For some excellent photos taken at this years Ocean Basket Marcel van't Slot Memorial 15 km Race, click on the following links:

 http://www.waterpoint.co.za/phobians

By Gerald Kroukamp

During May 2010 I was struck by a curious urge to do the Washie. I knew that I would have to get seconders, as normally I second my wife Estelle at this event. She was doing her 5^th and would earn her permanent number. I asked Leon Ganswyk if he would second me because I had a friend, Pieter Booysen, in East London who could then second Estelle. Leon said he thought he could, but a few weeks later realised that his work would not allow it.

So that was the end of my Washie. I also started getting a sniffle 4 days before the Washie. On Thursday 22.07.10 we arrived in East London. Pieter then phone me and said he had his daughter and two running friends that will help us to second Estelle.

On Friday 23 we went to Port Alfred. In the car they asked me if I was going to run. I said NO. At 16.00 hours (One hour before the race) Estelle came to me and said that she has just entered me and that I will have to run. She is not going to loose the R300 entry fee and that I should now get dressed.

That was me, buggered. I got dressed and went to the briefing. (I just want to mention that we went for lunch at 14.30 where I had a big meal because I knew I wasn’t running.)

At 17.00 the race started. I battled for 20km with a full stomach. I then started to relax and everything went well. We got to ¼ way on 5h 26 minutes and ½ way at 11h 36 minutes. There my troubles started. My feet were killing me.

Our seconds were wonderful. Got our food and supplements on time and it kept us going. Estelle didn’t want to leave me; she was encouraging me. We got to ¾ way and I could feel I had blisters that felt if they were bigger than my feet. Our time there was 18:43 hours. We had 26 hours to finish so I was still feeling that I would make it with 40km to go.

At 30km to go I just felt my right foot as the big blister popped. There my troubles really started. At 15 km to go I had another bang. My left foot blister also went for a bang! I still had 3 hours to go before cut off. 

I ran/walked for 10km and then saw I had enough time to finish. I walked the last 5km and made it with 22 minutes to spare. At 13km to go I said to Estelle that she should go because I was sure I would make it. She then left me. She finished in 24.51 and I finished in 25:38.

I am glad that I did it and also want to thank our seconds for the great job they did.

(Leon you missed out on a great day and fun.) Thanks to Pieter, Alice, Wilmien and Anita (and their families for letting them go) for seconding us.

I got my trophy, and was both the oldest and last runner, but then we were also the 1^st husband and wife finishers. I told them that I planned on only doing two Washies: my 1^st and last, and that was it!

To anyone who feels like doing it – talk to me first!

Gerald and Estelle with all their trophies

THE LEGEND GORGE 21KM MARATHON

SATURDAY 17.07.10

On Saturday 17.07.10, Estelle and I went to run ‘the Legend Gorge’ 21km race at Entabeni Nature Conservancy/Legend Golf & Safari Resort. The race was originally meant to be a 32km but was changed to a 21km and 10km race.At a later stage they are planning to go back to a 32km race.

Before the race we attended a briefing of what to do and what not to do.  They warned us before the race that we were in the ‘big five’ territory and that we should not go off the road into the bushes.  Like in Skukuza, they had game wardens every one to three kms.

The race started at 09.00. They took us by game viewing trucks to the start which was 2km away. It was freezing!

This is how they described the route in the flyer. :

“The route starts at the west gate which is situated on the lower escarpment of the 22000ha Entabeni Safari Conservancy.

From here the runners will face the big five in the ever changing environment of dense bush, grass and wetlands, before facing the challenge of the extreme climb of the 1000ft yellow wood gorge to the 7000ha upper escarpment approximately 5741ft above sea level. Once reaching the top the runners face the exhilarating decent down the gorge, dropping the 1000ft with up to 40 degrees angles back to the lower escarpment and making their way to the gate house of the Legend golf and safari resort. Truly a legendary race.”

Once we started running, it was nice and warm. The terrain is both flat and hilly. At the 5km mark you start climbing the gorge until about 7.5km.Then you turn back and come down the gorge. At this stage we felt that our legs were taking a lot of strain.

