 to 34 – the one-piece engineered
mesh upper is a full re-design, and is
kept locked down at the midfoot by the
Flywire lacing system. It’s also a little
lighter, at... weight: 283g.

60 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 SPRING SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE

New Balance 880 V7 R2 200

Wear-testers gave this do-it-all daily
trainer high marks for cushioning, comfort,
fit and ride. Much of that is attributable
to the extremely soft heel and bendy
forefoot. Credit better segmentation of
the outsole rubber and deep flex grooves
in the midsole for the improvement in
flexibility. “I found the 880 to be a mix of
two of my favourite shoes,” said Andrew
Pestana, a PhD student from Bethlehem.
“They fit snugly and were flexible like my
Mizuno Wave Riders, while also providing
the support and cushioning of my Brooks
Glycerins.” weight: 314g

adidas Supernova ST R1 999

The Supernova ST replaces the Supernova
Sequence in adidas’ performance

“
running line. It’s the stability sister to the
Supernova; a plush, neutral shoe. And
just like that model, the ST has a boatload Puma Ignite Netfit R2 600
of Boost under the foot for a soft run. Netfit is Puma’s new technology. It
But we’ve noticed it’s nowhere near as improves the fit of the shoe via a fishnet-
marshmallowy-soft. The ST is a fair bit like structure that wraps around the entire
firmer in both heel and forefoot, giving upper. The cool thing about it is that you
you a secure, stable ride. The stability
comes via a few features: first, the EVA
LAUNCHED THIS YEAR, THE can tweak the lacing, allowing you to
dial in your fit – and the combinations
rim that lines the top edge of the shoe
is extended further back on the medial
NETFIT OFFERS A MORE are endless. Forefoot too wide for you?
Bring the laces down and thread them
(inner) edge, past the arch and under the
heel. And the heel counter is shaped to
SPECIFIC AND PERSONAL into the lower eyelets, to take up some
volume. If you need more support from
give a little more support on the medial
side. Finally, the midsole is more dense
FIT – AND AN OPPORTUNITY the upper, bring the laces down a little
further and pull them tighter on the inside.
where you’d typically find a medial post –
they’ve packed more Boost into the inner
TO GET CREATIVE WITH Heel slippage? Bring the top laces back
a little further, and then tighten and pull
edge of the shoe, under your heel and
arch. That creates a smoother sensation,
YOUR LACING, TOO. up through the heel. The outsole is made
of Ignite foam, which was introduced last
so you won’t even notice the stabilising year. When you bend it, it snaps back, so
component is there. weight: 326g you get that lively toe-off. weight: 304g

FOR A FULL LIST OF STOCKISTS, VISIT SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 61

RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA /STOCKISTS.
 If you want to
run your best 42.2
this summer, you’ll need
to do more than log
kilometres and complete
key workouts. These
strategies will help you
set appropriate goals,
The 7 HA
persevere when the going
gets tough, and create a
mindset that’s primed for
success.
By Brad Stulberg
and Steve Magness

T
The secrets to a breakthrough
race may lie in unexpected places.
Sure, most runners dissect their
long runs, interval workouts, and
nutrition; but the best runners EFFE
MARAT
look beyond those metrics to
reach their full potential. That
was the key takeaway from
researching and reporting our
new book, Peak Performance:
Elevate Your Game, Avoid
Burnout, and Thrive with the New
Science of Success.
Although one of us (Steve)
coaches pro athletes and the
other (Brad) writes about
sports science, we discovered
novel ways to optimise athletic
performance by interviewing
world-class artists, intellectuals,
entrepreneurs, and musicians. By
looking outside of running – and
studying not only physiology but
also psychology, sociology, and
even philosophy – we uncovered
powerful strategies that can help
all athletes succeed.
While we learned far more
than can fit on these pages (that’s A very well known sports-
why we wrote a book!), what science theory says the brain
follows are seven of our favourite shuts down the body long before
discoveries, all backed by the it reaches its physical limits.
latest scientific research. But emerging science shows it
BITS OF
TIVE
HONERS
may be possible to transcend
this – if you stay inspired. For
a recent study, researchers
used brain scans to examine
what happens when people
are presented with threatening
messages. In individuals who
were asked to reflect deeply
on their core values (eg, to be a
good spouse or parent, to have
courage) prior to receiving such
a message, their underlying
neurology became more
receptive: the test subjects’
Illustrations by Nigel Buchanan
brains moved the subjects
toward the challenge instead
of going into protection mode.
In other words, the more we
think about our deep-seated
beliefs, the better we rise
above shallow, in-the-moment
concerns and disconnect from
our body’s perceived limits.
APPLY IT Set a goal beyond
running 42.2km. Consider
raising money for a charity you
support, dedicating your race
2
AIM FOR
THE
SWEET
SPOT
When psychologist Dr Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi was studying how
the best performers continuously
improve, he noticed they all pushed
themselves to their limits, and perhaps
just a bit beyond – the kind of growth-​
promoting stress that we like to call a
“just-manageable challenge.” These
challenges manifest when you take on
something that makes you feel a little
out of control but not anxious. Any less
of a challenge and you’d think, “I’ve
got this in the bag.” It’d be too easy to
stimulate improvement. Any more of a
challenge, however, and the unnerving
feeling of your heartbeat pounding in
your ears would make it hard to focus.
What you’re after is the sweet spot:
when the challenge at hand is on the
outer edge of your current skills.
APPLY IT Select a training plan (see
page 66) and finishing-time goal that are
just a bit outside of your comfort zone.
This doesn’t mean you should go from
to a person or a cause,
running 50km a week to 100km, but
or joining a team. Your
it might mean building up to 65 or 70.
purpose needn’t be complex:
As far as workouts go, if you’re always
it can be as simple as “to
hitting your targets, you may not be
inspire my children to live a
setting your sights high enough. While
healthy lifestyle” or “to be
you shouldn’t completely blow up (at
part of a positive community
least not often), you should struggle –
when the world seems to
and even occasionally fail – to nail your
need positivity.” When the
hardest training sessions. A race-time
going gets tough – during your
calculator can help you choose a just-
most challenging workouts or
manageable goal: plug in a recent race
on race day – reflect on your
result (preferably for a half marathon
purpose to help you power
or 15-K) to estimate what you might
through.
achieve in the marathon.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 63
 3
WARM UP

If your brain’s in a funk, your body will

follow: research conducted by exercise
scientist Dr Samuele Marcora found that
even subtle mood influencers can alter
performance. In one study, Marcora
flashed either happy or sad faces on a

4
screen as well-trained cyclists pedalled
all-out. The faces were flashed so briefly
that they could only be recognised by
the subconscious. Still, those who were
exposed to the happy faces performed 12
per cent better than the sad-faces group.
His findings support years of anecdotal
CHOOSE
evidence that athletes tend to perform
best when everything is clicking – not only
during a race or workout, but also in their
LESS
lives beyond running.

APPLY IT Try to boost your mood

heading into challenging workouts and
on race day. This may mean listening
to your favourite music, spending quiet
time in nature, or hanging out with
friends or (sometimes) family. In the
week leading up to your marathon,
remember that steering clear of negative
vibes helps you cultivate a positive
mood. So minimise life stressors: avoid
(to the best of your ability) people who
drag you down, choose comedies over
tear-jerkers or horror films, and get the
rest you need to feel 100 per cent.
Adapted from Peak
Performance: Elevate
Your Game, Avoid
Burnout, and Thrive
with the New Science of
Success, by Brad Stulberg
and Steve Magness
(audiobook R313,
exclusivebooks.co.za).
64 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
Having a workplace ‘uniform’
– Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s
grey T-shirt and hoodie, for example –
is common practice among busy, high-
performing people. Why? According
to a theory proposed by psychologist
Dr Roy Baumeister, we have a limited
reservoir of mental energy to use
on any given day. Initial research on
this theory focused on self-control
– how resisting temptations early in
the day makes us more likely to give
in later – but scientists soon learned
that making decisions also wears us
out. Experiments found that people
who were asked to choose between
consumer goods (eg, colour of T-shirt,
brand of shampoo) performed worse
than those who were presented with
only one option on subsequent tests
of everything from physical stamina
to persistence to problem-solving.
The researchers concluded that
even when it comes to simple things,
“making many decisions leaves a
person in a depleted state”.
APPLY IT
If you can, work with a coach.
You won’t burn energy planning or
scheduling your training – you can
shut off your brain and just do the
workouts. Even though both of us
(Brad and Steve) know a lot about
running, when we’re training hard, we
work with coaches for this reason.
The night before your goal marathon,
lay out your gear, commit to a plan
for when you’ll depart (and where
you’ll park), and have a pre-race meal
ready. Automate as much of your
training and race day as possible to
conserve mental energy for running
your fastest.
 5 7
‘CALM CONVERSATIONS’
When pain sets in during a hard run,
everyday runners may think, “Oh crap, this
already hurts, and I’ve got a long way to go.”
These emotionally charged thoughts can have
physical consequences – like tense muscles and
an elevated heart rate – that cause diminished
performance. But instead of panicking, the
best runners (like the ones that Steve coaches)
have in their minds what Steve calls a ‘calm
conversation’, like, This is starting to hurt now. It
should. I’m running hard. But it’s going to be okay.
Being able to separate pain from suffering in this
way also promotes recovery: research has found
that after hard training, elite athletes’ heart-rate
variability (HRV) – an indicator of physiological
REFRAME
At the start of an Olympic
recovery – returns to baseline far faster than that event, few of the athletes appear
of the average joe. This shows that elite athletes to be anxious. Contrast this with
are able to transition from stress to rest better any local 5-K, where runners trying
than their more novice peers. to go sub-25.00 stress about
racing toward a finisher’s medal
APPLY IT When doubts occupy your head- they’ll receive regardless of their
space, practise calm conversations. As your performance. It’s not that pros
effort and pain levels increase, don’t try to are immune to stress – they just
distract yourself or fight it. Instead, practise know how to channel it effectively.
accepting it: remind yourself that the pain is a In a study of elite and non-elite
sign that you’re doing the work that will make swimmers, researchers used a
you faster. After hard workouts, take a few survey to measure stress before a
deep breaths and use them as a cue to tran- major race, and then asked each
sition from the ‘stress’ of a workout to a more athlete if they viewed stress as
restful state. beneficial or harmful. Prior to
the race, both the elite and the
non-elite swimmers experienced
the same intensity of cognitive and
physical stress. The difference was

6 ‘easy’ periods, we’re never

that the non-elites viewed stress
as something negative to try to
quiet, while the elites interpreted
the stress as an aid to their
able to go full-throttle. performance.
FOLLOW
STRESS WITH APPLY IT Stress plus rest APPLY IT Recent research shows

REST
Top American runner
Bernard Lagat takes a rest
day at the end of every hard
training week – an uncommon
practice among pros. On those
days, the five-time Olympian
engages only in activities that
relax and restore his body and
mind, such as massage, light
stretching, and playing with his
kids. He also takes a five-week
break from exercise at the end
of each season, a practice that
has helped his career stretch
on for almost 20 years. Many
of us believe that if we’re not
always working hard, we’ll fail
to thrive. But if we never take
equals growth, which we call
‘the growth equation’. Too
much stress leads to injury or
burnout; too much rest leads
to a failure to improve. So, fol-
low hard days with easy ones,
and plan regular rest days (one
to three per week). After a few
hard weeks of training, take
an easier, step-back week.
And schedule a longer break
(at least 10 days) from running
after your marathon.
that ‘forcing’ yourself to calm down
can be disadvantageous: when
you try to suppress nerves, you’re
telling yourself that something’s
wrong. It takes emotional energy
to fight the anxiety – energy that
could be better spent on racing.
Instead, know that the sensations
you feel prior to your marathon
are neutral: if you view them in
a positive light, they are more
likely to have a positive effect on
performance.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 65

