Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 58, May 2014

Editor’s Letter Time to Clean Up our Act! A few weeks ago I was on the mic at a half marathon on a very blustery day. As I stood there, waiting to set the runners on their way, I had visions of thousands of empty plastic water sachets blowing all over the place, so I urged the runners to throw their sachets in a bin instead of on the ground. I told them that I believe it is only a matter of time before a local municipality or nature reserve refuses a race permission to continue due to the mess left behind by the running community – despite the best efforts of the clean-up crews that have to sweep up all those thousands of sachets after every race. Especially if the wind is blowing and spreading them far and wide! A number of runners came to thank me afterwards, as they also feel strongly about the mess we runners leave behind, and they said I need to put this message out there over and over. Thus I was quick to applaud the organisers of the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon when they announced that the Chapman’s Peak section of the route would be a plastic-free zone this year, with all drinks served in biodegradable eco-cups. While all efforts would be made to remove every last piece of litter after the race, the organisers pointed out that anything inadvertently left behind would not damage the environment or spoil the beauty of one of the most stunning roads in the country, which also runs through a national park. case. The Two Oceans organisers have acknowledged that the system was not perfect and have pledged to ﬁnd a solution before next year’s race, and I applaud them once again for trying to ‘clean the sport up,’ even if just one section of road at a time. Modern Athlete Stockists Mike Bray & Craig Van der Westhuizen [email protected] EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR Sean Falconer [email protected] JOURNALIST & RACE EDITOR Lauren van der Vyver [email protected] DESIGNER & JOURNALIST Nicole de Villiers [email protected] EVENT CORRESPONDENT & LIAISON The alternative is that one day we runners will be forced to take a hydration pack with us to every race, which we will ﬁll with our own water and carry the whole way. Trail runners already do that without any problems, but let’s face it, that will probably mean slightly slower times on the road. The point is, we can’t just keep littering our way through the towns, cities and nature reserves of this country! So here’s my challenge to you: Let’s all lead by example and start tossing our sachets in bins, or carrying them to the ﬁnish. I believe that every single sachet not left out there on the road is a step in the right direction. Donald Mathipa Sean Falconer Delaine Cools (CMA), Tom Cottrell, Riël Hauman, Rene Kalmer, Feige Lewin, Jacques Marais, Derick Marcisz, Ray Orchison Christine Peters, parkrunSA, Ironman SA Follow me on Twitter: @sean_falconer PS: We’re always looking for contributions to the mag, so feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. However, come race day and things didn’t quite go to plan… The biodegradable cups could not be ﬁlled too soon, as they would apparently already have begun dissolving before the runners could get there to use them (and the water or Coke would have started warming up). Thus queues began to form at some tables, prompting impatient runners to push on to the next table, where even longer queues formed, and the domino effect continued. Thus some runners didn’t get a drink for long periods and began to complain about tables running dry, which was not the 6 PUBLISHERS ADVERTISING SALES GAUTENG Richard Laskey 083 342 8200 / [email protected] SALES WESTERN CAPE Lynette Higgo 082 835 0668 / [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION Lauren van der Vyver 011 454 1542 / [email protected] EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS COVER IMAGE Roger Sedres/ImageSA IMAGES Backpagepix, Luigi Bennett/adidas, Danie Bessinger, Karen de Jager, Sean Falconer, Gill Fordyce, Brenda Garth-Davis, Santie Hattingh, Chris Hitchcock, iStock, Jetline Action Photo, Richard Laskey, Jacques Marais, Van Zyl Naude, Craig Pheiffer, Shaun Roy, Hennie Rudman, Roger Sedres/ImageSA, Kelvin Trautman/Red Bull Content Pool, Cherie Vale/Newsport Media, Lauren Van Der Vyver. Courtesy: Nicci Botha, Andrew Chiloane, Johan Cronje,Clare Davie, Johan Grassman, Achmat Hassiem, Rene Kalmer, Thabang Ma

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 58, May 2014 | Page 6