Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 15

IN THE LEAD
Maryke Dreyer,
Durbanville
Maryke Dreyer was
leaping for joy after her
lockdown run 45km
“
I read about a Frenchman that ran 42.2km on his
balcony. It really impressed me, so I decided to be
very brave – and a bit stupid – and to do something
as awesome as he did. I ran 45km on my 20m driveway. It
calculates to 2250 laps, and the time took way longer than
it usually takes, and that made it even more challenging. I
felt sick at 38km, but pushed through! Unfortunately, the
GPS does not show the accurate average pace, because it
struggles to determine the pace in a small area. I thank God
for giving me the ability and drive to do this! I think a lot
of us realise how important the health topic is now, during
the lockdown. Thanks for everyone that encouraged me – I
appreciate each one of you!”
Passage Comrades for his Waitrons
Runner: Henry Cock, Johannesburg
Henry’s run was all for the
waitrons in his restaurants
W
ith all restaurants closed due to the
lockdown, all waitrons have lost the bulk of
their income, as they rely on tips to make up
most of their earnings. Many restaurant owners are not
in a financial position to help their employees financially
while the restaurants are closed, but the Good
Things Guy website reports that one of the owner/
directors of the 86 Public restaurants in Johannesburg,
Henry Cock, decided to don his running shoes for a
fundraising lockdown run to try raise funds for his staff.
“The restaurant industry supports about 300,000 people
directly, and probably closer to 1.5 million people if
you include suppliers, extended family members,
beneficiaries and waiters. This virus will have an impact
on this industry that we may never recover from,” says
Henry. “Still, our staff were eager and feeling hopeful
that they’d be able to return to work after a 21-day
lockdown, but with the extension, they were worried
about supporting their families for another three weeks!”
That’s why I set out to run a Comrades Marathon
90km distance inside my lockdown space on 16 April,
in an effort to raise funds for my staff, and asked
people to contribute to our Back-a-Buddy fund that
we set up to help support the 20 families that do not
earn consistent incomes. Something made us look up
the distance of the Comrades Marathon and we came
across this: ‘The spirit of the Comrades Marathon is
said to be embodied by attributes of camaraderie,
selflessness, dedication, perseverance, and ubuntu.’
That perfectly embodied what I wanted to do.”
Phenomenal Response
Incredibly, Henry took on the 90km challenge inside
the passage of his home, which measures just 15m,
which meant he had to do about 6000 laps of his
passage to make up the distance. And he did it
barefoot, too! “He took a few 30min breaks to charge
his iWatch or phone that he was using to record the
distance, and to fuel his body with baby potatoes
and pasta, some Red Bulls and Energade. He also
took a couple of dips in the pool as an ice bath!” says
Henry’s friend Robyn Horwitz.
“Henry live-streamed
parts of the run
on Instagram and
Facebook, giving a
rundown of how he
was feeling and thanking people for
their messages of support and all the kind donations that
were streaming in! It was incredible to see the support
from restaurant-goers backing the brand, sending
messages for the staff, and to see Henry’s family and
friends root for him from all corners of the world!”
At the start of the run, Henry’s goal was to raise
R50,000 for his staff. With donations ranging from
R100 all the way up to R7000 streaming in throughout
the day, that goal was quickly hit and surpassed.
By four days later, he had raised R100,000, and this
money will be divided out between the waiters to help
fund and feed their families.
Nicky Booyens, Pretoria
The Fresh Trails Backyard Ultra 100 Miler… 127m laps around
my house with an elevation gain of 1.55m per lap, to give
a total elevation gain of 1953m for the 160km in 1260 laps,
completed in 23 hours 1 minute and 55 seconds. This was
probably one of the hardest, stupidest, craziest things I have
ever done, but it’s another 100 miler done. Good thing I had
my support crew on hand and they were not allowed to leave
the house, thanks guys! Thanks Fresh Trail, Eloff Hoffman,
Frikkie Pienaar and Maretha Pienaar for putting this challenge
together, it is amazing watching everyone taking up running
around their houses in circles. Thanks also to Dewald van
Niekerk for the cool race numbers! #LockdownMadness
#GottaRun #WasSortOfFun
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