East London Surfers Marathon 2012

2012 is just around the corner.

Just after landing in 2012, is the Annual Surfers Marathon, an athletic event along the coastline of East london, from the Kwelera river mouth in the north, to the Nahoon Beach in the south. Between the two points the entrants in the surfers Marathon will pass through the seaside resort town of Gonubie.

If you are considering doing the Surfers Marathon, and don't like Gonubie, there is an option for you: get a surf-ski!

The Surfers Marathon is a competition between runners, walkers and surfers, to see who can finish first.

In my opinion just finishing is good enough. Since moving to East London in 2007 I have done 2 Surfers Marathons. The first because I didn't know any better, and the second because it seemed like a really cool birthday gift to myself.

2012 I'm doing it again. I still have no idea why, or how.

At this point in time I am the perfect example of anti-athleticism. Overweight, unfit, sedentary, smoker.

This is the slim and trim part of my er, physique.
From here it all goes bad...

Never sleep enough, never exercise. Go outdoors only to check that the sun has in actual fact come up.

So!

Some serious work is called for, and there are 49 days left in which to get into some semblance of shape - scrap that, shape like I have won't change without major surgery, so I'll keep the shape, and just work on getting a little fitter. I won't be breaking any records, but I do want to finish in time to get that t-shirt.

Hmm... Biting off more than I can chew? Dunno...

2011 Surfers Marathon is History!

24 hours ago, at the time of writing, I was close to the Gonubie river, having done about 5 km over loose loose sand, and treacherous slippery rocks. Ahead of me, once across the river was the part of the race I was looking forward to...

The 2011 Surfers Marathon started a 14:30, at the Kwelera River Mouth. Almost 3000 participants on the roadway behind the Start, and 17km of sand, beach, rocks, and tar, with 2 river crossings, before the Lifesavers Shack at Nahoon Beach.

Knowing that I would take strain on the first third I started as close to the front as possible, and joined the rest of the lunatics in the mad gravel road sprint to the beach paths. Generally, once I hit the sand I wasn't too dismayed. I'd started the race with my left calf in some kinda spasm, but it didn't really slow me down. With the tide being so low, there was a lot more rock to use, which was great, although I was slipping a lot, due to minimal shoe traction. Just about halfway through the first third I found that my left sole had loosened from my shoe.

The Surfers Marathon is definitely a shoes-on race. The treacherous footing on the rocks, many areas of sharp rocks, and of course the areas where ignorant party animals break bottles on the beach mean you just don't do the surfers barefoot. also, the Gonubie section, on the tar, is not good for bare feet.

By the time I got to Gonubie the sole was hanging on only at the toe area, and I went off to find a medic, to strap the sole onto the shoe. Guess what? No medics around in the first 500m out of the river, so I tore the sole off the shoe, and carried on like that, one good shoe, and another shoe with no soul(?).

At this point I was still feeling good. Chest okay, legs mostly okay except for the left calf, and I managed to move with some resemblance of a jog. Within one and a half km's I knew I had a problem. The uneven gait was putting strain on my left calf and knee. By favouring the left I was putting strain on the right. Not a happy state of affairs.

Several times I was tempted to pull out, knowing that I had a justifiable reason, but, because I'm too stupid to know better, and because I've got a series of Blog Posts about the Surfers Marathon, and because I wanted to at least catch up to Terry, I pushed on.

As always the Gonubie crowd was great. The cheering, and the support are incredible, and the one or two places they have music, well, the music does help. Well done Gonubie on keeping us going. I'm sure the Gonubie crowd are the reason there are not more people dropping out of the race.

By the time I reached the beach track at German Bay I knew I wouldn't catch anything, or anybody, and that if I finished in time I would be extremely fortunate.

Power walk (?) down the sand track onto the beach, get down to the waterline, and then turn right. I was kinda on auto pilot, trying to keep my left leg in its place, and to ignore the constant jabbing and stabbing with every step. Shuffle and shamble onward. left foot right foot left foot...

The first half of this stretch is pretty rough going, and when I could see the Bonza watering point I knew the sand would be hard and good, so I stopped to take off my shoes and socks, nearly losing my tag in the process. This did help a lot, as I was now able to even out my gait, but, too late, as my left calf and knee were pretty stuffed, and were just not co-operating anymore.

Oh yeah, I tied my laces together and slung the shoes around my neck. The shoes bouncing on my chest made me realise that I had a touch of nipple chafe, so now I was totally miserable, but, because I was off the bus route, and there were no taxis around, I had to finish the race.

