Days of Running: Day 7

The first week has gone by in a flash and I'm feeling good, like really good, for this week of running. I ran on the roads at night, I ran trails, I ran parkrun, I ran on my own, I ran with Rosy, and I ran with friends. It has been a good week.

This year, my birthday challenge is really taking me back to the first year (when I turned 35) and also to my years of growing up and living in Jo'burg where I ran the suburb streets in the day and at night for many, many years - and how I loved the dark and the sounds and smells of the neighbourhood and meals being cooked. I'd almost forgotten about this.

I've been logging my runs on Strava, which should give me a lovely record to look back on.

Monday evening: the still dam during the GTR Social Run

Once-off blood donations are not used (you have to donate again)

I had been meaning to get to my local blood donor centre for weeks. They're open only on Wednesdays and Fridays. The WCBS Blood Donor Centre was a hive of activity after a call-out for donors was shared. As many of you many know, a building that was under construction collapsed here in George on Monday afternoon. 39 of the 75 people that were working on and in the building when it fell down are unaccounted for (7 of the 36 retrieved are dead). 

This town of George has been amazing with people volunteering in every and any capacity - from donating food and beverages for the rescue workers, providing emotional support for the waiting family members, contributing safety equipment, helping to remove rubble, and preparing meals for the 150+ people, including police and medical personnel, on site throughout the day and night. The volunteer support has been amazing, but it has also been understandably overwhelming for those dealing with this on the ground. 

Today's call-out for blood donors was made with good intentions by someone. I learned at the Centre that blood stocks were actually good (shared somewhere said stocks were critical) and both the Centre and a school's blood drive, planned before the disaster, were inundated with donors. While wonderful, it is also a challenge. 

There is something else too (and I'll say it again and again)... Once-off donations are not used. When you donate for the first time, your blood is tested and then separated into components, and your plasma is frozen and stored. When you go back a second time and your tests are clear again, they use the frozen plasma and store your new donation. When you return a 3rd time and your tests are clear, they use the second donation. These three donations must happen within a 12-month period (you can donate up to 6 times a year). Only once you have a 'regular donor' status will all of your blood components be used. The reason they do this is to ensure that you are healthy and that there is no risk to the recipient. 

Also, when you donate, whether in a disaster situation or not, you can't choose who your blood must go to. It goes to the blood bank and will be given to whoever needs it, whenever it is needed. 

To all those people who kindly donated today: please go back in two months time and donate again. And then go back in another two months. What SANBS and WCBS need is to have more regular donors throughout the year, and year after year.

Bugweed Warriors

 I moved to George in November 2020 and moved into a rental house in mid-December. When my friend Tracey saw my garden, she immediately noticed the big bugweed tree and educated me about this invasive alien. Tracey and Cliffy helped me to cut it down, treating the stump with suitable poison to kill it. 

Suitably educated, my eyes learned to spot bugweed everywhere: in the forests, along trails, and coming up along firebreaks. I began pulling out seedlings along the trails. Over time, I saw clearly how mu consistent actions made a huge difference. On trails that I regularly used, no bugweed. On trails that I infrequently used or new trails, bugweed is everywhere.

Around mid-last year, in a random conversation with friend Otto, he said that loads of bugweed trees were growing outside his property, on the margin between houses, the firebreak and the forest start. He wanted to eliminate them. I suggested we get a bunch of friends together to help him. A bugweed-pulling session was planned and after two hours of so of manual labour and many trees pulled, cut and treated, we were treated to a potjie lunch.

In the following weeks, we did some more bugweed pulling on local sections - sometimes with only two or three of us and other times with more. We setup a Bugweed Warriors whatsapp group to let friends know when we were doing sessions so that they could join us.

Bugweed pulling has turned into a bit of an obsession. 

Otto and I are the ringleaders; we are the most bugweed obsessed. We are very fortunate to have friends who support our project and gladly join in.

At the beginning of this year we crowd-sourced funds from our group and purchased a large Tree Popper. This is a magnificent tool. We can pull bigger trees out by their roots (Prize #1) and work through an area faster and with less effort than to saw-and-treat those we couldn't pull out with back-breaking toil. Tree Popper is our pride and joy. The sound of bugweed roots popping out of the ground is music to our ears.

