How often do you race?

I get asked this question quite often and I presume it's due to http://www.ar.co.za/ and my AR writing for magz and such.

My answer? Not often. My racing history has been somewhat dishevelled. In '99, 2000 and 2001 there weren't that many races and most were distance. I did a good number in that time before starting to work on the Adventure Zone tv crew. Accordingly, 2002 was a very exciting year and I attended most adventure races but to work, not play. I also got overdosed on AR.

I got back into it in 2003 with a short race or two and my annual favourites, the 250km Swazi Xtreme and 8hr Rogaine. I also got back into road running with a few races (in the late 90's I used to do races most weekends) and ventured abroad to run Jungle Marathon 250km in Brazil.

I still raced intermittantly in 2004 (Swazi again) and then got into online race coverage, which is where my travels started. Away a lot from late-2004 and through to the end of 2005 there was no way I could commit to a team and when I was home I preferred to stay home. But, I did get to do 2 x 50-milers in 2004 (in the US) and the 250km Coastal Challenge ultra (Costa Rica) and Swazi and Surf2Rock in 2005. I also attended a number of short races where I took photos and helped with marshalling and such.

This year I've had a bit of a focus on ultra running and am trying to get my run times down. I ran a 100-miler in Jan, a 12hr circuit race in April, did Swazi X end-April and Puffer at the end of August. I up for my 4th 8-hr Rogaine end-Oct and probably Skyrun in early Dec.

My racing preference is for long distance and multiday races and I'm not likely to take part in many sprints (they're hard work!). I also like to race less frequently so that when a race is coming up I get sooooo excited to be taking part. I don't want to become blase and feel that it's "just another race".

Finally, organising a team, support crew and all the other bits is admin. I do a lot of admin and organising daily and there are times when I'm just not into any more of it, even if it is for a race.

Still, I do think it is really neat to race often. It is fun, motivating and social: road running races do this for my running training.

So, while I remain actively involved in AR, you're not likely to see me at ARs every month but inbetween you'll see me on the road, at orienteering or on trails running an ultra.