Once down in the gorge, the sand starts. It is so thick that only a 4x4 can comfortably go there.This was slow and heavy going and our legs took a lot of hammering.

We saw a lot of game but alas not the big five. The lions were fed the night before and the elephants had been moved away from the route.We did however see a lot of elephant and lion spoor along the way.

The day really turned out to be a wonderful experience and Estelle and I will certainly do the race again.

At the finish we were given goody bags, medals, as well as a really nice good quality t-shirt which I will cherish. I personally would be the first to recommend this great but tough race.

Gerald Kroukamp

Here's an amazing account of a Comrades written by Claudia Cockcroft of Irene Roadrunners, and included in the Irene Newsletter of 14 June 2010. Thanks to Claudia and to Wynand Breytenbach of Irene for their kind permission to publish the article here.

Most of the older Irene Roadrunners are familiar with my medical history, but just a brief recap. On 16 June 2007, I was getting ready to run my 6th Comrades Marathon; I decided not to run, to my family’s surprise, as I was not feeling well at all. This was not in my nature and few people really understood why I did not run. I found myself, 10 days later, in hospital, suffering with an aneurysm in my brain and a stroke as a result of a tear in my internal carotid artery. The period between July 2007 and February 2009 was pure hell. In this period I was told by specialists that I would never run again, that the rupturing of the aneurism could be fatal if I lifted anything heavy (including my three your old son) and, In November 2008 a "specialist" told me "You will not work again, you will not run again, accept it, you had a good innings". At this stage, from all the medication, my liver was approx. 7 times larger than what it should have been. I lost my short term memory and had problems with my fine motor skills. We did not really enjoy our December holiday that year.

23 May 2010

On Sunday morning at 8:00 am a group of about 20 Phobian runners and walkers met at the Groenkloof Nature Reserve for a leisurely, pre-Comrades walk/run. The weather was ideal, the setting magnificent and the company of the best. They were treated to tea, coffee and rusks before setting off. Iain, being the rocket scientist that he is, devised a “friendly” route for those who were worried about tripping and putting an end to Comrades. Most runners were able to follow the instructions and map and successfully ran the correct distance. Others got lost and managed to complete a 10 km run, as well as a 5km hike. Both groups thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Phobians were then treated to bacon and egg and drinks of their choice, surrounded by gigantic trees. Leon worked hard, in spite of having a rather bad dose of flu.
Those who enjoyed this get-together have Elise to thanks. She came up with the idea. This goes to show that all a team made up of a blonde and a rocket-scientist can achieve great things.

Comrades Dinner 2010

A very enjoyable Comrades dinner and Phobians Awards evening was held on 14 May attended by about 100 members and guests. Our thanks to Elise, Gizelle, Athena, Eva, Anita and Erika for a very well organised event.

Thanks too to Leon Ganswyk who performed his Master of Ceremonies duties so admirably. 

 Guest Speaker Peter Darroll

Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Peter Darroll of RAC. Traditionally the identity of the speaker is a closely kept secret, but those older Phobians members amongst us immediately recognised Peter as he was one of the original members of our club until he moved over to RAC in 1987 having relocated to Jo'burg. As such he was able to relate some amusing stories of those early days with Phobians.  

There are also those runners who shuffle along at the tail end of any road race who know Peter equally well. He is an inveterate Comrades runner with 17 medals to his credit and has, as he says “a season ticket on the bailer’s bus”. But those back-of-the-packers will probably be surprised to learn that Peter twice managed a 7:40 Comrades, and has a marathon PB of 2:52.  Both Peter and his wife Sue are two of only 10 people who have completed all 1000 km challenges since the competitions was introduced 20 years ago.

Some of us will also remember Peter as a first class cricket player, having represented Transvaal in the 70’s. He was once reported in the press as the “fastest bowler in the world”, although it has to be added that the press on that occasion was the Standerton Gazette.

Peter loves people and is passionate about running. He has written and recently published a book called Map4Running. Our thanks to Peter for his amusing and inspirational talk, which was most fitting for our Comrades runners.