We get out to pull bugweed probably once every two weeks, even if the session is only 90-minutes. We had a real winner on Sunday morning, spending three hours and making an incredible dent on a bugweed 'grove' in the forest. 

Pile of pulled bugweed - this was only some of what three of us extracted. After pulling them out, we process them by cutting off all of the berries to take out with us and also chopping the trees into smaller pieces to compost faster in a pile.

Before: can't see the woods for the bugweed. After: grove of bugweed cleared
Yes, these areas do require maintenance to pull out any seedlings that emerge. Seedlings are quick and easy; trees take more effort. Otto, Constandt and Ken were out there with me.

Bugweed is fast-growing and a prolific seed producer. There is so much of it that the task can feel overwhelming. I take inspiration from those before-and-after reforestation stories of one person that reforested an area by planting over a million trees in 30 years... Well, this will be the bugweed story here too. 

What we do need are just more and more hands. If every trail runner pulls five seedlings a day from the trails they run on, that will be maintenance taken care of. Our team can then focus on dealing with the large, established, seed-producing trees to prevent the spread.

Bugweed is not only a problem here - it has been in KZN for more than 30 years and I hear that there is loads of it on the highveld. The solution is to have more people aware of it. Aside from cutting down the 'mother' trees, pulling out seedlings is quick and effective in helping to curb more growth - and anyone can do it.

We have a Facebook page and Instagram profile. Join us and get bugweeding where ever you are.

48 Days of Running

 This year marks the 14th year of my pre-birthday challenge and this year I am going back to basics.

My running has been fairly decent, crossfit is going well and I'm feeling good; but I can do better and I also need to do more for me. I haven't run much on road for the last 3.5 years and I could do with some mindless running, sans dogs, that is focused, faster and for me only.

My birthday challenge this year, which starts on 2 May, is 48 Days of Running (I'm turning 48 this year!) where my objective is a 4km run on road five days each week - I usually do the GTR Social Run on Mondays and the time trial on Thursdays, both on trails. Crossfit and dog walking will slot around the daily runs.

This should do me a world of good and is exactly what I need right now.

Heave ho!

Harkerville Coast Hiking Trail (two days)

 This long-awaited hiking trip finally arrived. The trip was booked for early last year but got bumped after the coastal section of route was closed for the maintenance and repair of bridges, ladders and chains. It was worth waiting for it to reopen, as the coastal section is a highlight of this two-day hiking trail.

We were a group of 11 (the 12th couldn't make it and the replacement came down with a cold). I knew four of the group going into the hike; the others being friends of friends.

The Harkerville Coast Hiking Trail is a SANParks route and rates for the hike, including two nights - Harkerville Hut and Sinclair Hut - were very reasonable at around R425 per person (including conservation fees).

We drove through from George on Friday afternoon, meeting up with the others - bar two - at the Harkerville Hut. With a boma, braai area, showers and bunk beds, we had everything we needed.

Day 1

Up with the sun, backpacks packed and ready to start the hike at 7am after a good sleep and breakfast. Friends Tanja and Jacques arrived to complete our group.

The first part of the hike passes through beautiful forest. I didn't expect to see many fungi but was treated to an abundance of Funnel Wood Cap fungi, Ganoderma (Artist's Bracket) and two new finds - Chocolate Tube Slime Mould and an as yet unidentified fungus.

Funnel Wood Cap (Zelda's photo)

Cluster of Redwood trees planted in 1925.

Chocolate Tube Slime Mould

And then we headed down to the coast. I got so many fabulous photographs - these are just some of them.

The coast is the toughest part of the route on both days because you walk over rocks, rocks and rocks. There are a number of sections where you climb up, over and across rock. On the sections with more exposure, chains have been bolted to the rock for you to hold.

Zelda's photo showing Carin about to start a chain section.

The rocks and pebbles are just incredible.

Snack break and sitting with Mel (left of photo) and Johann (right of photo). Mel is related to Johan through family marriage and, at 69, he is amazing. He is a regular hiker and he is in good shape. He took the challenging terrain in his stride.

Jacques' photo of me and Tanja.

Last part of Day and a walk to our overnight stop.

The Sinclair Hut. No showers or electricity, but there is a tap, braai area, flush loos and bunk beds to sleep 12. The hut is located on a wide firebreak.

