Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 77, December 2015 | Page 15

down. It became a survival race for all of us, and
took us hours after the race to stop shivering.”
In spite of the cold, Trish and Hanneke
Dannhauser still did well in the open elite
category race, which started first up at 8am, with
Hanneke finishing sixth and Trish coming home
10th. Most of the other South Africans elected to
run in specific age categories, which started an
hour or two later in the day, when it was slightly
warmer. “That made things a bit easier for them,
in my opinion, because the ice was pretty much
scraped off the obstacles by then. I went there
thinking I can probably win my age category,
but I wanted to compete against the best in the
world, and I am really chuffed with 10th place,
as I only started OCR this year.”
The second day of the Champs saw the team
races take place, with Trish and Hanneke
teaming up with Dominique De Oliveira for SA
team 1. “I was the designated runner, so I went
off first, with a few obstacles, then Hanneke did
a strength section, and then it was back to me
Trish on her way to another trail ultra win

for another run section, followed by Dom doing
a technical section. Hanneke then did another
strength section, and then all three of us had to
join up for the last section. It was hard because
we got cold in between our sections, and
Hanneke lost a few positions in the first strength
section because of an issue with her ankle, but
I pulled us back from eighth to fourth in my
second run, and then we took third from the
other SA women’s team on the last obstacle.”

Running Background

Trish is a divorcee with two young sons, Keegan
(7) and Daniel (4-going-on-13), both of whom
are showing a talent for running. She also
excelled at track and field and cross country
while growing up in the Free State, and says,
“My love of running started when a friend asked
me to come run with her because there were
so few runners taking part in cross country, but
I beat them all, so that friendship didn’t last…”
Trish would go on to medal at the SA Cross
Country Champs in 2012 and 2013, winning
silver in the 30-34 age category and then silver
for 35-39s, plus a team gold.
Her love of running also prompted her move into
road running after school, and this eventually
saw her to take on the Comrades Marathon
for the first time in 2004 and 2005, both of
which she says she just ran to finish in nine to
10 hours, but she returned in 2012 to post an
awesome 7:31, narrowly missing out on a silver
medal. She then ran 8:18 in the heat of 2013,
followed by 7:40 in 2014. “I still have unfinished
business with the Comrades, because I missed
silver by less than two minutes, and that leaves
a bad taste in my mouth,” she says determinedly.

Modern Athlete May.fh11 4/22/14 12:37 PM Page 1

However, she adds that road running had started
getting a bit boring, hence she went over to trail
running in 2014, and instantly fell in love with
it as she won the Lesotho Ultra Skyrun 50km,
Golden Gate 3-day stage race, Mont-Aux Sources
50km and 1000 Hills Crazy Stores 35km, along
with other podium finishes, but it also left her
feeling tired by the end of the year. “I knew I
needed a break, so I asked Claude how to take
time off my legs but still benefit my running,
and he suggested strength work and obstacle
C

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Awesome team work
by Trish, Hanneke
and Dom at the World
Champs

racing. That saw us launch our business in March
this year, Adventure Obstacles Training, which
focuses on strength training and coaching, and
we have a lot of runners in our regular training
groups. We also do a lot of corporate functions,
team-building exercises and kids’ parties, so
there is plenty going on.”

Looking Ahead

In terms of 2016, Trish says her focus will be a
combination of OCR and trail running, and she
is hoping to once again get to the OCR World
Champs while also doing some of the big trail
races, including the Otter as well as teaming up
with Claude for the AfricanX and Southern Cross
stage races. “I’m hoping that 2016 will be even
more successful, and I’m now on a level where
I can continue training for OCR, but still go do
some awesome trail running. But next year the
OCR World Champs are in Canada, which will
probably be even colder, so we’ll have to train in
freezers!”
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