TRAIL RUNNING what to expect . I just knew it would be hard , and that I would be on my legs for a very long time !”
Learning the Hard Way
Ann goes on to say that she and David were not just physically undertrained for 100km , but also illprepared for the technical aspects of trail running . “ At one point , we got to a sheer drop near a river and saw markers on the other side , so it looked like we had to jump . We just stood there for two minutes , trying to work it out , until another runner caught us up , took one look and just jumped and slid down the drop into the river . Having seen that , I just went for it , leaving David up there to work it out for himself ,” she says with a laugh .
“ I had read in a magazine that poles will help on a technical ascent , so we borrowed a pair , but never actually took them out of their packaging . When we finally tried to put them together the night before the race , we couldn ’ t even get them to stop folding again . We had asked Cuan Walker to come along to photograph our race , and he said he couldn ’ t believe he was sending us out in the dark for 100km so under-prepared ! We just laughed – and later , in the race , when we were struggling with the poles again , some of the other runners were laughing at us . We were such amateurs !”
On a happier note , Ann says that her various sponsors all came to the party to make her UTD run possible . “ They just want to see us athletes running again , and I am very thankful for their support . One of the compulsory items was a watch that you could upload the route map to , so I had to e-mail Polar and ask for a watch that could do that . Luckily they sent me the Vantage 2 model , otherwise I would still be lost in the mountains ! Also , I really struggle to eat during races , but Nuun have an electrolyte-carb mix that is suited specifically to women , and I drank that exclusively during the UTD . The only other things I ate were a banana and a hot cross bun .”
Slightly more tricky was choosing the right shoes for the race , says Ann . “ Saucony were keen for me to run the event in their trail shoes and helped me find the right shoe that would protect my Achilles , but my feet are used to lightweight road racing shoes , and I didn ’ t do nearly as much training in the trail shoes as I needed to , so I still suffered . I therefore put on my favourite pair of Saucony racers at 38km , when the route became easier , more like a hiking trail , and planned to put my trail shoes back on at 80km for the final technical section , but by then my feet were so sore that I just decided to keep going . David did change back and said he was glad he had , otherwise he would have lost all his toenails from kicking stones and tripping . I was less tired and not stubbing my toes as much , so the racers didn ’ t make such a difference to me . I had less grip , and had to slide down a few parts on my butt , but I did OK .”
Best Day of My Life
Ann shot to fame in 2018 when she won the Comrades Marathon , taking the ‘ Down Run ’ title as the race finished in the Moses Mabhida Stadium for the first time , thus making the race 91.18km long , nearly 1km longer than the previous ‘ Down Run .’ She had prepared for the Comrades with a win in the Legends 68km last year in 2017 , followed by fifth place in the 2018 Two Oceans Marathon and second in the Loskop 50km , but she was still considered , at best , a gold medal prospect . After all , in six previous
Images : Action Photo SA & Cuan Walker
14 ISSUE 141 MAY 2021 / www . modernathlete . co . za
The running poles that caused so much laughter …