Into the Nahhon River, and dragged myself across the river. Thirty seconds of absolute bliss, before it was back onto my feet. I forced myself to shuffle that last 400m, to a finishing time of 2:53:20

Way longer than planned, and a lot more after race pain than I've ever had, but for all that, I did enjoy the 2011 Surfers Marathon.

Gripes about the Surfers? The Prize giving started with little or no warning. We accidentally heard over the PA that they were busy with the prize giving. After the race most runners like to chill for a few minutes before going back to their cars to get fresh clothes to change into, get money, and go back down to the Finish. When we got back there was no food left, and having something to eat after a race is actually a pretty big thing for most athletes. We had a quick drink and ducked off.

Oh yeah. The shoes-for -life Competition lucky draw whatever it was. Did it happen? No-one we spoke to remembered hearing the results, or if there were any lucky draws at all. I suppose the winner of the shoes for life would have been expected to go back along the route to pick up the discarded shoes left along the way. I saw at least 5 pairs that would have fit me...

And, in closing, thanks to all who were on the side of the road cheering and supporting. In order of appearance, as I recall seeing you, Jenn Seady of Love Dogs, Basil (thanks for the beer, and sorry I didn't do it any justice. I was in a hurry at the time), Bernice, Carmen, Samantha, Mr and Mrs Bosch (thanks for singing 'Happy Birthday" to me), June of the Crowned Crane, and then at the finish Basil, Bernice, Basti, Carmen, Samantha and her boyfriend, and Terry.

2011 Surfers Marathon is Tomorrow!

So yeah.

Tomorrow is the day.

I've been quietly confident that I would manage the Surfers Marathon, if not comfortably, then at least in one piece.

Because I am no athlete, I have developed and devised a Race Plan to suit myself. I know I don't stand a snowball's chance of being anywhere close to the front. In fact, if there are any kinda halfway serious drinkers in the top half of the field, they will be somewhat inebriated before I even get my sights fixed on the Nahoon Clubhouse.

Terry, who has 13 Surfers Marathons behind her, wrote an awesome blog post full of hints and tips for those who are running or walking the Surfers for the first time.And poor Basti has to memorize it all cos this will be his first Surfers!

My aim is to finish the Surfers Marathon. That's all. If I am able to improve my time over my first Surfers in 2008, then I'll be even more pleased.

Kwelera Mouth to Gonubie: Fast trot on the gravel road, and then catch the first track down to the beach. Carrying on on the gravel is slightly longer, and dumps you onto the beach quite a distance from the waterline, and lotsa loose sand between. Mostly walking along here, sand kills me.

At Rainbow Valley, on the rocks, I'll pick the pace up a bit, as I'm generally happier on hard stuff. I'm hoping to pass at least a few of the people that would have passed me earlier on.

Crossing the Gonubie, this is a no-brainer, use the ropes.

Gonubie to German Bay: Once out of the river, I'll start shambling and shuffling onward, trying not to lose too much time, or too many places. This was my favorite part of my last Surfers, and hopefully it will be good for me again.

German Bay to Nahoon: Now this is kinda awkward, because I really have no recollection of the first half of this stretch! I do remember that we were moving well from before Bonza Bay. Terry was taking a bit of strain from having to babysit and molly-coddle me through the first stretch, but even so, we had a comfy pace.

First time around I had a time of 2hrs 11 min. To equal that I need to add a few minutes for that extra loop just after the Gonubie River, so, a time of 2hrs 20min will still be okayish. However, if I can do 2hrs 11min again, I will be extremely pleased.

On a side note.
Terry found a blog today, written by a gentleman from Port Elizabeth. I also went to have a look at it, and am now following Peter Giddy. Peter is very athletic, and is clearly passionate about running and swimming. i kinda like them both, and Peter's style is down to earth, and easy reading. Kudo's Peter, thanks for a great blog!

Weather tomorrow? Upper 20's, humid, and a not too strong North East wind. Cooling in the late afternoon with a sea-haze, and possible drizzly/rain stuff about 6pm-ish. I did go into the predicted weather in an earlier article. I have not consulted the Met Service, as there are loads of conflict, and none have been quite accurate.

