running

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The UTK (Ultra Trail Kosciuszko) that wasn’t

I thought perhaps I should just write a follow-up about our plan to run the 100 mile event in 2022.

Maybe because it is a new event and to entice participants into entering super early (it worked!), the event had the option to carry over your entry at no cost to the next year should you not be able to do it for whatever reason. And back doors are dangerous – when there’s a back door, one is almost guaranteed to take it.

In our defence we did try. We started with a bang and were doing very well for a few months, slowly building up fitness. Then my mum got sick, and we had to make the trip back to the motherland. Travelling around the world, and back and forth between our families for more than a month, took its toll. What was meant to be a crucial time in our buildup, ended up being a next to no training month. Coupled with all the stress of travelling, missing a connecting flight due to a stuff up by Qantas with the first flight, and having to postpone everything by a week, rearrange and rebook everything, eventually arriving without luggage, the stress of a sick parent, and the list goes on, training was the absolute last thing on my mind. Plus, that back door was wide open.

Arriving back, exhausted, to horrible weather (it seems to be getting worse) – non-stop wind and sideways rain – our enthusiasm for the inaugural event was all but gone. So we made the call to transfer our entries to this year. It is not a good decision to have to make. One’s self-esteem takes a knock and you feel like a failure.

Following the proceedings leading up to the event on FB, I was met with a mix of FOMO and relief. It was snowing up in the mountain in the weeks leading up to, and still a few days out from, the event and it started to look like the compulsory gear would have to be next level. Some lack of communication and other hick-ups by the organisers – GPX files were not made available and final course maps were not shared until the last minute, perhaps because the course had to be changed TWICE due to snow and safety of runners, details about aid stations, drop bags, pacers, support crew, etc – resulted in participants getting anxious and angry. Tonnes of entries were sold off and transferred, and things were looking to be in a bit of a shambles. At the same time, those who stuck to it could boast to be hardcore, have grit, and able to deal with whatever life throws at them. Ultimately, I suspect the course routes need some serious rethinking and replanning for the years to come.

But, fingers crossed, we can get our act together and line up at the start end of this year. We bought a new watch. The Suunto 9 Peak Pro to replace the old one of more than eight years. It was time. And with new gear comes renewed enthusiasm. We have a rough idea of what we need to do, and where we need to be with our training each month. The overall aim is to get out the door six days a week, to build up slowly, never to skip the long-run, walk heaps, and do the occasional speed session. On top of that, we have to start focusing on strength training and flexibility. My buggered hips and misalignment need all the help they can get.

To 2023! May it be a good year for health and fitness.

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Sasolburg Stadium parkrun, followed by the Palmy parkrun

Date: 13 August 2022
Distance: 5km
Time: 28:15 (Gerry, 28:18)

Our final parkrun in South Africa during this visit was on the morning of our long commute back to NZ. Gerry’s mum and sister lives on the way back to the airport, so we got to quickly see them again for final goodbyes. Gerry’s nephew joined us for the run.

It was a beautiful warm morning, and as we were walking the almost 2k from where we stayed to the start, I could smell the scent of jasmine, which normally indicates that spring is in the air.

Due to SA being a semi-arid country, the hazy brown dusty layer that covers the country makes it look like the air quality is super bad, but it’s no worse than the big cities in other parts of the world, and usually makes for beautiful sunsets. Long before the sun sets, it is possible to look straight at the huge orange ball on the horizon.

As with the Inibos parkrun (only the 11th event), the Sasolburg Stadium parkrun is also reasonably new (this was it’s 18th run).

It starts/finishes at the Sasolburg Stadium, (DP de Villiers Stadium) and Sasolburg Rugby Club. According to the web, the ‘course is run entirely on trail paths. Some sections of the course may accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain.’

I was still tying my shoelaces when we were counted down for the start. After a couple hundred metres, Gerry’s nephew came past and disappeared up ahead.

We passed some runners and soon settled into a reasonable pace. From the clubhouse the course takes one out of the stadium for a 2k off-road loop before passing near the clubhouse and across the sports field for another loop of about 1k in the opposite direction. Back near the clubhouse, we had to repeat the first 2k loop before finishing in front of the clubhouse again.

Running with me, Gerry finished 17th overall (15th male and second in his age category), and I finished 16th overall, second female and first in my age category, out of 99 runners.

We walked the 2k back for some eggs, a shower, and final greetings and packing.

It has been a good month. I’m glad we made the trip. The visible ageing of our mums is sad and unnerving. During the month, shortly after we arrived, my cousin four years younger than me, had a massive heart attack and died, leaving behind a husband and teenage kids. The day before our return to NZ my mum’s older brother had heart failure.

Maybe I’m imagining things, but a lot of South Africans seem depressed, and are on some or other medication. There are even pharmacy vending machines everywhere. The mental shift from what was and what is, might be a tad too much of an ask for some. As with emigrants, there are people who tend to cling to the past, who try to recreate what they had before. Change is inevitable, and necessary. However, the identity crisis (existential crises) is a huge part of the problems in SA. Who are we? Where do we come from? People were brainwashed into voting for a government that only looked after its own kind, due to a belief that the land was promised to them by God. Deep rooted beliefs suddenly mean nothing and boys who fought in the war, suddenly realise it was all for nothing, or no obvious purpose? No wonder a lot of them goes off the rails with PSD and other mental disorders. But this is a subject matter for another day.