Peter's book is a powerful tool for any runner, regardless of age or experience. No matter what your ultimate running goals are, this book is guaranteed to help. Please check out www.map4life.com for more details.

AGN League Race

Saturday is once again a league race. Please can we be out there in numbers so as to boost our league points. Don’t forget to put ALL your details on your entry form; it makes life a lot easier for those processing the results.

Well done!

Congratulations to Deon Marais who was 3^rd Grandmaster on the 21km in a time of 2:09:21   

 Athena Constantinides was the 1^st Masters Ladies Walker in a time of 70:16.

Feeling the cold after the Wally Hayward: John van Rensburg and Roy Cokayne 

IRONMAN 2010 – AN AWESOME JOURNEY

I was always the one who said I would never do Ironman – too much traveling, too much work and I am afraid of cycling but one day you wake up and the desire to do this is bigger than the obstacles and then you are in.  I know I am not the first and will not be the last but here is a brief chronicle of my journey.

I had a good running year last year and after spending sometime with past and present tri-athletes I decided it was time. In May last year I bought my bike and indoor trainer and after Comrades and during the Tour de France I started my training. I had received programmes from Leander and Riaan so I had an idea of what I had to do and decided that I needed to start early to build up a good base especially on the bike. I also starting working with a personal trainer, Dimitris Mourtzios, to build up muscle strength as, believe it or not, your legs are not so strong from just running. This was invaluable with the swimming and core muscles when it came to hours on the bike.

In September, feeling very brave, I entered the Afriman Duathlon and being the good friend he is Dimitri decided to keep me company. This was a rude awakening as this tough race sorts out the men from the boys and girls – we did finish but nearly last. This strengthened my decision to continue as it was still early and we did OK.

It was difficult, at first ,to adapt to training twice a day and to cut back on running but once I was into a routine it became easier. The Half Iron Man in East London was good preparation for all the logistics of these big events. (It is worse than travelling with a baby!!).

My biggest hurdle was facing the fear of the bicycle but after a gentle introduction to longer distance and some coaching from Rochelle Keneally and her husband Gerald I started feeling better. Walter Reynecke and Dimitri then became my long distance partners and we had some fantastic long rides together – I have had breakfast at the Wimpy in Bronkies and at two dodgy looking but good food establishments in Rayton. I have traveled down roads I never knew existed and sat outside petrol stations in the midst of no-where drinking Coke and sharing stories (mostly about how sore the backside gets).

The week before panic really set in and I thought how am I ever going to get through all of these events but once I landed in PE it was much better. I had a swim on Friday morning in 2-3m swells which helped the nerves even though I was well and truly dumped and lost my goggles – I believe another competitor broke his arm the same day in the same surf. If you are not terrified by now the race briefing will do it for you – my sister said she would have pulled out there and then!!!

Race day dawned cold but clear and with a slight breeze – we made our way to the beach and once again the swell was big and even those used to sea swimming were a bit nervous. It is a special moment to stand there with the sun rising and the national anthem in the backround and no turning back.

The swim was tough because of the swells but to me the cold was worse and I was freezing when I got out – I could not even transition properly and wondered if I would ever get on to the bike. I did eventually and set off for the many hours on the road. It is lonely due to the no drafting rules but on the last lap I managed to chat to a few people and have a few laughs. The transition to the run is tough and it took me 12km to settle in but then Comrades training takes over and you just have to keep going. The atmosphere is electric and the roads are lined with people shouting for all.

My sister, Riaan, Robert and Gustav were on the route and this home town support is always special and helps make the race. You are running backward and forwards past the finish and the words – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN – really inspire you.

After 13h57 I made it on to the red carpet and I will remember this moment forever.

This journey has really defined me and made me face many fears. The different disciplines have bought real change to my life and I have met amazing people.

Huge congratulations to all the other Phobians who finished and I hope that many more will read this and be inspired.

It is only those who dare to fail miserably who achieve great results.

Leander Opperman      11.24

Aart Geyer                   11.54                                                                         

Chrisna Geyer              13.46

Walter Reyneke           14.36

Dimitri Kavallineas     14.37