Right Now?
I stopped work on the new Wavecrest website a little earlier, and am just chilling now, before going to bed early. For Terry and myself anything before midnight is early. Today has been hydration and protein day, and tomorrow morning it will be several small snack things, and loads of fluid. The heat of the past few days has been a bit concerning as regards hydration, as I seem to just sweat it out.

Why do I want to do the Surfers Marathon if I moan so much about it?

I'm doing this to prove to myself that I can, no other reason. And its my birthday present to myself :)

Surfers Marathon 2011 3 Days and counting...

In a little less than 3 days (72 hours, or 4320 minutes), The 2011 Surfers Marathon will be nothing but a memory.

For some competitors it will be a great memory, for others, it will be a time for self-loathing.

For me, should I (a) Complete the Surfers Marathon, or (b) not complete the Surfers, it will be a time of celebration. Before the loathing hatred tendencies surface in an attempt to mask my innate masochism.

So okay, now I'm also confused. The bottom line here is that no matter how I finish the Surfers Marathon on Saturday, on foot, on a stretcher, or in the back of a hearse, I will at least have started the race.

By no means am I an athlete. I don't even really enjoy athletics, and my sole contribution to promoting any kind of athletic feat was to try and wake up early enough to watch the start of the Comrades Marathon. I lost interest in that shortly after confusing Shaun Meiklejohn and Bruce Fordyce. Sheer embarrassment kept me from the TV.

When I arrived in East London I was told in no uncertain fashion that until I had done the Surfers at least once, I would not have 'arrived'. So I did the Surfers in 2008.

Just to arrive.

DUH!

What I wasn't told is that the Surfers Marathon is in actual fact a VIRUS! It infiltrates your system, and you cannot get rid of it. So. I'm doing it again. Against my better judgement I'm doing it again.

Training for The Event has been shoddy, consisting of a few laps around a school field, and an occasional crawl/walk/stumble around a 3km track in the middle of the veld. And then as a trial race we did the Tomato Trot 5km Fun Run.

I'm trying to keep psyched up, but that first section of the Surfers has got me beat before I even start. Loose sand, my grossly overweight frame and small feet are a sure recipe for disaster. And then of course seeing the ground beneath my feet is impossible because of the gut! I am hoping to at least shuffle through Gonubie in a semblance of running, mostly so that I won't embarrass any of my clients that may be there.

I do hereby undertake to return all Greetings, and to not Greet anybody unless they Greet me first.

Embarrassed clients take their business elsewhere.

I have been watching my diet the past week or more. I've managed to lose a few kilos, but they get lonely and come right back, except for the little buggers who are totally lost. There were only 4 of them.

I drink less coffee now, but more tea, so, no gain or loss there. But I do have only one sugar!

We've started having breakfast now.

Tomorrow night its Spaghetti Bolognaise carb loading time, and then on Friday night it's Cold meat and salad type healthy protein stuff.

Saturday morning, a light breakfast, then mid morning banana and sugar sandwich, and all the while drinking plenty of fluid stuff.

Then it's the race.

The after the race, depending on how I get to the finish, it's a beer! Or several...

To celebrate my birthday!

Tomato Trot 2011 Results Released

So the Tomato Trot came, and the Tomato Trot went.

The race started in blistering heat, and extremely dry conditions, with a looming thunderstorm watching from the horizon. As the distant thunderstorm got closer, for a better view of the race, humidity levels shot up, and doing anything more strenuous than breathing was sure to cause sweating.

At 3:30 the 15km Race walkers left, followed by the 15km Runners at 4:00.

Ten minutes later the fun Run Cyclists were released into the field, and as soon as they were clear of the start the 5km Fun Run walkers/runners/pram-pushers set off. I did my race pretty much as planned, walking hills, and running on the flats. Generally, I feel I did okay. I don't have an exact time, but we finished round about the 40 minute mark, which translates to an average of 8km per hour. So yeah, I've been told athletes don't use km/h, but then, I'm not a big shot athlete. I run because I have serious masochistic tendencies.

Okay, never mind that nonsense, the first three positions for the 15km heroes, in their categories, are as follows:

Mens Runners:

1. Melikhaya Sithuba
2. Mzukisi
3. Makaya Masumpa

Women Runners:

1. Hanlie Botha
2. Louise Heyns
3. Sharon Wood

Mens Walkers:

1. Thando Lumkwana
2. Richard Alexander
3. Stephen Boatwright

Women Walkers:

1. Stephanie Ackerman
2. Sharon Rust
3. Louise Potgieter

I do have the official times available if anyone needs to know their time for the 2011 Tomato Trot

2011 Annual Lilyfontein Tomato Trot

Every year, just before the Surfers Marathon, Lilyfontein School, just north of East London, host the Annual Tomato Trot.

