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THE ED ’ S DESK by SEAN FALCONER the ed ’ s desk
Celebrating a New Look
If it ’ s true what they say , that a change is as good
as a holiday , then we should actually call this our Holiday Edition , because we ’ ve definitely changed things up this month . Our supremely talented Modern Athlete graphic designer , Caroline Collings , has outdone herself with this redesign of the mag ’ s look and feel , and I hope you will like it as much as I do . Of course , the focus of the mag remains the same , so you ’ ll still get plenty of inspirational ‘ people-stories ’ to enjoy , to motivate you to lace up your own shoes and get running .
Caroline has now been with the magazine since our 63 rd edition in October 2014 , so this marks her 70 th edition and her six-year work anniversary at Modern Athlete . Knowing Caro , she would not have been aware of that until reading this , because I know that she doesn ’ t even count her races , let alone deadlines !
I also know that I make her work long nights sometimes to get the mag done – we ’ re effectively a team of just two doing the majority of the work to produce this mag each month – but she never lets me down , and never complains . I think it has something to do with the fact she is a runner herself , which means she not only loves the work , but also has the perseverance to keep going even when tired . That ’ s why she has eight Comrades medals to her name already , and countless other medals . It ’ s a pleasure to work with her , and I would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to Caro . ( And I really will try to file copy earlier next month . No , really !)
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A Brand New Section , Too !
Besides the new look , we ’ re also launching our new Live Well section this month . This will be a regular feature in the mag looking at all things to do with health and wellness , including training , nutrition , injury-prevention , mental training and more , and we ’ ve signed up a talented group of coaches and experts to contribute content for the section , including this month ’ s cover athlete , Nick Robert .
This section was the brainchild of Richard Laskey , one of the three partners in this business . As he points out to all our clients , this magazine speaks to and caters for more than just runners , and I see this section developing with time , with more contributors coming on board and more topics covered . I like that
ISSUE 133 SEPTEMBER 2020 / www . modernathlete . co . za it also adds a fresh , vibrant new aspect to the mag . But of course , we ’ re adding this new content to the running content , so you will still get the same great read as before if you ’ re specifically looking for all that running inspiration .
At Last , Hope for Normality …
I was very pleased to see in the week before this edition came out , that Athletics South Africa ( ASA ) announced it had submitted a detailed plan to the Minister of Sport outlining steps to facilitate the reopening of the sport . This comes after a number of people in the running community and events industry had become increasingly vocal in their criticism of ASA for deciding to keep the sport pretty much locked down until further notice , perhaps even into next year .
Besides missing the races and running friends massively , this magazine has felt the economic effect of all events being cancelled or postponed since the lockdown began in March , as it also meant the cancellation of a host of digimags , mailers and adverts we had lined up . To be perfectly honest , we only just managed to keep the mag going through the first few months of lockdown , but I am proud that we made it . This was thanks to the hard work and extra hours the whole team put in , with another of our partners , Roxanne Martin , really getting stuck into virtual challenges , both our own and those of other organisers or clubs . She deserves special mention here for the innovative work she ’ s done over the past months .
Getting back to ASA and the possible reopening of the sport , most people in the know reckon that even if we do get road races back on the calendar in the coming weeks or months , that we will only see limited numbers of runners permitted at races , and everything will have to be done within very strict COVID-19 safety guidelines . I think I speak for most runners when I say that ’ s just fine with us , as long as we can get back to racing and sharing the roads with our running friends … even if we must wear a mask and stay a few metres apart at all times . We ’ ll take it !
Sean Falconer
Images : Chris Hitchcock , Thamar Houliston & Windmill Photography