Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 74, September 2015 | Page 14

of himself in races, and hanging out
with his many Sleekgeek and running
friends. At the time of our interview in
early August, he had already run 43
races for the year, and it would have
been even more if not for an ankle
injury in February that put him out of
action for a few weeks (and caused
him to miss 15 events), and which has
recently caused a new niggles.
“I think I unconsciously compensate
on the right leg to save the left ankle.
Also, before the injury I used to be
totally free on downhills – gravity was
in my favour, so I didn’t really have a
choice, I just had to run! Uphills, not
so much… but now I am leaning back
more on the downhills, not just going
for it, which puts more strain on the
leg. And because I just kept running instead
of having it looked at immediately, I have
been running with this niggle for the last
month and a half. But you know us runners…
unless we’re on our deathbed, we will ignore
injuries. In my case, I think it is because of
the gung-ho way I went into running. I’m
just going out there to enjoy it.”

HIGH MILEAGE JUNKIE
Despite the niggle, he is still clocking up
the race mileage, and he says his original
target of 100 races for the year is still a
possibility, but will be harder now. “Racing
is just so much fun. For me there is nothing
better than getting out on a Saturday and a
Sunday, in a different area or on a different
mountain each time. It is just awesome.
Keep in mind that I use the term racing
very loosely here. I wouldn’t call what I
do racing, except on the downhills, but it
motivates you to get up, knowing you have
a race to go do with awesome people.”
And when it comes to the races he chooses,
they are almost always on trail, as he
doesn’t enjoy the road runs nearly as much.
“To be honest, I find the road boring, and
it’s harder on the body, I did a couple of
road runs last year and did another three
earlier this year, but road running just
doesn’t do it for me. Besides, it’s difficult

race, I CO2-load,” he jokes. “I am
actually cutting back at the moment
and have tried to stop a couple
of times, but it is tougher to stop
smoking than it was to turn my whole
life around, eat healthy and start
running, to be honest. But I want to
finish smoking before I run the UltraTrail Cape Town in October, because it
does affect the running.”

not have fun on the trails, because the trail
running community is very supportive, no
matter where you run – even when the
elites pass you on the way back to the finish
and you haven’t reached halfway yet, th ^B