Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 101, December 2017 | Page 13

#9TO5 CHALLENGE The Road to SOWETO If your company’s idea of team-building and wellness is having everyone do an hour of yoga in the office, you may want to take some pointers from the Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Running Club, which chose to embrace the Modern Athlete #9to5 Programme. – BY JEANNIE JORDAAN, 9TO5 COACH T he guys and girls at top legal firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) simply love their sport. They even have a sport committee at the firm, headed up by Quintin Honey, Director of Corporate and Commercial, who is himself an exceptional runner on both road and trail. “At CDH, sport is big. We have girls’ and guys’ football teams, a touch rugby team, a cricket team (which sometimes includes some girls), and a netball team (which sometimes includes some guys),” he says. “We also cycle and, of course, we run… on the road, off the road, to work, from work, outside the office, in the office, up the stairs, down the stairs, basically everywhere!” Therefore, when Quintin approached me to help train the entire staff to run, I had goose-bumps just thinking about it, because his aim was not just to get them running, but to prepare as many CDH staff as possible to tackle the iconic Old Mutual Soweto Marathon in November. His aim was to develop an even more cohesive, fun and community-driven sports club within the firm, and what better way than to use the ‘People’s Race’ to do that. As Quintin explains, “Running is one of the most natural things a human can do, pretty much anywhere and with anyone, and at relatively l ittle expense. It is therefore accessible, enjoyable and naturally encouraging of a healthy lifestyle. However, what is possibly its most outstanding and equalising feature is that everyone who runs shares the same journey, no matter who they are, where they are from, or how fast or slow they are.” RARING TO GO And so the journey on the “Road to Soweto” started for some very eager CDHer’s. Over the course of 16 weeks I would be taking them through their paces on the #9to5Challenge programme and they could then choose whether they would be participating in the 10km, 21km or 42km at Soweto. We started with a comprehensive pre-assessment that every staff member could attend, and that was followed by two eight-week training programmes where both group sessions and individual running days were encouraged, plus educational talks and Q&A sessions. All the training was logged through the #9to5Challenge online platform so that I could see that the participants were fulfilling their programme requirements. To begin with it was a real shock to the system for some of the CDH staffers to leave their warm beds for early morning training sessions, but they literally knocked the socks off the training programme. By the time we completed the Challenge 1 Post-assessment testing, two people in particular had made magnificent strides in their running fitness, 1km time trial, strength test and body composition assessment. Etta Chang and John Legoale were duly rewarded for their effort and commitment to the Soweto Goal with a free pair of performance running shoes courtesy of Skechers at Melrose Arch. By the time Challenge 2 commenced, the improved weather and early morning running conditions brought still more CDHer’s out to play as the Road to Soweto Campaign was forged into the tar, and come race day, Quintin was there to watch a tight-knit CDH team explode onto the course. “Race day produced an inspirational outcome as CDH lawyers and staff, including associate attorneys, legal secretaries, receptionists, candidate attorneys, security guards, directors, HR staff, marketing staff, the chief of stationary, accounting staff and filing clerks toed the starting line side by side, with the same challenge ahead of them. Many of them had triumphed over adversities and challenges on their road to Soweto, and more during the race itself… and in no way different to that of the elite professional athlete who raced and placed on the day,” he says. AWESOME ACHIEVEMENTS At the time of writing, the Challenge 2 winners had not yet been selected, but as a coach I can honestly say that each and every one of the Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Road to Soweto Participants deserves a round of applause, because they conquered this challenge in so many ways! #9to5 Challenge If you want to go from zero to hero in just nine weeks, then sign up today for the Modern Athlete 9to5 Challenge. Go to www.modernathlete.co.za/page/9-to-5- challenge or e-mail [email protected] for more info. 13