YEAR |
RACE |
TIME |
MEDAL |
AGE |
1995 |
Down |
10:15:37 |
Bronze |
29 |
2008 |
Up |
10:05:06 |
Bronze |
42 |
2009 |
Down |
9:29:23 |
Bronze |
43 |
2010 |
Down |
9:42:39 |
Bronze |
44 |
2011 |
Up |
9:10:34 |
Bronze |
45 |
2012 |
Down |
9:53:47 |
Bronze |
46 |
2013 |
Up |
9:40:10 |
Bronze |
47 |
2014 |
Down |
10:31:14 |
Bronze |
48 |
2017 |
Up |
10:27:22 |
Bronze |
51 |
2019 |
Up |
9:44:05 |
Robert Mtshali |
53 |
A relieved Debbie celebrates finishing her 10th Comrades |
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first , then slowly working her way up to 3km . “ It was amazing , because there was absolutely no pain , and I felt liberated . Before the op , just walking to my car had been painful , so now to be able to walk with absolutely no pain at all , it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from me .” |
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Permission to Run Again
Four months to the day after having her full hip replacement , Debbie headed to her biokineticist with a note from Dr Chuck , with the sentence she had been
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He simply said to me , come on , we need to see how strong you are . I was petrified I would do something to my hip , but he knew better , and soon I was doing strength training , getting stronger and stronger with each session .
waiting for : “ Debbie can start training for running .” While she had overcome the first hurdle , it did not mean the rest of her recovery would be plain sailing . “ I remember Gareth , my bio , pointing me to a weight machine Giving that the tests the strength in your legs , and putting Two on Oceans more weight than I thought I could handle . He Half simply another said to me , come on , we need to see how strong go in you 2017 are . I was petrified I would do something
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to my hip , but he knew better , and soon I was doing strength training , getting stronger and stronger with each session .”
A month later , Gareth gave Debbie her first running programme . “ I was so nervous for that first run , so I told Riaan he had to come with me . I also remember telling him , I got you into running , now you have to run with me ,” says Debbie . They only ran 200 metres , but for Debbie , it was a dream come true , as there was no pain , nothing dislocated , and her new hip was working perfectly . From there it was simply a case of gradual progression , till she could run 2km non-stop , and just a few more months down the line , Debbie managed to run her first 15km .
To date her longest run has been 25km , but she makes sure she does no more than 60km a week . “ Normally
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it takes nine months to get where I am , but it took me only six , so that is an achievement right there , but I am just grateful that I can run at all , so being limited to 60km a week is okay with me ,” she says with a big smile .
Of course , she does admit that it was hard to accept that she will never run the Comrades again , but she is quick to add that she feels she ‘ went out ’ on a high note , finishing her tenth . And now , with all her experience , she feels she can give back . “ I will be at that 60km mark on the Comrades route , the hardest part , encouraging all the runners to keep going , just like I used to do on the road . Although my Comrades running career is over , my running career is not , and my goal is to run a sub-1:40 half marathon . After all , my hip is going to outlive me . There is a reason for everything , and like the song says , ‘ I am Titanium !’”
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Images : Action Photo SA & Courtesy Debbie Fass |