 PEAK 42.2 PLAN
For intermediate runners who log at least 50km per week (including a long run of 15km+)

Week M T W Th F Sa Su Total Block out at

least one day of
1 Easy 8
10km hills + Rest
Easy 8 Easy 6 16 Rest 48 complete rest each
strides or XT week – Sunday
is good if you like
11km hills + Rest running long on
2 Easy 8 Easy 8 Easy 6 19 Rest 52
strides or XT Saturdays.
13km hills + Rest Simplify your
3 Easy 8 Easy 10 Easy 5 23 Rest 59
strides or XT
decision-making
and save mental
Easy 8km straights/ Rest
4 Up-tempo 10 Easy 8 16 Rest 52 energy by
10 curves + drills or XT
designating a
400s: 8 x 400 speedwork day
Easy Rest (‘Track Tuesday’),
5 metres (11km Easy 10 Easy 8 23 Rest 62
10 or XT a long-run day,
total)
and a rest day –
Yasso 800s: and sticking to
Easy Rest 26 with up-tempo
6
10
6 x 800 metres
or XT
Easy 10 Easy 6
last 10km
Rest 63 them most weeks.
(11km total)
Sustaining (and
400s: 10 x 400 then gradually
Rest
7 Easy 6 metres (13km Easy 11 Easy 6 29 Rest 65 increasing) a tough
or XT
total)
pace requires you
to avoid ‘freak-out
Easy 8km straights/ Rest
8
11 curves + drills or XT
Up-tempo 13 Easy 8 19 Rest 59 moments’ and
have a calm
Easy 1600s: 4 x 1600m Rest conversation in
9 Easy 10 Easy 8 Half marathon Rest 62 your mind.
10 (13km total) or XT

Yasso 800s: A tune-up race is

Rest a good place to
10 Easy 8 8 x 800 metres Easy 10 Easy 8 29 Rest 68
or XT
(13km total) test out what you’ll
wear and eat on
11
Easy 8km straights/ Rest
Up-tempo 16 Easy 6 32 Rest 72 race day – and to
10 curves + drills or XT practise reframing
your nerves as
Easy 1600s: 5 x 1600m Rest excitement.
12 Easy 10 Easy 8 24 Rest 68
11 (15km total) or XT

8km straights/ Rest 29 with up-tempo

13 Easy 8 Easy 10 Easy 6 Rest 61
curves + drills or XT last 10km

400s: 12 x 400
Rest
14 Easy 8 metres (14km Easy 10 Easy 8 24 Rest 64
or XT
total)

15 Easy 6 Up-tempo 8 Rest or XT Easy 8 Easy 6 16 Rest 44 FIR S T DAY

16 Easy 5
8km straights/
Rest Easy 6 Rest Easy 5 Race 66
Pretoria Marathon
curves + drills Race Day 25 Feb 2018
Start Training
4 Oct 2017
KEY
EASY Keep the pace conversational. HILLS with 3km. TRACK 400s and 1600s Warm up with 3km Buffalo Marathon
+ STRIDES Log the distance on a hilly course, or do of jogging to a track, followed by dynamic stretches and Race Day 27 Feb 2018
repeats – maintaining a comfortable effort – between 2km a few strides. Run the 400s at approximately 5-K pace and Start Training
of warm-up and cool-down. Finish with six approximately recover with 200 metres of jogging. Run the 1600m repeats 4 Oct 2017
100-metre pick-ups (strides), gradually accelerating to at approximately 10-K pace with a 400-metre jog between.
about 5-K effort, holding it for five to 10 seconds, and Cool down with 3km (400s) / 1 600m (1600s). UP-TEMPO Wally Hayward
gradually decelerating. Recover fully (walking) between each. Warm up with 2km. Then run each 2km a bit faster, working Marathon
XT Easy-effort, low-impact cardio workouts like swimming, your way up to between marathon and half-marathon pace Race Day 1 May 2018
cycling, or pool running – just enough to get blood circulating for the final 2km to 3km. YASSO 800s Warm up with 2km Start Training
(30 to 60 minutes). Totally optional. LONG Maintain a of jogging to a track, followed by dynamic stretches and a few 6 Jan 2018
conversational pace. STRAIGHTS/CURVES + DRILLS strides. Run each rep in your goal marathon time (eg, for a
Warm up with 3km of jogging to a track, followed by dynamic 4:00.00 marathon, run each rep in 4.00; for 4:30.00, hit 4.30), Weskus Marathon
stretches: leg swings (side to side and front to back), walking and recover with 400 metres of jogging. Cool down with 2km. Race Day 6 May 2018
lunges, high knees, and butt-kicks – 10 reps of each on each HALF MARATHON Warm up with 5km of easy jogging. Start Training
side. Then do four laps, surging on the straights (between Spend the first 5km of the race easing into goal marathon 11 Jan 2018
5-K and 2-K pace) and recovering on the curves. Cool down pace, then maintain it for the final 15km.

FIND MORE TRAINING PLANS AT

66 RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA/TRAINING.
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things that make a real difference. Meet RIAAN MANSER – Explorer,
Global Adventurer and World Record Holder.

Give the hope of life to patients suffering from blood disorders

like Leukaemia and help us celebrate SUNFLOWER DAY
on Friday 15 September 2017.

Buy a TOPE and be the Hope.

R25 each at all Pick n Pay stores
or online at Zando.
 105
RUNNING

A cornucopia of simple tips, tricks and tweaks to improve

and upgrade every aspect of your running life.
68 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
1 2 PUMP UP YOUR
ENDURANCE
It sounds counterintuitive,
but performing heavy leg-resistance
work before you run could improve
your speed and stamina, according
to a Brazilian study published in the
Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research. This ‘post-activation
potentiation’ effect delivered a six per

Feel
cent performance boost for cyclists
in a post-weights 20km time trial.

the 3 WORTH THE WEIGHT

Still not hot to squat? Here’s

burn
a health bonus… weight
training promotes uniformly sized
red blood cells, an indicator of low
heart disease risk, according to
recent research at the University of
Can’t make the mountain-
Mississippi, US.
training camp this weekend?

4
Training in hot conditions
delivers similar fitness gains to
training at altitude, according
NUT JOB
Give your heart a helping
to research from the University
handful. A study reported
of Coventry, UK, so grab some
in the American Journal of Clinical
extra layers and run in your own
Nutrition found eating a 30g serving
mobile heat chamber.
of nuts five or more times a week
significantly lowered several
inflammatory biomarkers linked
to cardiovascular disease.

5 GET IT ‘OM’
Time for flexible thinking:
a 10-week programme of
twice-weekly yoga sessions delivered
significant gains in flexibility and
balance in a study reported in the
International Journal of Yoga.

6
NO.5
GO GREEN
Eating a single Kiwi fruit
every week raises ‘good’
HDL cholesterol, reducing your risk
of heart attack-inducing blood clots,
found research in Nutrition Journal.

7 SPRING FORWARD
As the days get longer again,
set your alarm slightly earlier
each morning, says Robert Oexman,
director of the Sleep to Live Institute
in North Carolina, US. Over time,
you trick your internal clock into
accepting the new schedule.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 69

8 TRYP YOUR
PROTEIN SWITCH
Tryptophan primes your small
intestine to absorb more muscle-
building/-repairing amino acids from your
food, according to researchers behind
a study published in Amino Acids. Nuts,
seeds, cheese, lamb and pork are good
sources of tryptophan.
9
-13 GREEN ENERGY
Another reason to eat your
greens: they’re a great source of
lutein, which triggers the release of
AMPK, dubbed the ‘marathon enzyme’
because it switches your mitochondria
– the powerhouses in your muscle cells –
into fat-burning mode. A study in PLoS
One confirmed this enhances stamina
during endurance exercise. Top lutein
sources are: kale, spinach, broccoli,
cress and Swiss chard.
14
CHEW THE FAT
The research also found
that consuming fats at
the same time can triple your body’s
absorption of lutein, so think oily fish,
avocado or peanut butter.
15
KEEP TRACK
The track is a great place
for nailing speedwork
sessions, but research in the Journal
of Sports Medicine and Physical
Fitness cautions that you may
need to pay attention to not just
your split times, but the total time
70 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
NO.15
you spend on the oval. The study of 5-K
runners found doing more than 25 per
cent of training on a tartan track surface
was associated with plantar heel pain.
16
PYRAMID SCHEME
Want a session that’ll
deliver maximum gains
in minimum time? Ian Burrell, who finished
25th in the 2015 World Marathon Champs
in Beijing despite working full time as a
lawyer, recommends this key workout:
WHAT A fartlek ‘pyramid’, with 1-minute
jogs between fast segments.
WHY “It adds a nice mix of speed and
strength together to goose up the legs –
it’s gruelling,” says Burrell.
WHEN Twice during a 12- to 16-week
marathon training cycle, in week 6 or 7
and once more in week 9 or 10.
HOW Starting at marathon pace, run
segments of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes, then
4, 3, 2 and 1. Do the second 3-minute
effort at half-marathon pace and the
second 2 and 1-minutes at 10-K pace.
Then repeat the entire pyramid.
9
17 SEE A 3D MOVIE
An in-store treadmill trot under
the gaze of lightly amused
shop staff is one thing; a full biomechanical
analysis is quite another, and it’s something
that can reveal the kind of information that
could help you minimise injuries and become
a more efficient runner. Running clinics like
the High Performance Centre in Pretoria are
open to the public, and offer a complete gait
analysis. Should your results warrant more
specialist intervention, there’s also a
biokineticist, physiotherapist and sports
physician at the facility. At the Sports Science
Institute of South Africa (SSISA) in Cape
Town, podiatrist Chris Delpierre offers an
WORDS: JOE MACKIE. PHOTOGRAPHS: JOBE L AWRENSON, FERDINAND VAN HUIZEN (PRE VIOUS SPREAD); PEE TER CROW THER, GE T T Y IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES ( TRACK); REDBULL .CO.ZA (RED BULL)
initial assessment and gait analysis.
18
- 19 STRETCH
YOUR ENDURANCE
The key to your next great race
or PB may be in your warm-up. A study in the
Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research found well-trained distance runners
ran significantly further before reaching
exhaustion following a dynamic stretching
session than they did after no stretching.
Make time for static stretching in your
life, too. It may not lower your injury risk,
but according to recent Japanese
research, static stretching can lower
arterial stiffness, and thus heart-attack risk.
20
PULL THE
UDDER ONE
Your perfect post-run
rehydration option may already be chilling
nicely in your fridge. Unfortunately it’s
not the Sauvignon Blanc… a study in the
British Journal of Nutrition found milk
was more effective at hydrating the body
after exercise than either water or a
carbohydrate-electrolyte solution.
21 USE THE ULTRA-FIT
FORMULA
In modern-day running maths,
42.2 is no longer enough for many runners
– but can you really train adequately for an
ultra while holding down a full-time job and
spending time with your family? Yes you can,
especially if you target a ‘short’ ultra, says
14-time Western States 100-mile champion
and coach Ann Trason (trasonrunning.com).
“For a 50-K race, apply the 10/10/10 rule from
a marathon plan,” says Trason. “Lengthen
your long runs by 10 per cent, slow long-run
pace by 10 per cent and recover with 10 per
cent more rest or cross-training days. For a
50-miler (80km), the formula is 20/20/20.”
 29 SMART MOVE
Forget those
admonishments from
exasperated parents and teachers –
fidgeting, it turns out, can be a very good
thing, at least as far as your health is
concerned. Those constant small
movements keep your kilojoule-burn ticking
over during otherwise sedentary periods,
and can combat obesity and heart disease,
according to a Mayo Clinic Proceedings
review. They’re still annoying, though…