I was chilling in the afternoon warmth when I had a lovely surprise visit from my friend Rob. He lives in the area and he mountain biked to visit us. In the days before the hike, I had tried to recruit Rob to make up our 12th person, but with prior commitments he was unable to make it. His visit was a pleasure. Zelda even treated him to a mug of coffee.

An afternoon visit by my friend Rob.

We had a lovely evening and then an early night. We had done 14.5km on a very hot day with some difficult terrain - sleep came fast and deep.

Day 2

Again we were up with the sun and set off on the trail by 7am. The first section went through fynbos and then we descended to the coast.

Heading down to the pebble beach.

I reckon that Day 2's coastal section is longer than Day 1's, with more scrambling and also more interesting elements like bridges and ladders. Rocks are abundant and the scenery really is quite spectacular. We were blessed with a beautiful day. It was hot, but thankfully it was not as hot as expected.

With my ever faithful AR Gaiters.

When we did snack stops, I took the opportunity to doze a little and get my feet up while listening to the sound of the sea, murmer of voices and tinkle of rocks moving over each other. At almost midday, there wasn't much shade up for grabs at this stop.

Final section of pebble beach.

Leaving the beach, a forested walk and this beautiful stream.

There was a good dose of ascent to get up from the coast. This was a really pretty section.

Back in the forests for the final 5km to the end.

What a score. This is likely to be Dog's Vomit Slime Mould.

Paula, Tanja, Zelda, Carin, me, Adele and Allison outside Sinclair Hut. Start of Day 2.

Jacques, Gerrie, Mel and Johann outside Sinclair Hut

A good weekend, excellent hiking experience and a lovely group of people.

Is the Harkerville Coast Hiking Trail difficult?

I'm not really the right person to ask because I have a skewed frame of reference.

At 14.5km (Day 1) and 12km (Day 2), the distances are decent but not vast. Keep in mind that you've got a backpack weighing 10-12kg (or more), with 3L of water and food for two days.

The forest sections are shaded, on established and well used trails and they are generally easy going.

The coastal sections are not very long, but they demand your attention walking on the round beach pebbles and seams of rock, and they take a long time to get through. The rock offers good grip and handholds but I can see these clambering sections being really challenging, especially the more exposed sections. Loaded backpacks messes with balance, and feeling confident in your grip and arm strength helps a lot. Those afraid of heights would not enjoy the exposed sections.

As we were hiking, we were moving relatively slowly, we stopped many times each day to collect the group, for snacks and for lunch. This gives you time to rest.

We were on our feet from about 7am to 3pm each day; these are long days. And it was hot.

I didn't find the hike to be difficult but I did find it to be interesting, diverse and not-a-walk-in-the-park. I'm fit. My feet are conditioned. I have good balance and stability on the rocks and I'm not afraid of heights or clambering over rocks. For those that lack any of these skills, the coastal section of the route will be exceptionally challenging. The fitter you are and the more comfortable you are on uneven terrain, the better. I would not recommend this hike for beginners and would suggest that they do some moderate grade hikes first to gain experience and confidence, and then do this one. The scenery and experience of this landscape is worth it.

Big 5 O Week: Day 5

 The last day of the Big 5 O Week (big5-o.co.za  and Big 5 O Week on FB)  took place in my home town of George. With this event being in my back yard, event director Nicholas Mulder asked if I would be the controller for the event.

Every event has a course planner and a controller, where the controller is there to cast an eye over the courses, give it a second look and suggest any improvements, if needed. As this was a sprint event with World Ranking, we also had Paul Wimberley as the WRE advisor.

Being in such esteemed company, there was not much that I had to do in an official 'controller' capacity as both Nic and Paul are leagues ahead of be in course planning experience.

What I did assist with was organising marshals for the road crossing and to keep an eye on the control flags in the public section of park, and also putting out the control flags and timing blocks with Paul.

As soon as we were done with Day 4's event, Paul and I headed back to George. We started putting out the controls in the Botanical Gardens, which is a safe, fenced property with no chance of our flags going walkies overnight. For the public accessible areas in the forest and park, we put out only the metal stakes. We did this between 5pm and 7pm and unless you know where to look and know what you are looking for, the stakes are not very visible. With 68 controls out there for this event, it takes time to get them all in.

