KALMER ’ S
CORNER
Our Modern Athlete Brand Ambassador ’ s Blog
By Rene Kalmer
MOTHER CITY MARATHONING
On the 17th of February , Christine , Karli and I took the red eye flight to our favourite city in the country , Cape Town , to take part in the Peninsula Marathon , and I realised that I definitely want to run the Two Oceans Ultra some day !
Marathon at the start of the race and en route to Simon ’ s Town .
Bay , to experience the breathtaking views of the Two Oceans Marathon , and I now know why it is called the world ’ s most beautiful marathon .
The Peninsula Marathon , with its spectacular views over False Bay from Muizenberg to Simon ’ s Town , has always been on my local marathon bucket list , but in the past , I had been in training for international marathons in Prague , Nagoya , Boston , London and Vienna at this time of year . Because I was invited to those races as an elite runner , I was not allowed to run a marathon three months prior to those events , not even just as a training run , so I had to skip the Peninsula each year .
Our two hubbies , Andre and Aiden , were more than happy to let the Kalmer sisters go off for a “ girls ’ weekend .” Personally , I think they were just scared that they would also have to run a marathon … and Andre was also probably happy , as he could catch up on some lost sleep whilst not having Karli at home to wake him up at sometimes inconvenient times of the night .
The race was dominated by the girls in blue and it was great to run side by side with my KPMG teammates Ulrica Stander , Danette Smith and Michelle Dreyer . I had a good run , but mentally had to dig really deep the last 12km of the marathon . Spotting my parents on the route with Karli also helped me to keep pushing till the end .
Hats off to Ulrica , who won the race in a new personal best time of 2:53 . I was more than happy with second position and my first sub-3-hour marathon postpregnancy . Granted , that 2:55 is still a long way from my personal best time of 2:29 , but I ’ m grateful to be back on the road and enjoying every moment of the new journey . I have learnt over the past two years to appreciate every pain-free run and not to be too hard on myself to clock good times all the time .
TWO OCEANS VIBES
Karli and I stayed the week with my parents in Cape Town , camping in Kommetjie . Luckily , we only realised after the week that we shared our tent with a little striped mouse ! While we stayed in Kommetjie , I used the opportunity to run over Chapman ’ s Peak to Hout
The Two Oceans Marathon is definitely on my bucket list , too , but unfortunately not this year yet ... Although I have made a good comeback so far , and am happy that I have progressed to running a few marathons again , I have realised that I need to get fitter and stronger before I toe the line to compete in the 56km . I am , however , really looking forward to running my ninth Two Oceans Half Marathon this year … and spending some more time in Cape Town !
PS : Some tips for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Novices reading this just before their big race :
1 . Get to the start line early . 2 . Cape Town weather is unpredictable at the best of times , so be prepared mentally and physically . 3 . Keep your eyes on the road : Watch out for cat eyes and stay towards the middle of the road to compensate for the camber . 4 . Don ’ t waste water and remember to aim for the bins . Always # runclean . 5 . Enjoy every moment of the world ’ s most beautiful marathon !
Meanwhile , my parents , newly become pensioners , saw this as the perfect opportunity to road-trip down to Cape Town with their caravan , to look after Karli while Christine and I ran the marathon . So Karli had her first sleepover that weekend with Ouma and Oupa in the caravan , while I enjoyed an uninterrupted night ’ s sleep prior to the race . Not even race day nerves could wake me up every hour !
GOOD DAY ’ S RACING
It felt good to go through all the race day motions with Christine , as it ’ s been a while since we travelled and roomed together for a race . Still , 5:30am was a pretty early start for the race , but it was lovely to spot Stefanie Schultzen from the Old Mutual Two Oceans 12
ISSUE 105 APRIL 2018 / www . modernathlete . co . za
René , Ulrica and Danette Training run on Chapman ’ s Peak
Images : Courtesy René Kalmer