30 GIVE YOURSELF
SOME WINGS
Sceptical as we are of
slogans, it seems you might be able to take
NO.30 this one as read, rather than think it’s a load
of bull. In a study published in the Journal of
Strength and Conditioning Research, runners
who drank two cans (500ml) of Red Bull
energy drink one hour before a 5-K time trial
improved their performance by an average
of 30 seconds compared with a placebo-
imbibing group. There were no differences
in rate of perceived exertion or heart rate.
And no, there was no vodka in there…

Shear fat 31 JOIN THE RESISTANCE

22
More shut-eye doesn’t just mean better
recovery and improved breakfast chit-chat;
research published in the Journal of Andrology
Research found it can raise testosterone levels,
which in turn boosts your ability to burn fat.
So: you snooze, you lose. In a good way.
Some carbs can actually help
you peel off the kilograms,
which is music to our ears. Resistant starch is
an undigestible fibre found in grains, beans
and potatoes (especially cooked and cooled);
it promotes weight loss by filling you up,
shutting down hunger hormones and foiling
your body’s attempts to turn it into sugar.
Unlike other carbs, which get turned into
body fat when we eat them in excess,
resistant starch passes on through. What’s

23-28
more, it may also reduce cancer risk and
DREAM TICKET boost your immune system, says Dr Christine
Becoming a better runner is as much about Gerbstadt, a nutritionist and spokeswoman
getting enough rest as it is about mileage. for the American Dietetic Association.

6PM: RUN 7PM: DISCONNECT 8PM: TURN OFF 9PM: SUPP UP 11PM: PUT A SOCK ON IT 11.05PM: ROLL OVER
Early-evening exercisers Skip the Facebook binge. THE WIFI Topping up your levels of A study published in US doctors at
slept the best, found a University of Pittsburgh Electromagnetic the sleep hormone Nature found warm feet Philadelphia Graduate
study by Appalachian research found that over frequencies in your melatonin will help you mean enlarged blood Hospital found sleeping
State University, US. two hours a day on social bedroom were shown to drop off faster, found US vessels, and this lowers on your left side means
Exercise aids rest by media makes you more adversely affect sleep, research from the your core temperature less chance of acid
raising body temperature likely to struggle sleeping in research published in University of Maryland. and turns on your sleep reflux. Lean to the right?
(like a warm bath), than those logging less the Saudi Medical mechanism. Result: you Try sleeping wth a pillow
researchers said. than 30 mins. Journal. doze off. at your back.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 71

32-37 38 - 40 RAISE-THE-
BAR SNACKS
Struggling to get
enough protein to fuel your recovery?
Try these protein-packed snacks:

Licence to grill
Slice wholewheat toast + coating
of cottage cheese + drizzle of honey
= 11G PROTEIN
Hard-boiled egg, halved + dollop
Greek yoghurt + sprinkle of paprika
= 7G PROTEIN
Power up with these CHICKEN FIG Handful of biltong + big dollop
grilled cheese sarmie Roasted chicken is guacamole + squeeze of lime juice
upgrades from high in protein, and = 7G PROTEIN
nutritionist Matthew figs give you bone-

41
Kadey. For each recipe, building calcium.
grill the sandwich until SPREAD fig preserve - 46 CRANK YOUR
both sides are crispy on 1 slice whole-grain METABOLISM
and the cheese has bread and top with Research on mice
softened. chopped rosemary, published in the FASEB Journal found
sliced roast chicken, adding rutin to the rodents’ diets
SMOKY BLACK BEAN baby spinach, gouda mimicked the effects of cold on brown
Stay fuller for longer cheese and a second fat and boosted metabolism. You can
with the fibre and plant bread slice. get rutin from mulberries, (unpeeled)
protein from black apples, buckwheat, elderflower tea,
beans. CAPRESE figs or a supplement.
TOP 1 slice whole- The vitamin C in

47
grain bread with mashed tomatoes helps protect
black beans, sliced runners from colds. BREATHE EASY
roasted red pepper, SPREAD basil pesto Asthma sufferers
grated smoked cheddar on 1 slice sourdough have another reason
cheese, thinly sliced bread and top with to soak up some extra sunshine
avocado and a second thinly sliced prosciutto vitamin. A Cochrane Review of seven
bread slice. ham, grated mozzarella international studies showed that a
cheese, sliced tomato, vitamin D supplement reduced the
APPLE CHEDDAR rocket and a second incidence of severe attacks in subjects
Antioxidant-rich apples bread slice. with mild to moderate asthma.
and omega 3-packed

48
walnuts add crunch. STEAK KIMCHEEZE
TOP 1 slice Energise your runs with HINGE

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GE T T Y IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES (STAIRS, VO2); MITCH MANDEL (SANDWICHES)

wholegrain bread with the iron in steak, and BENEFITS
thinly sliced apple, keep your gut healthy Turn up the heat on
grated cheddar with the probiotics in knee pain. In a study in the Journal of
cheese, chopped sage, kimchi. Strength and Conditioning Research,
chopped walnuts and TOP 1 slice whole- patients with chronic knee pain who
a second bread slice. grain bread with grated applied low-level continuous heat
havarti or mild cheddar packs to sore knees six hours before
BEETROOT SALMON cheese, thinly sliced exercise enjoyed reduced knee pain
Nitrates from cooked sirloin steak, and increased knee strength.
beetroot and omega chopped kimchi and a

49
fats in salmon may second bread slice.
improve your muscle SOCIAL
endurance. CLIMBING
TOP 1 slice rye bread Social media can
with smoked salmon, help your running, but only if you
lemon juice, a smear of avoid comparing yourself to others,
cream cheese, sliced says coach Lora Johnson
roasted beetroot, dill (crazyrunninggirl.com), who instead
and a second bread slice recommends analysing what friends
coated with cream post. “If someone shares a favourite
cheese. interval routine, consider how it might
boost your fitness,” says Johnson.

72 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTOGRAPH BY ???

