Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 4

EDITOR’S LETTER BLOGGING ABOUT PLOGGING Meet our team DIVISIONAL HEAD Richard Laskey [email protected] CONTENT MANAGER Roxanne Martin [email protected] EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR Sean Falconer [email protected] DIGITAL EDITOR Keith Kennedy [email protected] DESIGNER Caroline Collings [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES Richard Laskey 083 342 8200 / [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION [email protected] Speaking of passion, if you’ve read my Ed’s Letters and articles in previous months, you’ll know that I feel very strongly about the environment, especially when it comes to plastic waste created by runners during races. My eco-awareness really took hold in my first job after varsity, when I worked as a journalist and media liaison for the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA). I still remember the horror I felt when I saw images of birds that had drowned after being snared on long industrial fishing lines, and I have been equally horrified in recent years after seeing the plastic that comes out of the stomachs of turtles and other sea creatures. That was one of the driving forces behind our Modern Athlete #runclean campaign, and why I was thrilled to take part in a plogging run for the first time this month – you can read all about this relatively new running idea on page 22. I received an invite to join the adidas Runners of Cape Town on Muizenburg Beach for a clean-up run, and with rubbish bag in one hand and yellow glove on the other, about 20 of us set off along the beach. To be perfectly honest, we didn’t do all that much running on this particular plog, because there was just so much rubbish to pick up. Plastic bottles, chips packets, fast food packaging, straws, sweet wrappers, even a few beer bottles and some discarded clothing and the odd shoe… we all soon had full bags, and we had barely gotten more than a kay up the beach! It was terrible how much rubbish was on that beach, but it was also wonderful to see passionate people actively doing something about it. I felt privileged to join the plog, and I plan to do more plogging runs in the future. Hope to see you there, too. In the meantime, whether you’re plogging or just jogging, get out there and make the most of the spring sunshine. We are privileged to be runners in a country with stunning scenery, great weather, and one of the most vibrant running communities in the world. So lace ‘em up, and run, friends! Sean Falconer Follow me on Twitter: @sean_falconer | Follow the mag as well: @modern_athlete 4 WINNERS’ CORNER ISSUE 112 NOVEMBER 2018 / Congratulations to the winner of our October www.modernathlete.co.za edition competition. COVER IMAGE Jetline Action Photo IMAGES Photo Agencies & Professional photographers: BackTrack Sports, Dreamstime, Fanus Oosthuizen/ Oakpics, Fotolia, Jetline Action Photo, Landmarks Half Marathon, Kevin Sawyer, Kyle Cestari, Llewellyn Lloyd, RAC, Rashied Isaacs, Reg Caldecott, Richard Pearce, Rogan Ward, Roy Esterhuysen, Terence Vrugtman, Tobias Ginsberg, Xavier Briel Non-professional photographers: Bridget Linderoth, Charmain Tholakele Shandu, Keith Linderoth, Manfred Seidler, Moegsien Ebrahim, Mogamat Shamieg Allie, Richard Pearce, Sean Falconer,Sean MacFie, Simon De Haast/pixelsthatrock, Stuart Mann Courtesy: Adidas, Anel Oosthuizen, Berlin Marathon, Cape Town Marathon, Carol Downing, Cathedral Peak Hotel, Cindy Pelser, Derrick Marcisz, DTT Athletes, Energy Events, Gulf of Saint-Tropez Marathon, Hendrick Ramaala, Ironman SA, ITU, Kerrin Watson- Smith, Khomotso Mabula, Kim Grobbelaar, PJ Moses, René Kalmer, Roxy Thompson, Taralyn MacLean, Warrior OCR, Wildrunner, and various Race Organisers FIND US TELEPHONE [phone] E-MAIL [email protected] PHYSICAL ADDRESS 27 7 th Avenue, Edenvale, 1609, Gauteng WEB www.modernathlete.co.za FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/modernathletemag TWITTER @modern_athlete Modern Athlete is accredited by the ABC with an average monthly circulation of 79,344 (Apr - Jun 2018) ATHLETES IN ACTION Win New Balance Fresh Foam running shoes for the winning photo Lerato Maluleke, Pretoria H i all, welcome to another edition of SA’s Biggest Running Publication. We’ve recently seen our Digi-mag subs climb to 73,000, on top of the printed copies that come out each month, which means we really do live up to that title. When we first launched in 2009, this was literally the biggest running mag thanks to its tabloid newspaper size, but since 2014 we’ve been a smaller standard A4 size. What didn’t get smaller, however, was our circulation and readership, which started around 30,000 copies a month back in 2009 and has just kept growing. The Modern Athlete team is really proud of that readership, and thank all of you for embracing this mag so passionately EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Regulars: Anel Oosthuizen, Christine Peters, Derick Marcisz, Ernest Hobbs, Jeannie Jordaan, Lauren Smithers, Manfred Seidler, Norrie Williamson, PJ Moses, Ray Orchison, Reggie Hufkie, René Kalmer, Roxanne Martin, Sean Falconer, Stuart Mann, Tom Cottrell Guest Writers: Anand Manilal, Christine Pickup, Hennie Pelser, Jacqui Reid, Kim Grobbelaar