Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 6

Have Your SAY LETTERS Got something on your mind that you want to share, a burning question you want answered, or a good story to tell? Then send it to letters@modernathlete.co.za, and add a pic if you can. Letters should preferably be no more than 300 words long, and pics must be high-resolution to be usable in print. (Note that letters may be shortened due to space limitations.) EDITOR’S PICK Christine Pickup with daughter Taralyn MacLean at last year’s Old Mutual Soweto 10km MY RUN, MY LIFE… I was inspired to run Comrades when in the late sixties our family stopped to make tea with a primus stove on our way to the Royal Show, and I got to see men running all the way from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. How it that possible, I thought, are they superhuman? Well, in 1985 I crossed the line in Pietermaritzburg, and what an unforgettable feeling! My years on the road have taken me 17 more times between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, through the Karoo, and to the Two Oceans, too many Spar Ladies races and so many other road races. When the trail running bug bit, I also tackled the Rhodes Ultra, climbed the ladder on the Mont Aux Sources, huffed and puffed around Lesotho. Each medal now hanging on my bathroom door ignites memories, not just of the events themselves, but of the hours training – alone, with my dogs or with friends – and of the sense of achievement that comes from the completion of a goal I have set myself. Running is an itch that I have scratched all these years. After my marriage of 31 years ended, with anger surging through my veins, I ran away from the conflict in my home and heart, towards peace and a sense of calm that descends whenever I am running with just my thoughts and dogs. I have run heartbroken and tearful, barely tripping along with grief, but also joyful with good news tucked away in my heart. I’ve run when sometimes, that is all I knew what to do with myself. I have run with legs pumping and ears ringing with shots and the shouting of “Kill the Boer” through the rainbow to a little school in the Karkloof Valley where I cast my vote with locals. I have run to the beat of Flashdance on a Walkman, and to the tunes of today on an iPod. I have run with my children, and dream of running with all my grandchildren. I have run not only for the benefits of fitness and wellbeing, but for the sheer joy of being alive in the great outdoors. I’ve been a runner since I was a tot, and a runner I’ll be when I am teetering on the brink between this world and the next. For I know I’ll be telling my elderly self this, “Go for a run, old girl, running has never failed you before.” – Christine Pickup, Durban Love your words, Christine, very similar to my attitude to running. I run for the views and fresh air, the conversations and jokes, the camaraderie and friendship, and that wonderful feeling after each run, that sense of achievement and enjoyment of being alive, but also to give my mind a break from everyday things. And I also want to run all the way through my journey. – Ed. HAVE FUN, SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW Two of my colleagues in the Fire Brigade were novices in the special Year 2000 Comrades Marathon. When they completed the race, I taunted them for running that distance when they could easily drive there, until they asked me a simple question, which had me on the back foot: “Do you think you can run that distance?” The challenge was on and I found myself running some crazy distances. I ran my first marathon, the Midlands Meander in Howick in 2001, finishing in a time of 4:07. There and then it was decided I would run the Comrades. Training continued, but bronchitis and the theft of my running shoes prevented me running Comrades that year. In 2002 I lined up with my colleague outside Durban City Hall for the grand trek to Pietermaritzburg. With loads of fun, wanting to bail at Camperdown, and telephonic abuse 6 ISSUE 112 NOVEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za from my other colleagues near Maritzburg, I completed the journey with assistance from my fellow firefighter runners and stood proudly at the medal marquee in a time of 10:57. Challenge done, bragging rights earned, and then running gave way to studying. Fast forward to 2009, when I relocated to Gauteng and found a need to go back to running, after many years playing football in the Veteran’s League. I signed up with Benoni Harriers and ran my first Gauteng marathon in 2010. That Pick n Pay Marathon made me realise how popular running is in this province. I also wanted to do something for charity and started running races to support the Pink Drive, hence my nickname became the Pink Panther. My office colleagues donate money to my cause, and my company doubles Long before I lined up at any official start, I ran. Nobody told my three-year-old self that running would keep me slim and trim, that it would be good for my heart and great for my soul. All I knew was the sheer joy that banged in my chest as the wind whipped through my hair, my heart pumped and my legs ached. Since then running has taken me all over the country and abroad, from bustling cities to forgotten villages. I’ve run in rain, snow, hail and scorching sun, along busy roads, up and down mountains, through forest trails, off the beaten track, up the captivating Wild coast, even on the Great Wall of China.