50 REFINE
DINING
Supersizing your lunch
could downsize your belly. In a study
reported in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, subjects who ate their
main meal at lunchtime experienced
higher average weight loss, greater
reduction in BMI and improved insulin
resistance compared with those getting
the majority of their kilojoules at dinner,
despite both groups eating the same total
number of daily kilojoules.
51
TRAIN TO THE MAX
How much oxygen your
body can take in and use
per minute, per kg of your body weight –
aka your VO2 max – is a key measure of
aerobic fitness; it’s routinely monitored
in elite athletes. But you don’t
have to be an elite to get
yours measured in the
lab and benefit from
precision training
based on your results.
“It doesn’t matter
what level you are, the
test is tailored to you
as an individual,” says
Vincent Christan, head
physiologist at the Nuffield NO.51
Health Sports Performance Lab
in London (nuffieldhealth.com). “Your
results help to identify your strengths
and weaknesses, from which an effective
training programme can be created.”
A VO2-max test demands your all –
sport science labs traditionally placed
mattresses against the wall behind
treadmills to cushion the blow for those
flying off the back. At Nuffield, a harness
suspended from the ceiling sweeps you off
your feet if you lose control. Your dignity
may suffer a little.
52 SWEAT, THE
DETAILS
If your post-run aroma is
a source of concern, clean up your diet. In
a study published in Evolution and Human
Behaviour, women judged clean-eating
men (lots of fruit and veg) to have the most
aromatic sweat, using adjectives such
as ‘floral’, ‘fruity’ and ‘sweet’ to describe
the scent. Oddly, eating fat, meat, eggs
and tofu also produced pleasant-smelling
perspiration. The bad news? Stinky sweat
came from consuming carbs.
53 LOVE THE JOURNEY
To boost long-term
motivation and gain
sharp speedwork at least, then, it seems
total rest is best.
64
maximum enjoyment in your running life,
remember that running is about more THE IMMORTALITY
than just results, says Clint Wells, the WORKOUT
top masters finisher at last April’s Boston New research suggests it
Marathon (he clocked 2:24.55). “Enjoy the may be possible stop the clock on
build-up to a marathon. Join a group, and age-related muscle decline. The study, in
make it social,” says Wells. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise,
put older men (aged 65-83) through a
54
12-week weight-training programme of leg
PASSIVE GAINS presses and leg extensions; it found this
Some news on the debate increased their muscle fibre size and
over passive vs active rest capillary networks to a level matching that
in interval sessions: a study in the Journal of younger men.
of Strength and Conditioning Research
65
found that in a session consisting of 10 sets
of 20m sprints, passive recovery (walking FOR YOUR SHINS
back to the start position and standing Take these steps from
still until the next sprint) between efforts podiatrist Dr Stephen
led to significantly faster splits, lower Pribut to keep shin splints at bay:
perceived exertion, less blood- Limit running on concrete
lactate accumulation and lower Don’t overstride (aim for 160-190 steps
post-workout heart rate than per minute)
active recovery (jogging Stretch your calves and your
between sprints). For short, hamstrings post-run
66
Running up stairs is a great way to build strength
and endurance. The plyometric motion works the
same muscles as lunges and squats, and targets
the gluteus medius. A study in the British Journal
of Sports Medicine found that short bouts of stair
climbing five days a week for eight weeks
Climb it,
improved VO2 max by 17 per cent.
change
TRY THIS stair-running session from Paul Romeo,
who oversees stadium-step workouts as a coach for
Koko FitClub (kokofitclub.com). After a warm-up,
run up a set of stairs five to 10 times at 80 per cent
effort. Walk down between reps, and rest at the
bottom if you’re still out of breath.
STEP UP
When climbing,
run tall, step
lightly and swing
your arms to drive
yourself up.
NO.66
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 73
68 HEALTHY START
We’re often told that
breakfast is good for our
waistlines, but a recent study published in
the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics found overall daily kilojoule
intake was very similar for consistent
breakfast eaters and consistent skippers.
However, the breakfasters had higher
overall diet quality and greater intake of
whole grains, fruit, fibre, calcium,
potassium and folate.
69
TRAIN NINE
DAYS A WEEK
US elite Meb Keflezighi
ran in his fourth Olympics last year, aged 41,
and his longevity is no fluke. He has made
adjustments to his training over the years.
Before his 2014 Boston Marathon win, for
example, he switched from a seven-day
training cycle to a nine-day schedule to
ensure recovery between hard workouts.
The cycle involves three target sessions
– an interval workout, tempo run, and long
run – each followed by two days of
recovery, says Scott Douglas, co-author
(with Keflezighi) of Meb for Mortals (R319,
exclusivebooks.co.za). And if Meb doesn’t
feel good after two easy days, he’ll take
another. “The point isn’t that nine is better
than seven,” says Douglas. “It’s that you
should be flexible.”
This approach isn’t exclusively for older
runners: Keflezighi got the idea from Paula
Radcliffe, who used an eight-day ‘week’ in
her heyday.
Of course, seven-day cycles suit
non-professionals, so you could try thinking
in two-week cycles instead, aiming for five
hard days in every 14.
70
SIDE ON
Looking to shed
kilograms? Order the
chips. In a study reported in the Journal of
the American College of Nutrition, subjects
rated a meal eaten with chips
as more satisfying and filling
than one eaten with a side
dish of either baked potato,
mashed potatoes, potato
wedges or pasta – despite
the overall kilojoule
content of the meals
being identical.
Which means
NO.70
adding chips
may subtract
kilojoules later in
the day.
74 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
71
Beat the
clock
Don’t panic when you can’t fit a long run into
your schedule – scientists at McMaster
University, Canada, found three 20-sec all-out
sprints led to the same cardiorespiratory
benefits as 50 mins of low-intensity exercise.
With just three sessions a week, subjects
improved oxygen uptake, despite only
exercising for one fifth of the time.
72-75
Tame
the trail
76 DRINK TO
YOUR HEALTH
We know it’s good for
hearts and soles, but new research from
Georgia State University, US, has found
red wine can also help your body fight
upper respiratory tract infections,
thanks again to that magic
ingredient, resveratrol.
77
…BUT JUST
THE ONE
More than two
units compromises your
recovery, according to a
study by heart rate-
variability experts
Firstbeat (firstbeat.com).
78
HILLS WITHOUT
SPILLS
If you can’t face a hill
session, get on your bike
instead. “Pedalling against high
resistance will help you power up
hills when you run, and the faster
cadence of cycling will improve
your turnover,” says running
coach and spinning instructor
Kourtney Thomas. “Substitute
a spinning class for a weekly
run, but go easy on
tired legs the next day.”
To move from road running to a trail
race, trail-running coach Ellen Miller
recommends training off-road at least
twice a week to help your body adapt
to the uneven surfaces. Miller also
offers these pointers on adapting your
technique:
Shorten your stride
Lift your feet higher
Pay attention to the ground ahead
Expect to run slower than you
do on the roads
P H OTO G R A P H B Y ?? ?
PHOTOGRAPH BY ???
79 - 81 FEAT IN
THE
CROWDS
Coach Jenny Hadfield
(jennyhadfield.com) advises on
how best to navigate a crowded
race and ensure a fast, strong
finish that leaves you with a
smile on your face (or at least,
the absence of a grimace):
GO WITH THE FLOW “Trying
to get ahead early by surging
and weaving around runners is
a big – and common – mistake.
It uses up tons of energy,
causes physical and mental
stress, and drives up your heart
rate. The more energy you burn
early, the worse you’ll fare in
the final kilometres.”
THINK INSIDE THE BOX “Most
large races have start pens
82-84
based on estimated finish time,
PHOTOGRAPHS: CASE Y CRAFFORD ( TRAIL); GE T T Y IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES (CHIP, WINE GL ASS)
so line up near the front of
yours and towards the centre
of the road to give yourself
room to navigate in either
direction. Mass starts are
trickier, as it’s hard to know
how close to the front you
should be – but again, avoid
the sides, where you might get
boxed in.”
MIND THE GAP “If you find
yourself stuck behind runners
going more slowly than you’d
like, exercise patience; and if
possible, wait for a natural
opening. If one doesn’t appear,
tap one of the runners on the
shoulder and let him/her know
you’ll be passing. This
minimises energy-sapping
weaving, and the risk that
you’ll get tripped and fall.”
Try a
steak
out!
Good news for those
who like a rare (or
medium) treat: the
conjugated linoleic
acid (CLA) in red meat
helps you strip fat
while also maintaining
muscle mass,
according to research
from the University of
Wisconsin, US.
Add garlic and
onions: they boost
your absorption of the
minerals in red meat,
such as iron and zinc.
85
VITAMIN BEE
Most honey has mild
antibiotic qualities,
but research shows
this can be compromised NO.85
by contact with saliva or
blood. Manuka honey derives its
antibacterial activity from a substance called
Methylglyoxal (MGO), which retains its
qualities in the body. Research at the
University of Waikato, New Zealand, found
an MGO level of 300mg/kg is key for
unlocking the health benefits from Manuka. If
you think it’s worth a look, try Tahi Manuka
Honey UMF 10+, R750 for 400g, takealot.com
86
...AND RELAX
“Running with tense
muscles limits your range
of motion and brings on fatigue sooner,”
says running coach Victoria Fiddick. “To
‘run relaxed’, stay mindful of moving fluidly.
Focus on running with a ‘tall’ posture, a slight
forward lean from your ankles, and a relaxed
91-92
arm swing from low and loose shoulders.”
Fuel like a legend
OLD SCHOOL FUEL
GRETE WAITZ’S PB-RACE STEAK
On the eve of her first marathon, in 1978,
Grete dined on steak, red wine and ice cream,
according to her husband, Jack. The next
day she won her first of nine New York City
marathons; a year later she became the first
woman to run the marathon in under 2:30.
Season a fillet steak with salt and pepper
and cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes
on each side. Plate up, and cover loosely with
foil for 5 minutes. Serve with potatoes or rice,
and antioxidant-rich red wine.
76 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
87 - 90
PRO
ACTIVE
If you’re looking for the
health boost of
probiotics, skip the
supps. University of
Copenhagen research found
probiotic supplements had no
effect on gut bacteria. Naturally
fermented foods have been shown to
deliver a probiotic punch that can
improve your immune response,
hormone regulation and protein
absorption.
Kefir packs triple the beneficial
probiotic hit of standard yoghurt.
Greek yoghurt contains bacteria
that could cut your risk of colon
cancer, reported a study in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Kimchi 100g daily boosts immune
system activity by 75 per cent, found
research at Pusan National University,
South Korea.
Sauerkraut helps you absorb
muscle-repairing nutrients, reports
research in the Journal of Science.
NEW SCHOOL FUEL
ELIUD KIPCHOGE’S PRE-RACE UGALI
Many of today’s top Kenyan athletes, such
as Olympic Marathon champion Eliud
Kipchoge, fuel themselves with a traditional
meal of ugali (a cornmeal-based porridge)
paired with eggs or meat, and greens.
Add 150g finely ground cornmeal to 350ml
boiling water. Stir until thick, so porridge
holds its shape, adding up to 120ml more
water, as needed, to moisten the cornmeal
without making it soupy. To replicate a full
Kenyan meal, serve hot with sautéed kale
and stewed mung beans.
93 - 95 GO NUTS
FOR A SIMPLE
SNACK UPGRADE
If you find that you’re peckish between
your (invariably healthy) main meals,
grab a handful of almonds, as research
suggests the fibre in their skins may act as
a prebiotic, which will enhance the effect
of probiotics (see 87-90, left).
And that’s not the only reason to choose
this particular type of nut: in a study
published in the Journal of Nutrition,
subjects who ate 35g of almonds per day
over 12 weeks lost more total fat and more
visceral adipose tissue (belly fat) than those
on a diet with the same kilojoules but no
almonds. The almond eaters also displayed
a significant decrease in diastolic blood
pressure.
96
COACH CLASS
You might think that
running coaches are just
for elite athletes. “Not so,” says coach Jason
Fitzgerald (strengthrunning.com). “A coach,
whether in person or online, can help you
reach goals faster and safer than using a
stock plan or winging it by yourself.”
Commonwealth Games marathon bronze
medallist and two-time Olympian Liz Yelling
(yellingperformance.com) agrees. “A coach
not only provides structure, but can tailor the
plan towards your goals, maximising training
priorities within your lifestyle and helping you
better understand your personal responses
to training,” she says. The best coaching
relationships are two-way: you have
someone to listen to you, and get feedback
from – something you won’t get from a
training journal. You’ll also have someone
else to blame when you find yourself wasted
after a particularly brutal training session.
97 - 98 SPEED
DATING
A date with a running buddy
is good news for your training and
motivation, but what will help you more
– running with someone you have to work
hard to keep up with, or someone who
can’t match your pace? It all depends, says
coach Jamie Adcock. “On easy or
recovery days, it’s best to run with
someone whose company you enjoy, who
runs at your comfortable pace or a bit
slower,” says Adcock. “Trying to keep up
with a faster runner during these runs
would defeat their purpose and leave you
fatigued, and possibly injured. However,
when you’re doing speed workouts or
other hard sessions, your faster pal will
keep you on pace to hit your targets.”
 99
Jog your memory 100 GO SUB-30
A foolproof plan to
get your parkrun/5-K
time under the half-hour mark: “If you’re not
running 6km to 8km three to four times a
week, build up to that base,” says exercise
physiologist and running coach Holly Jamison.
“Then add weekly 400m repeats, with a
10-minute jogging warm-up and cooldown,
and two minutes of rest between each rep.
Aim for 2.14 for 400m, 5.35 min/km pace) to
build the speed you’ll need to average 6 min/
km for a sub-30. Start with four reps, and
add one or two each week to hit eight by the
Train your brain to lock in information with a judiciously timed post-work
second-to-last week before the 5-K.”
workout. Research published in the journal Current Biology found that

101
heading out for a run four hours after a learning task increases activity in
the hippocampus – not a higher education facility for African wildlife, but
- 103
a key area of the brain involved in memory.
DITCH THE STITCH
Three ways to beat one
of the banes of our running lives, courtesy
of exercise physiologist and running coach
Angela Bekkala:
“Slow down or stop, and breathe slowly and
deeply. Press the stitch and/or stretch your
arms overhead.”
“Extend the arm on the same side as your
stitch and bend to the opposite side.”
“Run tall – slumping restricts the
diaphragm, the muscle beneath your lungs
that helps you breathe.”

104 THE LONG

PHOTOGRAPHS: MITCH MANDEL , GE T T Y IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES (GRE TE, ELIUD, BEE; CASE Y CRAFFORD (RUNNING MAN)

AND SHORT
Got a marathon and a
5-K in the diary? Weekly anaerobic threshold
NO.104 (AT) runs will prep you for both, says Rebekah
Mayer, national run training manager for
Lifetime Run in the US. “These workouts train
your body to sustain a hard pace as your
muscles learn to quickly metabolise lactic acid
– and your mind learns to manage fatigue,”
says Mayer. “The pace needs to be hard
enough for conversation [more than a few
words at a time] to be difficult. A 20-minute
run at AT pace, with a five-minute jog before
and after, is a solid 5-K or marathon workout.”

105 CELEBRATE
RUN-WITHOUT-
TELLING-
ANYONE-ABOUT-IT DAY
Give all your non-runner friends a break from
the tyranny of sharing (be that face-to-face
or on social media) on this holiday for runners
that, yes, we’ve just invented. Leave your
smartphone at home and just run – no selfies,
no hashtags, no tweets. Ponder life’s deep
questions, such as: if a runner goes for a run,
and no-one sees the data, did it still happen?
The answer is ‘yes’. You’ll know.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 77

78 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
 Where ordinary mortals see only extreme
discomfort, people who participate in
extreme ultra-distance races find pleasure.
Who are these people? And what inspires
them to take on some of the world’s
toughest endurance events?
By Lisa Abdellah

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 79

At 3am on Saturday, 30 August 2015, most of
us were wrapped up in our warm, cosy duvets
– but Alana Munnik was running on top of
the Col de la Seigne, a mountain on the steep
southern side of the Mont Blanc massif.
Munnik, 31, had already covered 65km of
the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), but
was less than halfway along the 170km route
that makes this famous race one of the two
toughest single-day trail races in the world,
along with the Western States 100-miler.
Munnik was heading into conditions typical
of this remote region: hostile terrain, extreme
weather. At various points during her race,
she would experience bad digestion, sleep
deprivation, intense fatigue, hallucinations and
negative emotions – sometimes several of those
combined. There was a genuine possibility that
despite years of training, she might not finish.
This is her idea of fun.
Extreme ultra-distance races were once a
fringe pursuit for the elite few, but in recent
years, their popularity among mainstream
athletes like Munnik has rocketed. Inspired
by the biographies of such elite trail runners
as Dean Karnazes and our very own Ryan
Sandes, they compete in local races like the
Cederberg Traverse, the Skyrun and the
Ultra-Trail Cape Town, and even travel to
destination races abroad.
Not only do non-elites dedicate many hours
of their lives to preparing for these extreme
events; they are neither sponsored nor likely
to win anything, and pay for the privilege of a
painful experience out of their own pockets.