It is sad to leave, but I’m glad to be going home. And well done to the ABs for winning their second match at Ellis Park!

A week later, stil trying to get into the timezone of New Zealand, we decided to do the Palmy parkrun to see if the altitude makes any difference. Of course it makes a huge difference, and we managed a good run without feeling like our lungs want to fall out. I managed a 27:11, and Gerry was just cruising with me.

Egweni River Lodge parkrun (Parys, Free State)
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Egweni River Lodge parkrun (Parys, Free State)

Date: 6 August 2022
Distance: 5km
Time: 29:29

Another family outing, this time with Gerry’s mum, sisters’ families and kids, and their children (four generations), brought us to Parys (Paris) next to the Vaal River. According to Wikipedia ‘The name was given by a German surveyor named Schilbach who had participated in the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War and the location next to the Vaal reminded him of Paris on the River Seine. The area of Parys also includes the two townships Tumahole and Schonkenville. www.parys.co.za‘.

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Brandkop parkrun

Date: 30 July
Distance: 5km
Time: 28:26

I guess we’re starting to acclimatise to the Free State altitude of 1500 metres. Although I didn’t manage another female win (still giggling about that one) I managed an improved time of 28:26 (28 minutes being particularly apt since this day also marked our 28th wedding anniversary).

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Inibos parkrun (Bloemfontein, South Africa)

Date: 23 July 2022
Distance: 5km
Time: 30:16 (Gerry, 30:50, even though we finished together)

On a visit to my homeland, we decided to do one of the local parkruns in Bloemfontein, the town I grew up in.

With the Comrades marathon – the pinnacle of South African road running (an 89km run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, alternating the starting town from year to year) – being the largest and oldest on-road ultra in the world, the whole running calendar is geared towards getting about 15,000 (or 23,961 on the race’s 75 anniversary in 2000) participants thought the course in 12 hours every year. Some interesting facts about the race was published in Runner’s World.

This is a country with a lot of focus (unofficially) on running – a lot of people run (a small event would draw 1000 participants), and when we were still living here, a 6min/km pace would place one in the middle of the pack. In New Zealand, you can easily be last with a 6min/km pace. But things are changing, and with more people taking up the sport, the focus is increasingly more on participation, even in New Zealand.

In terms of parkrun, there are 206 parkruns in South Africa. The SA male and female parkrun records are 14:02 and 16:35 respectively, compared to NZ at 14:26 and 16:23. A faster male time in SA and a faster female time in NZ.

The Inibos parkrun is one of three parkruns in Bloemfontein, capital of the Free State province. In summer it takes place every Saturday at 7:00am (October – March) and in winter at 8:00am (April – September). Although parkrun is usually at 8am around the world, I guess an earlier start is granted in semi-arid and desert-type countries where the temperatures may pose problems in terms of heat exhaustion and sun stroke. It was quite a change moving to NZ where events rarely starts before 8am, when we were used to start at 6am and be finished with a 21k run by 8:00. Also, in summertime SA events would often start at 5am.

Inibos (a colloquialism for what would roughly translate to ‘in the bush’) is a private playground for runners, walkers, MTBers, kids’ quad bike rides, airsoft, and other adventures, with a picnic area and coffee shop. The course is run on gravel roads and single track trails. It is a double lapper of 2.5km with just a small uphill stretch in the middle of each lap. The familiar dead, yellow winter grass, dusty tracks, eucalyptus and other indigenous trees, not to mentioned prickly weeds that get into socks and shoes and eventually skin, bring back good memories of our running beginnings some twenty-plus years ago.

We started near the back, and soon had to pass some walkers and slower runners. Since we ran some twists and loops, we could see the runners ahead and behind us. The ground was uneven, solid and dusty, making it hand to just tune out and run.

We were going at a reasonable clip despite the fact that we’re running at 1500 metre altitude. Add to that my current ‘fitness level’ (or rather lack of fitness), and I was huffing and puffing like and old steam engine. But without totally killing myself I could manage a 6 min/km pace.

At the little hump at the finish where the volunteers recorded our time, the one lady edged me on to run quick and not let the men ‘beat us women’. I assumed she was referring to Gerry who was right behind me. On the clock on the wall I saw that my time was a bit over thirty minutes which is not flash, but I was happy to be able to achieve that. When the results came out, big was my surprise to be the first female (haha) and 13th overall out of 99 runners. This parkrun is perhaps more focussed on getting out and being social than running at speed, the way parkrun is intended to be.

We didn’t stay for any social activities afterwards as we didn’t want to be away from the family for longer than needed. It’s been seven years since we last made a trip to South Africa, making our long-overdue family time precious.

Perhaps next week we’ll try a different one.