The Tomato Trot has a 15km race for Runners, Walkers, and Cyclists, all with their own start. Then there is also the 5km Fun Run, which has a combined start for Runners, Walkers, Cyclists, and just generally whatever means of manual transport there is. I have seen push-chairs, but as yet, no wheel chairs.

The annual Tomato Trot is held at the peak of the South African Summer, and temperatures are generally on the high side. For that reason, the races start in the late afternoon. There is always the chance that the competitors will be caught by a thunderstorm, as this is the time of year for thunderstorm activity, but that hasn't happened for a long time, that I know of.

The 2011 Lilyfontein Tomato Trot is today. This afternoon we are doing the Tomato Trot. Only the 5km mind you. 2 Years ago we were going to do the 15km Run, but less than a kilometre into the race I started having severe chest pains, and Terry and I withdrew.

Last year we did the 5km, and had a load of fun, so, this year it's the 5km again. And then a few frosties, a chill-out on the school field, and just generally see where the evening goes.

Our preparation for the Tomato Trot? Nothing!

We have kinda sorta, in a manner of speaking, been sorta training for the Surfers Marathon next week, but there is no way the two can be compared.

The Tomato Trot is generally all on hard surface, gravel and tar roads, with a few places going through farms, but still on fairly hard surfaces. And its dusty. And soon after the start there is one mean mother of a hill. I don't like hills. Hills beat up on me. hills are mean, nasty, ugly, and should be declared illegal. If it were not for hills I would enjoy running more.

Halfway up that first hill it levels a tad, just enough for you to get your breath back, and to allow you to start thinking consciously  again. Generally the thoughts I have are not nice round about here. And then the sodding road goes around to the right a bit, and MORE uphill!

At the top of that uphill you get to turn right, and its a long road ahead, with an ever so slight climb, probably about 2m over 500m. Bear around th the left, slightly steeper, and a mean bank on the road. At this spot its better to stay at the top of the bank, even though cutting the corner is way shorter.

Then the road levels off, bears off to the right, and reaches the tar. At this point the 15km heroes go straight, and the 5km wimps take a sharp right!

Down the nice new flat tarred road, maybe 100m, left into Oribi Lawns, and then follow the circuit road through Oribi Lawns. At the bottom of the Oribi Lawns circuit is a watering point, and then another sodding uphill. And this is a long demented nasty one. I don't like uphills. About 400m before leaving Oribi Lawns, the road levels off, for about 300m, and then a little slope up to the entrance/exit, a sharp left onto the tar, and for the first time since starting it feels that finishing is possible. Just a little way further and there is another hill, but this time going in the right direction, DOWN!

Shamble and shuffle down the hill, turn right, and crawl up the track to the the finish.

The poor 15km heroes that were left to go straight on before Oribi Lawns will follow the road, down a long hill, and then up a long hill, until they reach the Brakfontein Road. A left turn onto the tar there will take them to the Tomato Packers sheds, where they will hang left onto a gravel road. By now they should be looking for passing Public Transport, because not too far away is probably the ugliest nastiest hill ever to be left standing. This thing is steep, and goes on forever. Should the heroes get beyond this point they will do a right at the top, and then mostly downhill before being diverted through another farm. It's downhill, and then its another mean , but thankully not too long uphill before they get to turn left, and run, cycle, walk down an easy slope until about 300 metres before turning right and going back uphill to the finish.

The 15km heroes are just that, heroes. One day maybe I'll try it again, and then I'll also be a hero.

Sitting in the office here, with doors and windows open, and a fan pushing the miserable hot air around there seems to be only a tiny little breeze out there. The temperature is in the early 30's, and humidity is relatively high.

This means hydration is going to be very important, and we have been drinking quite a bit already today. Just drinking is not going to be quite enough due to the loss of important minerals etc when we sweat, so we will be having an Energade or few, Coke, and water, pretty much as much as we can get into ourselves. The Coke will have to stop about an hour before the start, because running with Coke bloat is not fun. this past week we have been pretty good. Breakfast every day, small meals, and we actually have smoked less this week than we usually do.

But yeah, its time to get packed up and ready to go. I don't wanna do this, but I do wanna do it. I'm blond. And this will be my last Run as a youngster.