Who are they?

Do endurance athletes have specific
personality traits that predispose them to
participation in ultra marathons?
“In the past, there was lots of anecdotal
evidence that endurance events were more

80 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 suited to introverts; but some of the later
research findings contradict this,” says Clinton
Gähwiler, a psychologist at the Sports Science
Institute of South Africa (SSISA).
Researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg-
Universität Mainz, in Germany, found that
endurance athletes are in fact extroverts,
who are less likely to experience increases in
wakefulness, vigilance, muscle tone and heart
rate than introverts. So they look for stimulation
inaugural Munga Trail, a five-day/400km
Mpumalanga race from Belfast to the rim of the
Blyde River Canyon.
Given the personality type ascribed to
endurance athletes, perhaps that’s why they
perpetually push their physical and mental
boundaries – the idea of finding out how much
they can take excites them.
In order to go that little bit further than
everyone else, experienced endurance athletes
According to Gähwiler, another
characteristic of successful endurance athletes
is that they are as non-judgemental as possible
during an event – doing their best with things
as they are, as opposed to judging them for
how they should be.
“When a part of me feels so sore that it’s all
I can think about, I look at the beauty of where
I am, and draw energy from it,” says Prins. “I
know it sounds airy fairy, but it helps me.”

Are they all the same?

“They seek adventure and

“There are so many people involved in
endurance events now, for all sorts of reasons,

competition, and are willing

that inevitably you start to find all sorts
of people involved,” Gähwiler points out.

to take more risks.”

elsewhere – through more extreme bodily
activity. They seek adventure and competition,
and are willing to take more risks.
The study also found that endurance
athletes are low on neuroticism, meaning they
are less likely to be moody, or to experience
such feelings as anxiety, worry, fear, anger
and loneliness. In other words, they’re better
equipped to cope with the extreme situations
they will face during an ultra-distance race.
“Endurance athletes are also willing to
commit to a specific training plan that requires
a certain level of sacrifice, as well as the ability
to delay immediate gratification for the sake
of achieving a long-term goal,” adds Gähwiler.
In another study, European researchers
measured pain tolerance with a cold pressor
test, in which the subject sticks a hand in
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y S V E N M U S I CA ( P R E V I O U S PAG E ) ; O L I V E R M U N N I K ( A L A N A ); C R A I G KO L E S K Y ( S K Y R U N )
develop ways of coping with discomfort. In
2012, researchers at the University of Alberta,
Canada, studied six entrants at the Canadian
Death Race, a 125km course in the Canadian
Rocky Mountains. All the athletes set small
goals, and monitored pace, nutrition and
hydration; and some had social support.
“It’s about managing yourself, from start
to finish,” says Prins. “If you blow when you
don’t eat every hour, then make sure you eat
every hour. If you need two hours’ sleep every
24 hours, then get your head down. Eat before
you feel hungry, sleep before you feel tired,
and fix a hotspot before it becomes a blister.”
While endurance athletes certainly have lots
in common, in other ways they can be very
different from each other.
The way a person approaches running can
sometimes be influenced by past experiences.
An example: Jock Green is a former pro cyclist
turned runner who represented South Africa
at the Trail Running World Championships.
He admits he had a difficult childhood.
“My father left when I was two, my
grandparents were alcoholics, and my brother
was a drug addict. As a single parent who
worked hard to put food on the table, my mom
was never around to come and watch me at
sporting events.
“Nobody inspired me; nobody told me
to study, or even to get up in the morning.
Because there was nobody there.”

ice water for as long as possible. He or she

must first let the researchers know when it
becomes painful, and then indicate when the
pain is unbearable. In this test, active ultra
marathoners tolerated significantly more
pain than similar subjects with no marathon
experience in the last five years.

What gets them through?

So endurance athletes’ ability to tolerate pain
could just be down to a matter of experience.
The more they compete in ultra-distance events,
the more they are exposed to discomfort.
“You become more in tune with – and more
confident about – the level of discomfort your
body and mind can handle,” says Tatum Prins,
who came second in the women’s race at the

LEFT: The face of determination – Alana

Munnik, giving it her all at UTMB. Extroverts
focus outwards, on the next aid station.
RIGHT: Jock Green powers up another kloof
at the Skyrun. Introverts focus inwards, on
how their bodies are coping.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 81


In the absence of the support others take for
granted, Green developed self-belief; and a
constant need to prove himself. He needed
both to become head boy at the private school
he attended, and later, a pro cyclist in Europe.
Green is open about his high levels of drive
and competition; he fights to beat his own
times. And he focuses inwards, on what’s
happening in his own body: his breathing,
heart rate, energy intake, and how his muscles
are feeling.
“Sometimes I run from pain, and sometimes
I run to feel pain,” he says. “When I’m not
feeling happy, I tend to run better.”
He sees each aid station as more of a
hindrance to his performance than a help.
“Having a supporter there would distract me
from concentrating on either extending my
lead, or hunting down the runner ahead of me.”
On the other side of the divide, there’s
Munnik. She grew up with high levels of
support; on weekends, her parents would
always watch her hockey and water polo
matches – particularly her father, who himself
ran the 100m and 200m in high school.
Now, as an adult, Munnik relies on outside
stimulation; she attempts purposefully to
distract herself from the discomfort. “I break
the race down into manageable sections, from
82 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
5 WINNING
MENTAL
STRATEGIES
1. Experience is
everything.
The more you experience
ultra events, the more
confident you’ll feel about
what your body can handle,
and the more in tune you’ll
become with what works
for you in terms of nutrition,
pacing and gear. Practise in
training.
aid station to aid station,” she says. “I never 2. Manage yourself.
think of the end at the beginning, because Understand what works for
that would freak me out – I’d be looking at my you, but be flexible – have
watch, thinking I’ve only done 15 kays, and I a plan A, B and C, in case
still have another 140 to run! circumstances change.
“I focus on being in the moment; it’s
like meditation. I think of the most random 3. Set small goals.
things during a race: sometimes I think Break your race down
about the past, and other times I take in my into manageable sections,
surroundings.” and focus on being in the
Unlike Green, Munnik welcomes the moment.
distraction of a friendly face when she reaches
an aid station. Husband and loyal supporter 4. Monitor your pace.
Oli performs that task, taking care of her – The key with any ultra
especially late in a race, when often she almost distance is not to go out too
can’t take care of herself. He helps her to figure hard, or you’ll blow halfway
out what she needs at the time – nutrition, through the race. Munnik’s
new gear, a pep talk – and to transition her top tip: run 20-25% slower
out of the aid station quickly, before she starts in the first third of your
feeling too comfortable. race.
This means Oli also has to think about
how his behaviour affects his wife, which
5. Don’t throw your
supporters in at the
deep end.
They’ll provide better
logistical and emotional
ABOVE: Unfinished business: Jock Green
returned to the Skryrun in 2014, finishing support at aid stations
third. INSET: Alana Munnik and No. 1 if they understand what
supporter Oli. RIGHT: Alone in the middle of
you’re going through.
nowhere – just how ‘ultra’ ultra runners like it.
 is why understanding what she’s actually
going through is crucial. Luckily he also has
extreme-event experience, as he competes
in endurance mountain-bike races. And he’d
supported Munnik at races before UTMB: had

“I never think of the end at

the beginning, because that
would freak me out...”
she thrown Oli in at the deep end on Mont-
Blanc, seeing her in that sleep-deprived and
fatigued state for the first time might have
freaked him out.
“If your supporter says something like, ‘you
don’t have to finish, if you don’t want to’,” says
Munnik, “that puts you in a negative headspace,
and decreases your motivation to finish.
“Before the race started, I remember
saying to Oli: ‘Whatever happens, don’t let
me stop.’ And he did push me through some
incredibly dark spaces; at times, I was literally
sleepwalking.”
For Munnik, having Oli at each aid station
isn’t always about actual physical or even
emotional support. Sometimes just the idea of
him being there – something she can rely on
outside of herself – is comfort enough.
“Oli has to put Alana’s needs before his
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y C R A I G KO L E S K Y ( S K Y R U N / U TC T ) ; P E T E R M U N N I K ( A L A N A A N D O L I ); B R U C E V I A E N E ( A B OV E M I D D L E )

own,” adds Gähwiler, “because in that

situation, she won’t always be in the mood for
social niceties – at times, she may come across
as unnecessarily grumpy.”

Why don’t they give up?

Because endurance races are long, there’s
certainly more chance of things going wrong;
but experienced participants understand that
duration also increases the likelihood of things
going right. Ultra runners often report coming
back from their setbacks, because they’ve had
time to fix the problems.
On the morning of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail,
a non-stop 120km race through the Dolomites
in Italy, Munnik had a bloated stomach, which
she put down to pre-race nerves. Despite
feeling unwell, she decided to start anyway.
The first 60km was such a struggle, she was
forced to walk for 10km.
“But somehow I managed to get my
stomach to settle, and then I was able to eat
some more,” she recalls. “Luckily the next
section was downhill, and I felt strong enough
to run it.” If she’d stopped when she first felt
bad – or in a shorter event – she would have
had to abandon the race.
When it comes to giving up, endurance
athletes say that it’s acceptable to be timed out

