Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 110, September 2018 | Page 7

LETTERS COMRADES AT 21, LOOKING BACK AT 30 It all started when we were in our postgraduate years at Rhodes University. At that time, us four girls were (particularly social and casual) members of the Rhodes University Athletics Club, having ‘excelled’ to the level of running some decent half marathons, but mostly chatty 5km around Grahamstown. Then one night out, over (a few) drinks, Kate and Nicola had a discussion about Comrades, initiating the idea that we should all sign up. Relaying the idea to me a short while later, my attitude was a little more hesitant, pointing out that we had only run up to half marathons, and the oldest of us was only 21 years old. Of course, for Kate and Nicola, this didn’t seem to matter. I agreed that I would train with them and decide along the way, seeing as we still had about five months before the big day. In the following months I grew to love the longer distances; we all did. Somewhere along the way, our good friend Robyn also joined us, and together we were a great support base for each other, juggling running and studying. We planned our own long runs around town, given that the university club generally didn’t cater for the super long distances, and we roped our other friends into seconding these routes with water bottles and cheers. In this time, I grew into myself and gained a great deal of emotional confidence, both in relation to running and in relation to my life in general. Then, with the support of our families, we booked our flights and went to Comrades. We loved every moment of it and all finished well within the cut-off. do four more Comrades, and also tackled some stage race trails, placing in some of these. Kate, Nicola and Robyn went on to do similar, bagging many more Comrades and other major events. Kate became inspiringly fast. Nicola aced many triathlons and stayed impressively fit, active and strong whilst starting a family. Robyn travelled abroad and continued to explore new spaces through running. In my opinion we were all better off for getting together and running. At the time of writing we are now all into our thirties and all have amazing professional careers that we love – in economics, law, accounting and IT. We all have families/partners and full lives. But running will always be one of our first loves; something that sharpened our focus in our twenties, grounded us, helped us through many life challenges and reality checks, and kept us dreaming big and aiming high. To Kate and Nicola, who ultimately inspired me to start, I will always be grateful. And to the South African running community, I will always be a fan. – Helen Kean Redpath, Cape Town Inspirational words, Kate. Reminds me of my how I got into running thanks to my two neighbours, who were like older brothers, guiding me along the way with advice and encouragement. Priceless memories! – Ed. In the years that followed, us four girls went on to run many more races, both on road and trail, and across many continents. I went on to VORENTOE VORENTOE RUNNING ACADEMY I • No Turnin CONTACT: Do you need race numbers, medals or shirts for your upcoming event? [email protected] [phone] [phone] IN2SPORTS.CO.ZA 7 Tel [phone]