Our Modern Athlete Brand Ambassador ’ s Blog
KALMER ’ S CORNER kalmer ’ s corner by RENÉ KALMER
Holiday Trails
My new year ’ s resolution for 2022 is to make running fun again , and to say “ yes ” to new adventures , both of which I did during the December break .
Team ‘ Kalmer and Kêrels ’ with ‘ Driver Dad ’ before the HagMorKei Trail Run and egg brekkie roll at the start , I initially thought it was going to be a nice sister-bonding session along the Strandloper Trail , but a few minutes into the race , Christine told me to go and catch the leading ladies . Andre managed to keep up for the first kilometre , until the brekkie roll kicked in …
Making Good Choices
Two kilometres into the race , I was very relieved that I didn ’ t think with my “ road running ” head when entering , thus opting for the 14km run instead of the 21km trail . “ Stadig oor die klippe ” is how I approached the challenging parts over the rocks and loose stones , and that ’ s where Christine closed the gap and passed me . I realised the race was on , and my pride was at stake , as I couldn ’ t let my sister that just returned to running postpartum beat me . As we approached a river crossing before the Double Mouth Campsite , Christine shouted , “ Shoes on or off ?” I think we can call ourselves trail runners , after crossing the Quko River hip-deep with our shoes on !
It ’ s back to school , back to work , and back to reality after an amazing December holiday where we travelled from Morgan Bay to Mossel Bay . Every second year we get to spend the Christmas holiday with my family for a ‘ Kalmer-Kersfees ,’ with my younger sister , Christine normally taking charge of organising the holiday , and this time she booked us a house in Morgan Bay , a small seaside holiday village on the Wild Coast .
Traveling to Morgan Bay brought back a lot of memories of a girl ’ s trip that Christine , Irvette van Zyl and myself took more than a decade ago , traveling from the Garden Route to the Wild Coast and staying over in Backpackers along the route … but that is a story for another time ! This holiday was all about creating new memories as a family , with three grandkids ranging from the age of four months to four years old . ( This is the reason we skipped camping this year .)
Part of making these new memories was team ‘ Kalmers and Kêrels ’ ( now hubbies ) all doing our first trail run . My Dad drove us to Haga Haga for the start of the HagMorKei Trail Run , while Ouma was babysitting the three grandkids back home . While hubby Andre fuelled himself for this adventure with a bacon
Christine gave me a proper run , walk , jump , swim and crawl for my first prize bottle of Andiamo , and we were proud that we could make it a one-two finish for the Kalmer sisters . In fact , we were so hyped after our first trail experience that we immediately started to plan our next adventure . I will proudly wear my first trail running race shirt for that … # watchthisspace … and I will definitely also invest in a pair of trail shoes for our next adventure .
Andre also loved his trail experience , so three days later we decided to make the most of the availability of babysitters to go do the Morgan Bay Hotel ’ s Sundowner 8km run . Somewhere along the route we missed a mark , however , and went from running sub-five minute kilometres to bum-sliding down a hill between banana trees at 16min / km ! We finished stone last , with just the hotel manager and two slush puppies waiting for us at the finish line . We were just relieved that nobody followed us , and we definitely proved the quote , “ Not all who wander are lost ,” wrong ! This was also a confirmation that Andre and I should never enter the Amazing Race as a couple . It was a real relationship tester …
Positive Vibes All Round
For the second part of our holiday , we travelled along the coast to Mossel Bay to spend time with Andre ’ s family , and I made a welcome return to familiar training routes between Mossel Bay and Hartenbos . Running from Diaz around Mossel Bay Point is still one of my all-time favourite running routes , and it ’ s always great seeing both young and old walking on the Hartenbos Promenade . In fact , throughout the December holidays , it was great to see families walking , running , cycling and training together , and I hope that all this energy and enthusiasm will continue into 2022 .
About the Author
René Kalmer is a two-time Olympian , having represented SA in the 1500m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the marathon at the 2012 London Games . She has also won more than 40 SA titles in track , road and cross country at youth , junior and senior level , in distances from 800m to the half marathon .
Images : Courtesy René Kalmer
48 ISSUE 148 147 JANUARY DECEMBER 2021 2021 | | www . . modernathlete . co . co . za. za