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 83

84 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
 THE ULTRA-
ULTRA
RUNNER’S TOP
FIVE BUCKET-
LIST RACES
Alana Munnik has already
participated in the Ultra-
Trail du Mont-Blanc® (UTMB)
and the 100-K event at the
Cederberg Traverse, both
of which are two of her
favourites – but she’s far from
done. Here’s what’s next…
1. Hardrock 100 (160km),
Silverton, Colorado.
“Colorado is the number-one
place I’d like to run in the US.
Climbing is my strong point,
and this race has 10 000m of
it. Traditionally, participants
kiss a rock when they cross the
finish line.”
2. UTMB (170km) (again),
Chamonix, France.
“It’s an iconic race, dubbed
‘the holy grail of 100-milers’ by
the international trail-running
community.”
3. Cederberg Traverse
(100km), Cederberg.
“It’s popular among local
endurance athletes, because
the valleys and kloofs are so
remote that few have ever seen
them. With the right marketing
and logistics, I believe this event
could attract an international
field in the future.”
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y G OVA N BA S S O N (C E D E R B E R G T R AV E R S E , TAT U M P R I N S )
4. The Grand Raid de la
Réunion (162km), Réunion
Island.
“A properly wild race. I like the
idea of summiting 3 000m,
surrounded by mountains,
volcanoes and the sea.
Afterwards, I can reward my
efforts by relaxing on the beach.”
5. Ultra-Trail Cape Town
(100km), Cape Town.
“Destination races are great,
but sometimes it’s nice to race
on home soil. The cut-off time is
tight, so just to finish would be
an achievement.”
of a race (or to collapse), but simply opting out
because you’re ‘having a bad day’ is unacceptable.
At the Munga, after months of training, Prins
looked forward to the achievement of a podium
position – she wasn’t about to throw in the
towel for the sake of a few blisters on her feet, no
matter how painful they were.
For elites like Prins and Green, there’s also
the added pressure of competitive success.
Green wants to be on the podium – and he
cares about what other people think of him.
Sponsorship just adds to that pressure: he can’t
disappoint his sponsors without good reason.
In his entire career, Green has dropped
out of only two ultras. He ran 100km of the
UTMB in 2016, vomiting up every morsel of
“Losing always just
motivates me to train harder
for my next race.”
food he tried to eat along the way. The 2013
Skyrun was called off by race organisers
due to extreme weather conditions: 100km/
hr wind, hail and sleet. At the time, Green
was 20km away from the finish line, on top
of a mountain. There was no other way to
get home than to make his way back down.
He developed hypothermia, and though he
managed to wrap himself in a blanket, getting
back was a matter of survival rather than
completing the event.
Prins has similar memories. “I was
participating in an adventure race with my
team, in Ecuador,
when I got altitude
LEFT: Cederberg sickness. The medics
Traverse - 100km
of lunar landscape. told me it would be
ABOVE: After months life-threatening to
of training, Tatum carry on,” she recalls.
Prins doesn’t give up
without a fight. Where some
athletes might have felt angry or dejected,
both Green and Prins embraced their failure
– because they bowed out knowing they had
given it their all.
“Losing always just motivates me to train
harder for my next race,” says Green.
So, why do so many drop out?
Researchers Dennis Bramble and Daniel
Lieberman have argued that the human body
is naturally adapted for long-distance running,
because of our hunter-gatherer lifestyles
in the past; and studies suggest that some
personalities are, too.
But given the high drop-out rate at UTMB
– 40% of the field don’t make it, and a large
proportion of the rest of the field just scrapes
through in the final hours – how prepared are
human beings for these events, really?
Having the right personality for
endurance running means nothing without
the experience to match. “Athletes are
unsuccessful because they’ve undertrained,
and underestimated the task at hand,” says
Munnik. “Or because they’ve overtrained –
and having already done too much, their body
revolts as soon as they start.
“The key with any ultra-distance race is not to
go out too hard. You see it time and again: people
feel comfortable and think they’re okay, and
then all of a sudden they blow to pieces halfway
through the race. Your race really only starts in
the last 30% – if you’re still feeling strong at that
point, then you’ve had a good one.”
In the event of an exception like Munnik’s
Lavaredo comeback, the ability to adapt pays
dividends. “When athletes aren’t flexible
enough, they seem to limit the patience and
energy they have for coping with stressors,”
Gähwiler explains. “Inevitably, then, a
succession of stressful events will gradually
‘empty’ their available coping resources.”
But as with most things in life, you can’t
understand what it’s really like out there until
you’ve experienced it first-hand. Munnik
could describe her experience of running
UTMB – and how happy she felt when she
finished in the top 30% of the field, which
included accomplished European athletes –
to her dad, and as a successful runner himself
he has some idea of what that means.
But he was a sprinter. Thirty-eight hours of
pain? That’s another story.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 85
 How trail-running legend Kilian
Jornet’s record-breaking ‘run’ up the
world’s highest peak has redefined
the boundaries of our sport – and the
very limits of human performance.
By Duncan Craig

86 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

A

D
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 87

AT
MIDNIGHT
ON MAY
21, KILIAN
JORNET
STOOD
ON TOP
OF THE
WORLD.
He carried neither oxygen cylinders nor
ropes, and no guides or Sherpas were at his
side. The 29-year-old was alone, light and
nimble – the torch beams of expensively
assembled expeditions on the mountain far
below punctuated the blackness. With his
lightweight kit, a few energy gels and just a
single litre of water, he looked more runner
than mountaineer. Which, of course, is
precisely what he is: the greatest mountain
runner in history, in fact.
Seemingly not constrained by the same
laws of physics as the rest of us, the Catalan
mountain goat had just set a record for the
fastest known time (FKT) ascending the
planet’s most fabled peak: a scarcely believable
26 hours from base camp on the Tibetan side
of Everest to the 8 848m summit. Wearing
custom-built shoes engineered by his sponsor
Salomon, he’d run the first stretch in the style
of one of the mountain trail-running races
he’s dominated for nearly a decade, before
88 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
pulling on crampons and advancing into the
more technical terrain. Passing seasoned
mountaineers taking up to four days to toil
their way up into the ‘death zone’, he’d
continued in a single push to the top. Some
had scoffed at his aim to ‘run up’ Everest. But,
by any relative measure, this was exactly what
he had achieved.
“From the top, I could make out the
neighbouring mountains, Cho La and Lhotse,
the plateaus. It was truly beautiful,” says
Jornet, typically more concerned with the
value of the experience than the scale of his
achievement. “Everybody can climb how they
feel they want to – there’s no good or bad way.
But for me, I wanted to see if it was possible
to do it in one go, with no oxygen, no ropes,
faster. My way: it felt good to be alone up
there. To just enjoy the moment and not have
to think about other people.”
A Himalayas novice Jornet may have been.
But the Alps-based ultra runner knew more
than enough about mountains to understand
that the summit, as the saying goes, is only
halfway. Despite the success of his FKT, the
ascent had been far from straightforward – his
1.7m, 58kg frame was wracked by agonising
cramps and vomiting exacerbated by extreme
exertion in an environment entirely hostile
to even the most physiologically gifted of
humans. So, at that point, he’d abandoned
his plan to descend all the way back down
to Base Camp for a neatly bookended time.
Instead, he holed up at Advanced Base Camp
(ABC), at 6 500m, as the wind picked up. His
instincts, as usual, were good; four people died
on Everest’s slopes that weekend.
Mountain-running legend Marino
Giacometti, pioneer of the high-altitude-
trail Skyrunning movement that Jornet
has done so much to popularise, followed
his protégé’s exploits with both awe and
apprehension from his native Italy. “This is
a great achievement of both endurance and
survival,” says Giacometti. “In trail-running
terms, this is one of the great
performances. No ropes, no
oxygen. No one in the world “MY WAY: IT
could have done this except
Kilian.”
FELT GOOD
The veteran explorer Sir TO BE ALONE
Ranulph Fiennes, a man not
given to issuing breathless
UP THERE.
praise, particularly not to TO JUST
those who might be seen ENJOY THE
to be encroaching on his
turf, goes even further in
MOMENT...”
assessing Jornet’s talent and
achievement: “Normal people – and in that I
count myself – we have to accept that there
are those who can do things which I would
say for humans are not possible.”
For Jornet, achieving the impossible
in the Himalayas was merely the closing
chapter in a five-year odyssey to set FKTs
on the world’s most emblematic peaks. The
Summits of My Life project began in 2012
with a sub-nine-hour ski-mountaineering
traverse of Mont Blanc (4 801m), in the
French Alps. Jornet followed this with a
straight up-and-down of the Alpine giant
from the centre of the mountain sports
Mecca, Chamonix. Most mountaineers take
two days to scale Mont Blanc, encumbered
by heavy kit and complex logistics. Jornet
did it in four hours and 57 minutes, wearing
a T-shirt, shorts and trail-running shoes,
breaking a record that had stood for 23
years in the process and commenting with
characteristic understatement that “it was a
nice experience”.
The 4 478m Matterhorn came in August
the following year. Setting off from the elegant
white church in the centre of Breuil-Cervinia,
and following the classic Lion’s Crest route,
Jornet raced up to the woven metal cross
that teeters on the summit and back down
in the time it takes most of us to log on in the
morning, check our emails, have a coffee and
consider doing some work: two hours and 52
minutes. The 18-year-old record he broke in
the process had belonged to the great Italian
mountain runner Bruno Brunod.
To view the jaw-dropping drone-captured
video of Jornet’s performance that day
(and if you haven’t, you can check it out at
runnersworld.co.za/kilian) is to watch one
of the most accomplished athletes of all time
operating at the peak of his powers. With mid-
afternoon sunshine illuminating the snow-
lined strata of the Matterhorn, the whippet-
thin Catalan races up and down serrated,
near-vertical rock faces at a pace that leaves
your head spinning. During the 56 minutes it
took him to get from the summit back down
to his starting point, he descended at the
remarkable rate of 2 645m per hour.
Brunod accompanied him along the final
section of the route. “This is
the moment that will remain
engraved in my memory,”
says a magnanimous Jornet.
“If I am what I am today,
I owe it to people like him,
who have inspired me ever
since I was a young boy.”
In 2014, Summits of My
Life really gathered pace.
Ascent-descent records
fell to Jornet on Alaska’s
6 194m Denali (formerly
Mt McKinley), where, using skis fitted with
climbing skins, and crampons, and avoiding
fixed ropes as per the values underpinning his
project, he set an up-down time of 11 hours
and 48 minutes, carving more than five hours
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y ( P R E V I O U S PAG E ) M A R KU S B E R G E R ; ( T H I S S P R E A D) S É BAS T I E N M O N TA Z R O S S E T, M A R K U S B E R G E R ( D O LO M I T E S )
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Jornet on Everest;
going up, the hard way; base camp, from
where most people climb the highest
mountain in the world using ropes and oxygen;
with partner Emelie Forsberg in the Dolomites,
Italy. (Previous page: in the Dolomites)
off the previous best. Then, in December,
he smashed the record on the Western
Hemisphere’s highest peak, Argentina’s
Aconcagua (6 962m). The high-altitude 24km
he ran to Plaza de Mules base camp at 4 350m
would have wiped out many a talented athlete,
KILIAN JORNET
but this was merely the precursor to the 40km
of slope to the summit. Turning round at the
top, he scorched his way back down again at
four-hour marathon pace. Another virtuoso
performance, another record. Jornet was
named National Geographic Adventurer of
the Year, and Summits of My Life was right on
track… but the project’s undisputed high point
was still to come.
To those who have followed Jornet’s career
from the beginning, his glittering exploits
in speed-mountaineering over the past five
years will seem like a natural progression.
Versatility has been the runner’s hallmark
since he first propelled himself into the public
consciousness in 2008, winning and setting
a 20-hour course record in the 161km Ultra-
Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), European trail-
running’s flagship event. Within the field of
sinewy, trail-hardened runners tackling the
route’s punishing 9 000m-aggregate climb,
the name of the fresh-faced kid from the
Pyrenean mountain village of Cap de Rec
in Cerdanya was already being whispered
with awe.
He didn’t look back; he rarely has to.
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 89
There followed an unrivalled streak of
success across the full spectrum of trail
running: mammoth, multi-day ultras such
as the 800km Transpirenaica crossing of
the Pyrenees; revered US spirit-crushers
such as Colorado’s Hardrock 100 (a course
record for Jornet), the 165-mile (266km)
Tahoe Rim Trail in California (ditto) and the
Western States 100; shorter trail races such
as the Pike’s Peak Marathon and the Zegama-
Aizkorri – the ‘Tour de France of trail-
running’; vertical kilometre races; Skyrunning
world championships; a course record for the
GR20 in Corsica (regarded by many as the
toughest trail race in Europe). A trail-running
trailblazer, his range of success is akin to Usain
Bolt dominating every track
event up to and including
the 10 000m – and then “IT TAKES
adding the steeplechase just
for kicks. TIME - A LOT
Marino Giacometti, OF TIME -
who first met Jornet when
the then-shy 16-year-
TO REALLY
old approached him at KNOW THE
a race, believes it’s this MOUNTAINS.”
versatility that sets him
apart. “There have been
great trail runners before, of course,” he says.
“Mountain runners, too. But no one with such
a range. Skyrunning, ski mountaineering, the
traditional long-distance trails – Kilian has
been able to do all these disciplines, and at the
very best level. He’s like a skier who is able to
win in the slalom, the downhill, everything.
He is unique.”
It’s a measure of his stature that even
before the recent profile-boosting assault
on those totemic peaks, Jornet was as close
as a trail runner gets to being mainstream.
He has more than a million followers on
Instagram and Facebook; sponsorship deals
with Salomon, Suunto, Petzl and Mercedes-
90 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
Benz; an autobiography, Run or Die, that was
shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of
the Year award; and a regular output of videos
that are devoured by his YouTube fans in their
hundreds of thousands.
SOLE TO SOUL
Yet humility runs through him as surely as
showmanship does through Bolt. You’re no
more likely to see Jornet posing for a tongue-
out, devil-prong selfie atop a mountain
than you are to see him and partner Emelie
Forsberg, a fellow ultra-running champion,
hanging around red-carpet events. “Kilian is
able to speak publicly and do presentations or
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y JAV I CO L M E N E R O ( B OT TO M L E F T ), S É BAS T I E N M O N TA Z R O S S E T, R I C K Y G AT E S ( H A R D R O C K 1 00)
sponsor’s events or whatever,” says Giacometti.
“But in truth he’d prefer not
to be involved in such things.
I often think the reason why
he loves the mountains so
much is because they give
him the chance to be alone.”
Jornet’s Summits of My
Life project was built on a
series of core values. Some
may sound a little too ‘eco-
spiritual’ to some (“We’ll
learn to coexist with the
real world, the world of rocks, of plants and
ice”), but in their entirety they chime with the
anti-consumerist drive towards a meaningful
reconnection with nature. “We have to learn
to live with less,” the values conclude. Jornet’s
fast and light approach to his work on the
mountains seems a neat embodiment of this.
Patrick Leick, a senior project manager
at Salomon, spent two years working with
Jornet honing the specialist equipment
he would wear for Everest. He describes
him as thoughtful, focused and unfailingly
approachable. “I first met Kilian before he
won the UTMB for the first time. He’s not
changed a bit – still quiet and modest.”

