EDITOR ’ S LETTER YOU BE THE JUDGE
I recently enjoyed the privilege of hosting World 50 Mile Road and 4 x Western States 100 Miler champ Jim Walmsley at his pre UTCT talk . This is the guy who broke Bruce Fordyce ’ s 36-year-old 50-mile record ! The fact that he was in SA to race was an honour for us all , but having an evening to shoot the breeze with this superstar made me pinch myself a few times .
To be honest , I expected a typical glib American sports star , groomed by managers to say everything , on cue , diplomatically – but not give away anything . Fortunately for me and the crowd of eager running fans who ’ d purchased tickets , he was nothing like a Tiger Woods or Alberto Salazar . He was raw , real and extremely humble . Confident but grateful for his crazy talent and respectful of everyone – what a lekker guy ! For those who only heard of him once he smashed our toughest UTCT course ever , in an insane record time , Jim has been through hell . He spent years in the US military , practically locked away underground in a nuclear bomb station . That ’ s until he was honourably discharged and was left feeling lost , abandoned and even suicidal . He was young and had no idea where to turn . In therapy he was directed towards the thing that gave him the most joy , which was running . This is how the star was born , a door closed but a much greater one opened that he otherwise would have run by on the treadmill of an ordinary life . Jim just loves to run .
Days later I was at a club 5km time trial and happened to be sitting close to a couple , one of whom had finished in well over 30 minutes . To witness their absolute joy at her having finished it “ without walking once ” brought a huge smile to my face . A milestone was reached and the endorphins were firing – regardless of her day at work , she was owning it and happy . He fist bumped and then hugged her . It was a beautiful moment to witness .
I couldn ’ t help reflecting on the enormous difference , yet huge similarity between her and Jim . Two people operating at opposite ends of the genetic running efficiency curve , yet both as fulfilled as each other . Nothing satisfies the appetite to move quite like an all-out run .
The real concern I have , especially after so many years running road , trail , track and tri , is the incessant pressure to run faster and longer . It seems to
“ Set yourself free from the meaningless judgement of others and decide for yourself why you want to finish ”
be in our blood , and fuelled by social media . We worship ultra runners and track stars to the extent that a fulfilling jog or a PB of 34 minutes for 5km is not deemed worthy of a joyous Facebook post . From the day we ’ re born , we ’ re pushed to win , to try harder , to improve . We are programmed to focus on results when in fact running may well be the stress-relieving antidote to a career chasing results . She , unlike Jim , doesn ’ t race for a living – she can ’ t fathom running for over an hour let alone 10 . She simply wants to be healthy enough to live long and enjoy the revitalising high of a blood-circulating run in an urban park . Jim revels in pain . She wants to not have to feel it . We ’ re all different and we need to be grateful for that and to pursue what makes each of us truly happy . We are not sheep , we are intelligent , emotional , sentient beings with diverse destinies who each contribute something unique to the greater good and evolution of mankind .
The truth is nobody who really cares about you is counting your medals or valuing you by the times you post . So set yourself free from the meaningless judgement of others and decide for yourself why you want to finish an ultra , travel to an exotic place to race , or simply discover a new run route . Some days you may decide to push the pace while on others you may decide to stop and take in a view so satisfying that it leads you to lie on your back watching clouds drift by . It ’ s your life , and you only have one – there is no second innings . When you look back one day , it won ’ t be the splits you remember , it will be those magic moments you cherish and pass on .
As you ’ ll read on page 48 , slower leads to faster anyway , and as most of RUN mag celebrates , there are literally hundreds of safer , shared runs you can enjoy , all over our uniquely beautiful , sunny country , with cool new people . So pick your pace , race , time or place – it ’ s a runners ’ world .
Let ’ s build on a spirit of ubuntu , be courteous to other runners and leave our routes cleaner than we found them by picking up one piece of litter each time we run .
Wishing you happy holidays and injury free , endorphin charged runs in 2022 .
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PHOTOGRAPH MATT DU TOIT
12 | RUN FOR YOUR LIFE