We were up at the crack of dawn on the morning of Day 5 to get the flags and timing blocks out. We were done with this by 7am. Paul then did a quick run through the Botanical Gardens to check that everything was still in place. 

My friends who volunteered to marshal were absolute gems. Etienne arrived early and he was tasked with keeping an eye on the flags at the bottom of the park, which would be the most at risk between the time of being put out and the first runners coming through. Johann stood at a washout section that would be more difficult for the older participants to cross. Zelda, Talita and my mom Liz were at the road crossing, stopping cars to let the participants run across without losing time. The participants so appreciated all of them and were very complimentary. Thank you friends.

The weather was overcast with low cloud the whole day so the participants did not get to see the beauty of George with the mountains keeping an eye on the event area.

This is what Paul and I saw on Tuesday afternoon while putting out controls in the Garden Route Botanical Gardens. There was not a mountain or forest to be seen on Wednesday.

As soon as the last runners were through, we started picking up control flags in the park. With help from Etienne and Michelle, we quickly cleared the park and made it to the finish in the middle of prize giving.

I was delighted to hear that I won the age category that I competed in - W35. We got together for a photo.

Stephanie (left, 3rd) was one of the organisers, putting a huge amount of work into the social functions, trophies, prizes and a host of important elements. Jacori (right, 2nd) from Cape Town beat me on Day 3 with a cleaner run. I was only just ahead of her on Day 4. 

This has been a wonderful week. Exciting news is that SA Champs is down this way in late September, using these new maps. This will be more Plett side, using the Day 1, 2 and 4 maps. It would be well worth going through to the Western Cape Champs in Cape Town - this is probably in late April or there abouts.

Now that we have a superb map in George and excellent maps nearby - plus a number of orienteers now living in the surrounding area - between The Crags, Plett and George, it is about time that I got organised to run some navigation training sessions and then a local event or two. We have an old Saasveld map that I can update and a few fabulous schools that would make for good venues. 

Three cheers for more orienteering in 2024. I am very, very thankful that Big 5 O came down here this year. The next one will be end of 2025 in the Cradle of Mankind area on the highveld.

Big 5 O Week: Day 4

Day 4 at Big 5 O was a decent, clean run for me. Listed as 6.6km as-the-crow-flies with 180m of elevation, I ran 9.5km with 199m of climb. 

After Day 3's mess with Control 1, I took it steady and focused to the first control, not wanting to mess up. This now only wastes time but also messes with your confidence if you don't hit the first control correctly. I had a good one to Control 1. Big sigh of relief.

I could have run or moved faster on sections, and there were parts where I could have taken the tracks a little more - but I straight-lined to challenge myself. But with the exception of my rout from 8 to 9, I was pretty happy overall with my choices and progress. 

This was a map-flip course. When I got to Control 14, I turned over my map for the next part of the course. 

Strava route in red with what I think I did in pink. It is a fun 'game' to try to remember afterwards exactly where I went, past which features, for each leg of the course.

This was my last participation event - four of the five. For the 5th, I'm controller and will assist with putting out controls. 

It has been amazing to be doing orienteering events after so much time away and also to see the people in the orienteering family. I am friends with many on Facebook but haven't seen a good number for many years. It has been wonderful to be with them again.

Books I read in 2023

The number of books that I read this year seems awfully low, but there we have it. As always, there are a good number that I start and don't finish. I've been through a phase of these this past month - maybe four that I started, attempted to read for a few nights or even a week, and then discarded.

These are the books that held my attention.

From five of these six, I remember that Loop was about wolves and cruel people (and good people) and V2 was about the V2 rockets. The other three were entertaining fiction reads. The absolute stand-out book was 'Rise of the Rocket Girls', which I listened to as an audiobook. This was superbly researched and written about the women, the first computers, who did that math that got missiles and rockets up and men on the moon. I think there is a film adaptation. Highly, highly recommended.

A fine collection of books here. De Ruyter's 'Truth to Power' is terrifying and astounding - about the electricity and political issues that De Ruyter faces head on during his three years at Eskom.