FROM LEFT: Kilian Jornet – ‘shy, humble,
friendly’; descending Mont Blanc; setting a new
speed record for ascending and descending
the Matterhorn in 2013; and during the
Hardrock 100 in Colorado, US, which he won in
2014, 2015 and 2016 (co-winner).
When RW spoke to Jornet in the wake of his
second unsuccessful attempt to set a FKT on
Everest last summer (poor weather conditions,
and good judgement, put paid to that) it was hard
work prising the figure of his highest recorded
VO2 max out of him. It is a scarcely fathomable
92 ml/kg/min (elite runners range from 70-
85 ml/kg/min). What also came through was
the strong streak of the runner-philosopher
in him, in the mould of author and runner
Haruki Murakami. Thoughtful, placid, utterly
grounded. “Life is not something to be preserved
or protected,” he says. “It is to be explored and
lived to the full.”
From anyone else it might sound like
a bumper-sticker platitude, but Jornet’s
musings about mortality have been forged
by deep personal tragedy. Summits of My
Life started out by costing a life: French ski
mountaineer Stephane Brosse, 40, was killed
in June 2012 as he and Jornet attempted
a speed crossing of the Mont Blanc massif
from Les Contamines in France to Champex
in Switzerland. Jornet was just a metre
away when a snow cornice on the Aiguille
d’Argentiere collapsed, plummeting his
friend and mentor 600m to his death. Now,
whenever Jornet is in the mountains, Brosse is
never far from his mind. “Stephane’s death has
made me more cautious about the conditions
of nature and how fast they can change,” says
Jornet. “We can control ourselves, and our
technique, but it takes time – a lot of time – to
really know the mountains.”
Brosse, Jornet candidly admits, was his idol.
Among the many things he credits the older
man for is introducing him to the concept of
operating in the mountains in a lightweight
manner. Another mentor, Swiss speedclimber
Ueli Steck, was also instrumental in Jornet’s
transformative achievements over the past
five years. A formidable pair – the world’s
fastest mountain climber (Steck set the 2:22
record for ascending the north face of the
Eiger) and the world’s fastest mountain
runner – they tackled various peaks together,
including a 10-hour ascent of the Eiger from
Grindelwald in 2015. “We’re not pioneers
but I think we are bold,” Steck told RW last
year, brimming with praise for Jornet, and
pride at what the Catalan was attempting in
the unforgiving crucible of Everest. “We are
testing what is possible – what can I do with
my body, where is my limit? I believe it’s the
wrong approach to just compare yourself to
others and try to beat them. It needs to be a
more personal thing: to push yourself as far as
you can.” Words that will strike a chord with
all runners, whether we’re tackling mountain
ascents or our local parkrun.
Tragically, seven months later, Steck too
was dead, falling 1 000m while climbing the
Himalayan peak of Mount Nuptse. Jornet was
KILIAN JORNET
deeply affected by the tragedy – but there was
never any question of him abandoning his record
attempt scheduled for a few weeks later. “In a
way it’s better to die in the mountains than, say, a
car accident,” Jornet once reflected. “But I think
it’s never good to die.”
BLURRING THE LINES
Some may question how much of the Everest
– and other – ascent(s) can really be classed as
running, but they illustrate a narrowing gap
between trail running and mountain climbing.
Jornet’s influence on this merging of the
horizontal and the vertical is unquestionable,
but it is not a movement he is driving single-
handedly. The tradition of running up and
down mountains is well established: the Ben
Nevis race in Scotland dates back to 1898; the
Pikes Peak Marathon, in Colorado, has been
delighting masochists since 1956 (Jornet won
it at a canter in 2012). What has changed is the
level of organisation, the GPS-enabled trend
towards setting and chasing FKTs, and the
sheer scale of the mountains. No one is going
to ‘run up’ the north face of the Eiger, such
is the technical difficulty of the vast concave
slab. But, as Jornet recognised, many of the
biggest lumps on the planet aren’t in fact
overly technical. Everest, apparently, being a
case in point.
Giacometti’s Skyrunning movement has
been gathering momentum since the early
1990s and there are now more than 200 races
worldwide, with around 50 000 runners.
Defined as mountain running above 2 000m,
it’s essentially Alpinism without the clutter. It
was made for Jornet, and Jornet for it.
Bergen-based Briton Jon Albon, Obstacle
Course Racing world champ 2014-2016, is
another athlete lured away from his bread
and butter by the mountains. Last year he
won the Skyracing Extreme World Series,
a set of races devised by Jornet himself. But
Albon’s Skyrunning career didn’t start so well.
In his first Skyrace, in Limone, Italy, in 2014,
he found himself up against Jornet. “I didn’t
really see him, to be honest,” says Albon. “He
was 15 minutes ahead. That sums up how most
people feel when they race him.” Albon was
not surprised that the Summits of My Life
project was born – nor where it culminated.
“There was a point when people thought it
was stupid to run up and down any mountain,
let alone the biggest in the world. If there was
ever anyone going to do something like this on
Everest, it was Kilian.”
As with so much of what he does, Jornet’s
achievements on Everest looked, if not
effortless, then certainly inevitable. But there
was apprehension in his camp for this one.
Leick was edgy and didn’t sleep for nearly two
days around the attempt. Giacometti likewise.
Being fast and nimble in the mountains can
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 91
have its advantages; you’re not exposed to
extreme weather changes in the way that those
tied to spending multiple days ascending a
mountain are. The avalanche risk is lower, too,
given the relative brevity of your time in situ.
But fast and unsupported does equate to more
risk overall – and how Jornet was going to react
to extreme altitude was an unsettling unknown.
“On Everest, the mountain is boss, the
weather is boss, you are not the boss,” says
Giacometti. “And I was anxious for Kilian’s
performance over 8 000m. It’s not a question
only of VO2 max, for instance; beyond 5 000m
your VO2 reduces by nearly half. Different
people have a different reaction over 8 000m.
I said to Kilian, ‘please return’!”
Jornet did so – an outcome he credits in
large measure to what he
has learned by running. He
speaks of the indefatigability “IT’S LIKE
that ultra-running pounds KILIAN HAS
into you, the ability to go to
the well and drain it – then
SHOWN
run for another 20 hours. THE WORLD
So, too, the instinct to keep
moving at a brisk pace, and
WHAT IS
the precise understanding POSSIBLE.”
of your body’s complex
balance between nutrition and performance.
“My experience was worth so much on
Everest,” says Jornet. “Those longer races, the
ultras, the 100-plus-mile races. These teach
you to fight when you’re tired, to never give
in.”
Preparation was a cornerstone of Summits of
My Life. The Spaniard’s laid-back demeanour
belies a furious fastidiousness, and if you respect
the mountain, then it follows that you must also
prepare for it. Ahead of his Matterhorn attempt,
Jornet tested out the route eight times and lay
in wait for the optimum conditions, timing his
afternoon departure to the minute to ensure
he’d encounter the minimum possible ice.
RUNNER’S HIGHS
2014
JUNE
DENALI/MCKINLEY
6 194m: 11:48
2013
2013 AUG
JULY MATTERHORN
MONT BLANC 4 478m: 2:52
4 810m:
4:57
92 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
He planned Everest for two years. When the
2016 attempt failed owing to poor conditions,
he adjusted the plan, coming out early and
spending two weeks training on another 8 000m
mountain, Cho Oyu. He made repeated recces,
moving between 6 400m and 8 400m. Great for
his Instagram feed, even better for his body. The
Jornet camp called it ‘express acclimatisation’.
GAME CHANGING
The principle of a single push is a good one
– with one enormous caveat: that you have
the mental toughness and fitness to carry
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y J O C E LY N C H AV Y, G A L LO I M AG E S / G E T T Y I M AG E S ( R U N N E R ’ S H I G H S )
it off. The de rigueur multi-day ascents of a
mountain like Everest are predicated on
overnight rest stops at various camps. Yet
sleeping at altitude is nigh on impossible.
The result is accumulated
weariness, magnified by
the thin air. The mountain
is littered with the bodies
of those who stopped for a
quick rest – almost falling
asleep mid-stride – and
never woke up. In such
brutal conditions, your heart
rate slows and exposure
overcomes you.
One of the allies Jornet made on
Everest was American Adrian Ballinger, a
mountaineer who has 10 Everest seasons
under his belt. The two men summited – both
without oxygen – on the same day, Ballinger
having taken a more conventional multi-day
approach. And they shared a tent back at
Advanced Base Camp, where Jornet willingly
signed autographs despite having been on his
feet for more than 30 hours.
Jornet’s exploits are already making the likes
of Ballinger reconsider their strategies. “We’re
starting to play around with this,” he says.
“Sleeping at high altitude has its challenges
and dangers. Going up and down so quickly,
Kilian Jornet’s peak performances
2014
DECEMBER 2017 MAY
ACONCAGUA EVEREST
6 962m: 8 848m: 26:00 +
12:49 Advanced Base
Camp-summit:
17:00

