Central Park, New York
Central Square, Addis Ababa
White House, Washington DC
Ababa at 6am in the mornings, or joining an organised Nike run through Central Park in New York on a Wednesday afternoon. Then there’ s the reaction of ordinary people you run past – in Ethiopia people even applaud, and in many places like Lagos and Istanbul, people say words to encourage you.
MA: Tell us about your ultra-running experiences, and what you took from them.
CDP: I’ ve run the Comrades as well as the Two Oceans, Om Die Dam, Mont Aux Sources and Slow- Mag ultras, and a 24-hour New Year’ s race in Pretoria in 2014, where I surprised myself by running 215km and obtaining a podium place. Running ultras has taught me that we are as big as our dreams, and to keep going when the urge to give up is overpowering. It has also taught me what a powerful painkiller laughing is, and the camaraderie amongst runners, supporters, spectators and race volunteers shows that my belief that we as humans are inherently good, is a correct one.
MA: You’ ve also done some interesting races around the world. Tell us some of the highlights.
CDP: Paris was my first marathon in 2000, because the London Marathon was full, and I was completely clueless about marathon running, so I followed a programme in a magazine and completely overtrained, but finished in 3 hours 37 minutes, which automatically qualified me for a place in the London Marathon the next year. When I did London, I pulled through the last few kilometres by taking every chocolate that the crowds had on offer!
However, my favourite‘ travel races’ have been within South Africa. Most recently I did the three Wildrun stage trail races on the Wild Coast( it’ s like a luxury boutique run by the sea, with great food and cheap wine at the hotels), in the Richtersveld( the mountains were more amazing than I could ever dream) and in Mapungubwe( where we ran in three countries, amongst crocodiles and lions, and on the site of an ancient trading settlement).
MA: With all the travelling you do, is it hard to fit in regular running?
CDP: It’ s hard to train for ultras, and I currently rely heavily on cross-training in a gym because a chronic Achilles problem means I can’ t run two days in a row. I’ m just concentrating on running for pleasure, doing slow 5 to 10km runs, and although it’ s frightening to think how unfit I am compared to two or three years ago, it’ s nice to slow down a bit.
Exercise is the best in terms of the endorphin rush and general feelings of wellbeing and achievement, and I’ m quite addicted to it. When I was working full-time it provided me with a great escape from the tyranny of deadlines. The other big up-side is that it enables you to travel on a tight budget, where you have to walk or take public transport, often with a bag on your back.
Right now I haven’ t got any races planned, but I try to participate in as many organised runs as I can, such as parkruns. That said, a good running friend is getting married in the mountains in March and we’ ll apparently be doing a little 15km trot before the wedding, so I’ m trying to get into some kind of respectable shape for that!
No Littering – # Runclean!
Image: Two Oceans Marathon
Since Modern Athlete launched the # runclean campaign in 2015, the topic of litter has become one of the most prominent talking points in South African running circles, both at races and on social media. Many runners have already stopped littering as a result, but still more continue to just toss their used sachets on or besides the road. In 2017, the mission of the campaign is thus to continue educating the running community about cleaning up the sport by eradicating this litter problem.
HERE’ S HOW ALL ATHLETES CAN # RUNCLEAN:
• Throw all water sachets or cups in a rubbish bin, or carry them until you find a bin.
• Wear running kit with a pocket for used sachets, or make a pocket with your licence number.
• Carry your own water in a hydration pack or belt, so you don’ t need to use sachets.
• Promote a no littering rule at all times.
• Volunteer to help clean up at a water table at a race.
• Share your # runclean experience at www. facebook. com / runclean or mail to letters @ modernathlete. co. za.
FREE BINS TO ALL RUNCLEAN EVENTS!
The # runclean campaign is also promoting no littering by providing FREE bins to registered # runclean events, in conjunction with Garbie Bins. From June 2016 to December 2016, over 40 events around the country received bins, with many runners noticing the increase in bins at races.
To register your race as a # runclean event and request FREE bins and bags to be delivered to your event, look for the sign-up link on www. facebook. com / runclean, or go to http:// modernathlete. co. za / bf. php? fid = 287.
Make sure to register your race three weeks before race day, tell us how many bins you need, and we’ ll get Garbie to deliver the bins, liners and bags, all free of charge. In exchange, organisers must commit to anti-litter measures at your event, by actively promoting a no littering attitude to your entrants across all platforms, during registration, at the start, on the route and at prize-giving. Only by highlighting it will we begin to solve the littering problem.
Think before you throw— # runclean
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