Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 102, January 2018 | Page 11

Craig’s Bus
PJ’S PIECE
By PJ Moses
B
RUNNING
CHANGES LIVES
eing able to help other runners achieve their time goals during races
brings a lot of satisfaction to Craig Strachan, hence he loves his role as
a Western Province pacesetter. “I love having people come up to me after
the race and say that I helped them do something that they thought impossible.
Their smiling faces is what pacesetting is all about.”
T
he common theme that you find amongst almost all runners is how much
running changed their lives. Perhaps it helped them with depression, or
maybe with losing weight. It could be that they used running to adopt a
healthier lifestyle, or even to change the direction (in a positive way!) that their
life was taking. Whatever reason they give you, the most common feeling is that
if it was not for running, they would not have been able to change their lives for
the better.
However, he doesn’t just use his flag to indicate the target time for runners to
follow, he also uses it to raise awareness for the South African Guide-Dogs
Association (SAGDA), a non-profit organisation that trains and provides dogs
to blind people all over South Africa. “My wife Lois has been using their well-
trained dogs since 1997 and I know what a big difference it makes in her life.
Our current dog, Fiji, gives Lois a mobility and independence that nothing else
c