East-West House-to-House Night Run adventure

I cooked up an idea a few weeks ago about running between my house and my friend's house - at night... We live on opposite sides of Jo'burg.

Last night we did it!

My running buddy, Rob.

We set out at around 19h30 and expected the 24-kilometre route to take us around three hours, which it did (just slightly less).

The route starts off with a hill - from Bedford Gardens and up over Linksfield Ridge. Through Houghton, Killarney, Zoo area, Parktown, Greenside and Emmarentia - easy, lovely running. It was fun running past the buzzing restaurants in Greenside. Then through to the southern slope of Northcliff - up the side of Albert's Farm. Over the top past the water tower and down into Bergbron.

Bam-bam... that's East-to-West across JHB pretty much from Gilloolies to Gordon Rd. Route measured 24.3km in total.

There's something so much more fun about running an A-to-B route instead of a loop - and at night. Totally invigorating! 

Our thanks to Rob's brother-in-law for dropping us off and extra special thanks to my run buddy for being game.

Now I'm cooking up a North-South route for April...

What you don't see

We had a superb Adventure Racing Club evening last night with adventure racer Graham Bird - such a wealth of experience and keep-it-simple racing common sense.

The wonderful thing about these evenings is the opportunity to catch up with friends - those I see fairly regularly and those I see rarely.

Late in the evening I got to chat to a dear friend who I don't see half as much as we'd like. We asked after each other's work and training and families and as much in between in the limited time available. We got on to Facebook and accomplishments and she mentioned a bunch of her women friends who are her friends and who she admires for their successes, accomplishments and achievements and just also because they're people that she likes. She doesn't see herself in quite the same way. But I do.

My friend is smart and the boss of her company. She has sweet, young children who she is doing the most wonderful job of nurturing and raising. She's sporty and adventurous and incredibly capable. Her husband is a really good guy too. And she's just a lovely human being too.

But she doesn't feel as if she measures up to 'the mark'.

There's no way one can measure up when you compare yourself to what other people are doing as presented on social media. Facebook shows friends on holiday after holiday, completing races, projects and tasks, the training session after training session... As she quite rightly says, her one friend posts almost daily about her 6am gym sessions; my friend is at gym at 5am because you've got to do what you've got to do... what's the big deal?

Everyone seems to do so much more than me and you. How can one ever compete?

Well, you don't.

Facebook is so not a true reflection of what really goes on.

For every project I get off the ground - FEAT, Forest Run, Metrogaine, nav coaching - I've got a bunch of others that I've done little more with than write on a list. There's the document I need to write, the proposal to write and submit, the crochet projects I've been working on for months, the run I skipped because of other things that needed doing (or because I was being lazy), the (many) mornings when I sleep past my alarm because I just can't get up, the items that stay on my lists for months, the person I should phone but haven't got around to, the favour I should ask for but I don't, the ideas I have but I don't get around to, the friends I rarely see, the online course I'm getting behind on (catch-up day today), the language learning (should be daily!) that I struggle to keep up with....

Media - whether social or 'professional' - is just media. There's still a real world out here.

(Nice blog on the Huffington Post about the Facebook 'perfect life' syndrome).

FEAT 2014 - date and venue confirmed

I don't think of myself as a procrastinator but just as some people need event goals towards which to train, so I sometimes need fixtures to work towards. Deadlines.

Over the past few weeks I've been assessing venues for FEAT this year. I need something bigger and ideally I need a venue where it will be possible for me to get a date next year and the next and the next. A place where FEAT can settle down and where the event has room for growth.

Linder has long been on my list of viable options and last month I began discussions with them to look at dates and rates. I visited the venue to assess the stage and screen and sound and lighting - to see what else I need to bring in to make the venue work.

I'm delighted to have scored a gap in their calendar and FEAT will be on Thursday, 2 October 2014 at the Linder Auditorium in Parktown, Jo'burg.

It's a big venue so diarise now and remember to bring your friends along too!

Now that the date and venue are anchored, the real work starts with sponsors, marketing, speakers, artwork and aiming to pull together a bunch of ideas I have that will really improve the event.

Are you a 'true' trail runner?

I got into a conversation over the weekend about the cost of events, no-frill events vs those with 'bells-and-whistles' and marked vs unmarked routes (very different topics all mish-mashed into the same discussion!). Something stood out in a comment by one of the discussion participants.

He wrote:

As a sponsor I ask very little in terms of "bells and whistles"... who are these people who want frills....you are confused between wannabe road off-road runners and true trail runners. 

Here's the thing... just what makes a person a 'true' trail runner?

I've jotted down a couple of questions that could be asked of a person to gauge their 'trueness':

• Do you run on your own, or with other people? 
• Do you run 5km or 30km routes? How about ultras? 
• Do you participate regularly in events?
• How many times a week do you run on trails?  
• Have you done any 'prestigious' trail events? 
• Do you only enter low-key events with small participant numbers?
• Are you in the top 10% of finishers, or do you aim to finish and enjoy the event? 
• Do you skimp on mandatory gear at races (and training) - running with just a hipbelt and bottle - because you know you can nail the route in four hours? 
• Do you run with a pack and all the mandatory gear plus a few extras should conditions turn?
• Do you wear sleeveless tops, lathering your shoulders in sunblock? 
• Do you no longer train on tar? Road races? Totally out of the question! 
• Do your trail shoes match your tees? 
• Cushioned vs minimalist trail shoes? How about Vibrams or sandals or 100% barefoot! 
• Can you take care of yourself in the great outdoors? 
• When you go on holiday do you just head off for a couple of hours on your own? 
• How long have you been running on trails for? Weeks? Months? Years? Born on trail, baby. 

In the realm of events there is place for comfy beds, music, vibe, MCs as well as tents, the sounds of nature and a voiced, "Ready, steady, go!". We have such variety available that you can go for a bit of this and a bit of that as the mood suits.

Reading the comment I was incensed.

When people ask me how fit they have to be for adventure racing / orienteering / running I always reply that there are people who run Comrades in 5h30 and there are people who only just finish in the official 12hr time. While the runners upfront are faster, people at the back are not lesser runners because they are slower. And it is the bulk of the field that makes events feasible. If Comrades was only hosted for the Top 200 runners, it wouldn't be a viable event AND all those slower people, who are passionate about running and who put in months and months of hard work would be excluded.

This made me think about Ed February's talk at FEAT in October 2012 where he asks (and answers) whether it is still mountaineering if one pays R500,000 to a guide to get you up Mt Everest. Ed's talk is really superb and well worth watching.


Road, trail and a bit of both - to me it matters not how fast you are, how far you run, how often you run and with whom you run. Nor what events you prefer. What matters is that you're doing what gives you pleasure. There's no need for titles or boxes.

Is a "wanna-be road off-road runner" not just a less experienced trail runner?