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because he thought it was going to be my last one , and said never again . But I found out recently that he secretly entered for 2018 , because a friend from Australia is running , so he ’ s in training again .”
These days , Candyce still regularly podiums in races , but she says she actually rarely races hard any more . “ I did about 1500 to 1600km in races last year , but of that , the only one that was actually racing hard was the Cape Town Marathon – and even there I actually only raced to 30km , because there were no toilets along the N1 stretch for a much-needed ‘ Candyce Stop .’ My body decrees how well I will run on the day , and nowadays I prefer to just run with friends and for the club vibe . That ’ s why running my last four Comrades slowly and socially are amongst my running highlights . I got to spend time with running friends , while running the whole day !”
This is where the vibrant Carbineers Western Province club comes into the picture . Candyce and her clubmates are often seen running together , even stopping mid-race for a one-footed Carbs pose pic . That entails everybody standing on one leg , with the other leg slightly lifted and knee bent at 90 degrees . “ It ’ s just incredible that we can still balance on one leg after a big climb ,” jokes Candyce . “ It originally started with the Red Sock Community , and we just carried on doing it at Carbs . It ’ s become our thing , and all part of the incredible family vibe of our club , where everybody knows if a Carb at the back ran a PB , and that ’ s as valuable as the guy up front winning a race . That ’ s how it should be .”
FOR CLUB AND PROVINCE
There is also an interesting story behind the Carbs WP club , given that it shares a name with the Natal Carbineers club of Pietermaritzburg . Candyce
explains that in 2013 the guys doing the Unogwaja ride from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg wanted to then run the Comrades in Carbs colours , because the original Unogwaja , Phil Masterton-Smith , had run in Carbs colours in 1931 when he won the race , before moving to the Cape and cycling to the race in 1933 .
“ You ’ d think it would be possible , as the Unogwajas were going to be running for 12 hours and doing it for a good cause , but Comrades and the provincial bodies said the domicile rule meant they had to run in the colours of a Western Province club , so my Dad said , fine , let ’ s create a Carbs club in Western Province ! We only had 13 members at the end of that first year , but year on year we ’ ve been the fastestgrowing club in the province , relatively speaking , and at the end of 2017 we were 220-strong , and
could soon reach 350 judging by the enquiries I have received this year !”
Meanwhile , Candyce was recently voted in as new Chair of the Western Province Cross Country Committee , and has been tasked with rejuvenating the discipline . “ The people running it did a solid job , but I think it can be transformed into something even bigger and better . For starters , we ’ ve moved a lot of the league meets to Sunday afternoons , as Saturdays clashed with both road races and school sports . There was some push-back , but we argued that Sunday is a family day , so why not bring the whole family to cross country , as we ’ ll even have a food truck there . I realise you don ’ t change these things overnight , but it ’ s about being proactive to change things for the better , and I ’ m very excited to see what we can achieve .”
The famous Carbs pose
ARE YOU
UP FOR THE
CHALLENGE ?
Sunday , 18 March 2018 Finish at Amphitheatre , Durban Promenade
42km / 21km / 10km / 5km / 40km timed cycle
Qualify for the ultimate human race , the Comrades 2018 .
# ChallengeYourself
Fast course for possible Personal Best attempt . Long weekend for out of town runners . One of SA ’ s premier marathon events . There is a challenge for the entire family !
Online Entries : www . deloittechallenge . co . za
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