Ma letters
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( Note that these letters may have been shortened due to space limitations .)
WINNING LETTER
BUILD YOUR OWN SAFE TRAIL
PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN
Thank you very much for a good but heartbreaking article in your August edition on the wonderful people we have lost on our roads doing something as wonderful and harmless to society as running . Thank you also for the very good safety advice – it is another wake-up call to me and hopefully to all other runners .
My reason for writing to you is to tell your readers of a fairly cheap and doable method of creating a very safe running or MTB area . I love running , and as I run mostly off-road , I always had to get in my car and drive somewhere safe , which detracts from some of the benefits of running , such as not to pollute , and to get away from the stress of driving . Now , we have a nature reserve near us in Centurion , the Zwartkop Nature Reserve , which is used by the military , so we cannot access the reserve itself , but I used to run in the grass between the road and the perimeter fence , and that made me think of building a track . I started it in November 2016 , and on 14 June we completed it .
The concept is simple and I would encourage clubs and municipalities to investigate doing this all over their cities . We cleared the grass and bushes for a width of 1.3 meters all around the reserve – we just clear , no changing of contours or any other interference in existing infrastructure . This gives us 15km of track , and while some is near the edge of the tar , it is still definitely out of the normal traffic area . This not only takes you away from the danger zone , but it gives your feet a break from hammering the tar , and on the one side of you there is scenic veld with some game and birds .
If you load apps “ MTB Project ” and “ Trail Run Project ,” you will see my Zwartkop Rondo trail is already listed in both , with parking and water points shown . – Philip Boardman , Centurion
Now that ’ s what I call a service to the running community ! As I wrote last month , we have lost too many good people on the roads , so anything that helps us all run safer is a huge step in the right direction . Thanks , Philip – love your work ! – Ed .
I recently took part in the Lux Mauritius Marathon , on 16 July . I had expected to see a lot of people taking part in this marathon , but there were only about 144 participants – and about 70 percent of the runners were South Africans , no jokes ! So you can imagine my stress and anxiety when I realised there were so few of us taking part in this Race . My two regular Comrades runner friends were aiming for sub-three and sub-four finishes , where I just wanted to finish the marathon , but I did not want to be the last person to arrive at the finish line . And the chances were very high that I could be last …
In the end my time was 5:30 , and luckily I was not last , but it rained from the minute the race started until I finished . My phone got soaked in the rain and stopped working completely , so I lost all the beautiful pictures that I took before the race , and all my contacts . ( I have decided I ’ m going to buy myself a Fitbit for running .)
Philip and his trail
Comparing this race to marathons here in South Africa , I know I would never be the last person to reach the finish line , because in a marathon there are thousands of people taking part . This also made me realise that South Africa is world class when it comes to hosting road running activities . I mean , there is always a race somewhere in the country every weekend , and everything runs smoothly – and a lot of planning and resources are needed to organise these events .
So the most important lesson that I learnt is never to complain about the running events hosted here in South Africa , because they are the best . Now I am looking forward to the warmer weather , so that I can continue with my running and shed the winter fat . – Teboho Makhaya , Midrand
We do indeed have world class races in this country – even the smallest races offer more than many races around the world , and it ’ s something we should be very grateful for . – Ed .
Images : iStock and courtesy Philip Boardman & Teboho Makhaya
6 ISSUE 98 SEPTEMBER 2017 / www . modernathlete . co . za