ALL YOU NEED IN A NEW RACE CALENDAR
Modern Athlete magazine has completely revamped its online Event Calendar , taking what used to be just a monthly calendar published in the mag , and turning it into an interactive , segmented , searchable and customisable online platform with all the info and links you need .
Soon after Modern Athlete mag launched in 2010 , the team began compiling a monthly event calendar for each edition of the mag , listing the next month ’ s fixtures in road running , trail running , multisport , orienteering , obstacle racing , adventure racing and race walking . These pages have always been amongst the most popular in the mag , but now in 2023 , the team felt it was time for a ‘ fixture facelift .’
This has seen the launch of the new-look online Modern Athlete Event Calendar on the mag ’ s website , where you can use the search function to narrow down your choices to events in your area , on the dates that you want to participate , in the sporting disciplines that you prefer , and more . It is customisable so that you get exactly what you are looking for , and you can start using it now at www . modernathlete . co . za / event-calendar .
The Modern Athlete team is still busy with more development work behind the scenes , and soon users will be able to set up their personal profile in order to get just the fixtures they want , such as events within a specific driving radius , or just events of a specific type or distance , or a combination of all or some of the above - with reminders and updates .
If you want to be able to make an informed choice of where next to line up to race , get all the race info you need , and have direct links to online entries , go to www . modernathlete . co . za / event-calendar .
FROM THE ED ’ S DESK
One person who is really excited about the new calendar is Modern Athlete Editor Sean Falconer , who explains that he has walked a very , very long road with race fixtures in his career .
“ I have been compiling a monthly running calendar since January 2000 , and the job has grown massively over the past 24 years ! Back in 2000 , I used to simply take the supplied road fixtures , do a bit of minor formatting , and that was the calendar for the next edition done . It sometimes fitted into one page in the mag , and the work took me about an hour . Trail running barely existed in those days , so the calendar was basically just the official road running fixtures from each of the running provinces .
Images : Kevin Sawyer , Peter Kirk & courtesy Comrades Marathon
However , the next few years saw a massive growth in trail running , and I thought the running community should know what they could choose from , so I began scouring the internet for trail fixtures . The challenge there , which remains today , is that there have never been national or even provincial trail running calendars , due to most trail runs not being affiliated to official running structures , so one has to source fixtures from each individual organiser or event company . I also added multisport , orienteering , adventure racing , obstacle racing , race walking , colour runs , and anything else that involved running – again , mostly sourced individually . Later , I added links to online entry portals , as events began using this option , and this added a whole new dimension to what had become a massive job !
I have always been proud of our Modern Athlete calendar , especially since it has been the only full calendar published by a running mag in SA for quite some time , and I believe we provide a useful resource for the running community . This new-look online calendar therefore feels like a culmination of all those years of hard work .
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