'Burchell's African Odyssey: Revealing the Return Journey' by Roger Stewart and Marion Whitehead is magnificent. I started it in about October last year and finished it when I was away for a few days in July. I've had an interest in Burchell since I first learned about him from Kevin Davie, a touring mountain biker who spoke at one of my FEAT events. Kevin cycled Burchell's outward journey from Cape Town and into the Northern Cape. Burchell wrote about and documented this journey - and the specimens of plants, animals, reptiles and birds that he collected on the way. But he didn't publish anything about his return journey, which Stewart and Whitehead have pieced together. Burchell travelled along the Garden Route on his way back to Cape Town, stopping in George to make camp where the Botanical Gardens is located. There is a bust of Burchell and his sketch of the mountains, as viewed from his camp, in the Gardens.

I attended a Zoom talk by Roger Stewart, hosted by Kirstenbosch Gardens, about the writing of this book, collecting documents and photographs and drawings, and piecing together Burchell's return journey. The pictures in the book are as fantastic as the content.

'Swell' by Liz Clarke I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed her sailing adventures. The book covers about five years that she spent sailing from when she first set off. The book covers the people that joined her, the places they sailed to, the people she met, the calamities and challenges of living on a yacht, the ocean and environment, and everything in between. Very, very interesting.

I selected an audiobook 'Teasing secrets from the dead' by pathologist Emily Craig, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I've had an interest in pathology for more than two decades. Craig studied and worked under another pathologist whose books I have. This was an excellent and interesting listen.

Then, Ryan Blumenthal was a guest speaker at an Exploration Society (ESSA) talk. I attend these talks on Zoom on the first Tuesday of every month. A friend there got me Ryan's books and sent them down. Very interesting. I really m a nosey parker at hospitals (I like to know what has gone wrong with people medically) and if people die, I'm just as interested in the how. This was a good triple whammy of pathology.

I read the first four books when I was in the Seychelles in November. I hadn't read a Stephen King for ages (I've been a fan since my teens) so that was delicious holiday reading. 'My perfect daughter' was earlier in the year - enjoyable fiction (I can't remember what it was about.

'The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed through Biography' by Sherwin Nuland was superb. This was a free audiobook and it was a superb listen. Interesting, captivating and fascinating. It took me about two months on and off to complete it. A journey well taken.

These two excellent books wrapped up my year. I interrupted the listening of 'A most remarkable creature' to listen to Dan Ariely's 'Misbelief'. I first encountered Ariely maybe 15 years ago through the TED Talks that he presented. He is a behavioural economist and is totally captivating. Because of Dan, I did an online course in Behavioural Economics through an Australian universitya number of years ago (it was brilliant!). I've read two of his other books and I enjoy catching his posts.

'Misbelief' is interesting and eye-opening. Ariely artfully pieced together the puzzle that is misbelief. We can all think back to covid and the surprising beliefs that popped up from people we've known for years and years; and we questioned how they can suddenly believe the untruths they believe and propogate. Ariely goes into all of this, dealing with misbelief and conspiracy theories. Brilliant, brilliant and brilliant.

For me, the only flaw with the audiobook is that Ariely did not narrate it himself. The narrator is excellent but because I know Ariely's voice and accent and intonation, that is what I was expecting an missing. 

'A most remarkable creature' by Jonathan Meiburg (and also narrated by him - superbly!) is about a bird of prey from South America called the caracara. When I saw this book on a 2-for-1 sale list from Audible, I leapt at it. I've seen a Southern Crested Caracara with my own two eyes - back in 2016 when I was in Chile.

My photo from 2016 from the Puerto Varas area of a Crested caracara

Back then, I wrote this "Not far up the road we encountered this bird of prey. He was strutting up and down next to the road. We watched him, took photos and then drove off. He was totally unconcerned. What a great sighting to get such a good look at him. Mane identified him as a Southern Crested Caracara, known as 'Carancho' or called 'Trado' in Argentina. Caracara plancus is his scientific name."

This bird so captured my attention and I've thought of it often. The audiobook is an interesting 10 hours of tales, adventures and discoveries about these intelligent and curious birds, the places where the different species reside and their behaviour. The book is also about history, geography, people, palentology, human interactions and nature. 

This book is beautifully written, superbly narrated by the author and has been captivating; a fine book to round off 2023.