FROM TOP: Kilian Jornet perfectly at home
running high in the Swiss Alps; and on his
way to victory in the 2016 Pierrra Menta ski
mountaineering race in southeast France
as Kilian did – the style requires a certain
element of confidence that your fitness is going
to facilitate this. Kilian really played right on
the edge of that, and he told me he ended up
having to nap up high briefly, crawling under
a boulder. That is the risk.” He adds: “I don’t
think he was ever in danger, though. Kilian’s
stamina is absolutely incredible.”
Even as Jornet chips away at mountaineering
conventions, there’s barely a whisper of
discontent from this hard-bitten community.
Ballinger and climbing partner Cory Richards
say they know of no-one with ill feelings
towards him. “As far as we can see, people are
just stoked about how fast Kilian moves in the
mountains,” says Richards. “And a big part of
that is Kilian himself. Shy, humble, friendly.”
It’s certainly hard to paint Jornet as an
imposter in the Himalayas – and there’s little
shortage of those, season to season: high-
net-worth, low-skilled clients with as much
KILIAN JORNET
oxygen and support as they can buy being, in
the words of detractors, ‘dragged to the top’. In
so many ways, Jornet is their antithesis.
In fact, so entwined with the mountains is
Jornet that six days after reaching the summit
of Everest, he was once again gazing up with
intent. It wasn’t in the original plan; but as he
rested up at ABC, word got out that he might
be having another shot at the summit. For a
FKT from ABC to the top and back? For more
glory? It’s a safe bet it was more probably just
for the sheer joy of it. He made it, of course: a
single 17-hour push from ABC to the summit
on May 27, in the process becoming the first
non-sherpa to summit Everest twice in a
week without oxygen. “That’s what really hit
Cory and me,” says Ballinger. “I’ve done two
summits in a week with oxygen, and I was
devastated – wiped out. I did it once, without,
this year, and couldn’t even begin to picture
doing it again.”
NEW HEIGHTS
Most observers agree the legacy of the Summits
of My Life project will be wide-reaching. In
the Alps, mountaineers are already beginning
to look at ways of tackling peaks faster and
lighter. “I think Kilian’s performances have
started to revolutionise the world of high
mountaineering,” says Leick. “I predict the
same evolution of high-mountaineering
footwear as we’ve seen in trail running.”
As for Jornet, Ballinger believes he has
barely scratched the surface of what he
can do, and will go on to break all sorts of
records. “But more importantly, he’s started
the whole movement towards these FKT
times,” says Ballinger. “He’s going to push
a whole generation of other athletes.” It’s
already happening. In the same way as with
a Bannister, a Bolt or a Steck, or anyone
who raises a bar by a significant margin,
others find themselves growing within
those expanded parameters. Just a few
months after Jornet set his 12:49 record on
Aconcagua, emerging mountain-running
sensation Karl Egloff lowered the time to
11:52. “It’s like Kilian has shown the world
what is possible,” says Richards.
After Everest, Jornet returned to the Alps
to begin his preparation for this summer’s
UTMB. But it’s a fair bet that there’s only so
long he’ll be content to run around massifs
rather than up them, now that he has so
dramatically expanded his horizons. “The
project is finished,” says Jornet. “It’s cool
because it has been a long adventure, five years
meeting a lot of people, learning from every
experience, and growing as an athlete and a
person.” He pauses. “But, of course, there are
always dreams. The trouble is, you climb a
summit; and from the top, all you can see are
other summits.”
SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 93
RACING AHEAD
The best running, multi-
sport and adventure races
this September • Compiled
by Wayde Finch, race editor
(rwraceeditor@gmail.com)

ED’S CHOICE

TRAIL RUNNING TRAPPERS

BLOEM 4 PEAKS
Saturday 23 September Unsupported;
vertical ascent of
24 over 1 800m; but
beautiful.
Trappers Bloemfontein 4 Peaks
Mountain Challenge Reverse
Moolmanshoek Game Reserve,
Maloti Route, Eastern Free State;
24km: 6am
Michael de Haast 072 078 5278
michael@pureadventures.co.za

One of the most infamous mountain

races on the SA trail-running
calendar is just around the corner.
Arguably, it’s also one of the
toughest 24km races. A relatively
new tradition is to run the route in
the opposite direction each year;
this one will be run in reverse.
Participants run along the
edge of the beautiful
Maloti River, which is
inside the reserve.

SEARCH THE COMPLETE LIST

OF RACES IN SOUTH AFRICA:
RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA/
RACE-CALENDAR

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CRAIG KOLESKY SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 95

 RACING AHEAD

FNB JHB 10K

ED’S CHOICE CITYRUN
Runners enjoy the
closed streets of
Jozi with family
GAUTENG and friends – it’s a
good day out.
Sunday 24 September
10
FNB Joburg 10K CITYRUN
3 First Place, Pritchard and
Simmonds Street, Bank City,
Johannesburg; 10km: 8am
Entries Office 074 927 4838
joburg10k.com

The route passes a number

of iconic landmarks in the
magnificent City of Gold, including
the Nelson Mandela Bridge, FNB
Bank City, Constitution Hill, Mary
Fitzgerald Square, Wits University,
the Neighbourgoods Market and
Ellis Park Stadium. Don’t expect a
P H OTO G R A P H B Y TO B I AS G I N S B E R G

personal best: there are a few hills.

When entering online, runners
can choose to support one, two
or all three of the official charities:
The Johannesburg Heritage
Foundation, the Johannesburg
SPCA, and the Reach For A Dream
Foundation.

ED’S CHOICE

A hidden green corridor, a

P H OTO G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F R AC E O R G A N I S E R S

KWAZULU-NATAL stone’s throw away from the

Sunday 10 September
5 14 22
Durban & Coast SPCA Trail Run
Durban & Coast SPCA,
Willowfield Crescent,
Springfield Park, Durban; 22km:
7am, 14km: 7:10am, 5km: 7:20am
Lindsey Concer 031 579 6546
roag.co.za
SEARCH THE COMPLETE LIST
OF RACES IN SOUTH AFRICA:
RUNNERSWORLD.CO.ZA/
RACE-CALENDAR
hustle and bustle of Durban.
Follow scenic singletracks, and
gravel and grass paths, along
the banks of the Umgeni River
– and if you’re lucky, you may
spot birdlife, including the
Fish Eagle. The event raises
funds for the support and care
of abandoned, neglected and
abused animals – participants
are even encouraged to dress up
as their favourite pet! There are
food stalls at the finish.

96 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

 ED’S CHOICE

ADVENTURE RACING
& MULTISPORT
7-9 September
5 10
Cape Town Corporate Games
Zevenwacht, Langverwacht
Road, Kuils River: 5km or 10km:
9:00am; 4 x 1600m relay: 11am
OneMovement Marketing
021 510 2121
info@onemovement.co.za

P H OTO G R A P H CO U R T E SY O F R AC E O R G A N I S E R S
Companies use sport as a team-
builder for their staff, and to
network with other companies.
Enter as many teams, with
as many team members, as
you wish: employees, clients,
suppliers, friends and family.
The philosophy of the event is
that it’s open to all – there are
no age or ability restrictions.

WESTERN CAPE
Saturday 30 September
Various Distances
Freshpak Fitness Festival
Clanwilliam Municipal
Campsite, Clanwilliam;
Various start times: 9am,
12:30pm and 3pm
Tri & Du Sport 021 914 1157
freshpakfitnessfestival.co.za

The annual Fitness Festival will

celebrate its 31st year in 2017. It’s
a true multisport event, offering
P H OTO G R A P H C O U R T E SY O F R AC E O R G A N I S E R S

swimming, cycling and running

challenges that give participants
FRESHPAK a real sense of accomplishment
FITNESS
FESTIVAL and camaraderie. Athletes and
Multisport their supporters are rewarded
madness in the with breathtaking views of the
breathtaking
Cederberg. Cederberg, and the pristine
waters of the Clanwilliam Dam.
Many participants will run
through the historic town, with
its fine architecture.

SEPTEMBER 2017 RUNNER’S WORLD 97

 BACK OF THE PACK
High-
Tail, Mr
Ponytail!
Fast men are like
fast cars – but
not in a good way.
BY BRUCE PINNOCK
EVERY RUNNING MANUAL has a chapter
devoted to speedwork. The back of
the pack take about as much notice
of that as a gourmand does a sugar-
free, dairy-free ‘health café’ that he
passes on his way to the artisanal
ice-cream parlour.
Why? Because running manuals
were written with fast runners in mind.
A new coach had joined our
athletics club – a Frenchman. He
invited the members in the ‘top
category’ to a speedwork session, on
the local soccer field, every Thursday.
Unbeknown to the Frenchman,
he had also invited Fats van Vuuren.
98 RUNNER’S WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
When it came to prowess, Fats had
delusions of grandeur.
What’s all this got to do with the
back of the pack? I hear you ask.
Let me explain. Of the three
certainties in life – death, taxes, and
the fact that no runner, no matter
how slow, would ever admit that he
or she had finished a race behind Fats
– the last was most important to us.
How utterly shameful would it be, if
Fats stole a march and beat us?
So we couldn’t resist lining up next
to Fats at the first speedwork session.
The Frenchman instructed us to
jog, then speed up to a run, then – as
we hit halfway – break into a sprint
across the field.
Of course, the coach ran in the
‘top category’. We thought we were
doing okay, but his actions suggested
he’d grown tired of waiting for us: he
overtook us – twice.
And he did so with an effortless
stride, which even included a high-
knee lift, driven by bulging quads. A
tight T-shirt revealed sculpted pecs.
He had a ponytail, which begged
to be shorn off with a pair of hedge
clippers – one snip and it would
offend no more.
But he certainly could run.
Boitumelo was the first to
comment.
“Wow!” she exclaimed. “He
doesn’t just run – he glides.”
Which, while an accurate
observation, didn’t go down well with
her fiancé, Mpho – who didn’t glide,
or stride. The word ‘stride’ could
never be used to describe his waddle.
Constipated ducks en route to the
pond move more elegantly.
The third time he overtook us,
Mr Ponytail stopped suddenly, and
stared at us.
In a strong French accent,
he asked: “I do not weesh to be
impertinent, but… why are you here?
“In zis part of ze world, zere are
overloaded old bakkies... yes? You
are like ze kitchen appliance – how
you say, ze fridge in ze kitchen – it
runs, but it stands still. Zerefore, ze
speedwork should be left to seriously,
ridiculously good-looking sports
models – like me.
“Perhaps, Boitumelo, you might
prefer ze experience of a Ferrari?”
His voice conveyed seduction and
“H e had a ponytail, which
begged to be shorn off with
a pair of hedge clippers…”
suggestion in equal measure.
Boitumelo didn’t hesitate in her
reply. “Sorry for you, Mr Speedy
Gonzales, but Ferraris are only fit for
the race track.
“They’re too low-slung to tackle
the speed bumps on real-life roads.
And the nerve of you, calling us
kitchen appliances!
“I’ll have you know that my
wonderful food processer, Mpho, and
I are perfectly happy together.”
Then she addressed the back of the
pack with what sounded like music to
I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y G A L LO I M AG E S /G E T T Y I M AG E S
our ears: “What d’you say we sprint
over to the clubhouse for a beer?”
Kosie shook his head. “That sounds
like a good idea. But do you mind if
we trot slowly over to the clubhouse
instead, and drink four beers?”
In the end, Fats caved in and joined
us for a beer. Mr Ponytail watched
Bruce Pinnock
Boitumelo go, before attempting a
Devotes his writing to
the much-neglected shoulder-shrug of indifference.
art of running slowly. He wasn’t fooling anyone.
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