Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 90, January 2017 | Page 21

But my strategy was simple: Run 500m, walk
the next 2.5km to a water table and drink some
Coke, then repeat. I finished the marathon, did
the Gun Run 21km the following weekend, and
then finally allowed the doctors to do the knee
surgery I needed.”
Trevor finished his marathon in 6:42, and the
following year Colin decided to also make his
marathon debut in Cape Town, coming home in
6:05. Trevor was also running that 2015 race,
but bailed at 36km. “I waited for Colin and
walked the last few kays with him, and while he
ran into the finish I went to the medical tent.
When they asked me where it hurts, I told them
they could just start anywhere. Still, running
that far was a massive jump from when I first
started running parkruns. In those days I would
eventually pry myself off the ground after 30
minutes, shout at the kids to go get me food,
Colin and Trevor

and eventually 45 minutes later drag myself to
the car. Then I would be bedridden for three
days! Now I can make it to breakfast and even
walk around the mall afterwards.”

Some of the parkrun Tourists

Extended Family

Of course, running races here and there means
the Doyles have to miss a parkrun, and Colin
jokes that he is still in therapy after missing
a parkrun for the first time in 2015 to go run
the Two Oceans Half Marathon. The brothers
say that it is the incredible vibe and family
atmosphere of parkruns that keeps them coming
back. “Root44 is now like the bar in Cheers
for us… a place where everybody knows your
name,” says Trevor, and Colin adds that “It has
become a sort of hobby for us, and it’s really
nice to go to the smaller, more obscure places,
like Ladybrand, for the different parkruns. When
a new one launches, all the Tourists get together

and we always have a great chat. We’ve all
become close friends thanks to parkrun.”
Looking ahead, the brothers say one of their
running goals is to keep ‘collecting’ new parkruns,
and they would both like to reach 250 parkruns
to qualify for their green shirts – runners get a
red 50 shirt and black 100 shirt when they reach
those parkrun milestones. “I’d also like to redo
some of the great runs I’ve done on my parkrun
travels,” says Colin. Meanwhile, Trevor adds that
one of his original goals was to run the Comrades
in 2020, with Mia, when she turns 20. “Luckily
that is no longer her goal, I think, so instead I just
want to get to a stage where I can do the Two
Oceans 21 comfortably. I ran the Peninsula Half in
3:08, so I wanted to do the same time at Oceans.
I made it home in 3:10, just before the cut-off,
and then I went into the Old Mutual VIP area and
lay down under a table to recover while the rest
of the family tucked into the food! I did manage
to emerge in tie to watch Caroline Wöstmann win
the ultra, though!”

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