Brad Brown

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It has been a while since I’ve done this (too long actually) but I am really chuffed that we have finally resurrected the running podcast, although under a different guise. We have decided to really take it seriously and turn it into something that is sustainable long term. I have teamed up with Simon Parkinson and we have created Run Talk SA. The first episode is live and we would love it if you would download it and take a listen (and let us know your thoughts and suggestions). We chat to Lindsey Parry this week as well as Ian Laxton and Bruce Fordyce amongst others. We also visited the Fourways Runners for an interesting eavesdropping session. You can download the latest episode or subscribe to Run Talk SA here.

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This time next week it is all over. We’re in the middle of Comrades week 2012 and there are tons of nervous runners around. Nervous of what is to come, nervous of what might happen, nervous of something going wrong before race day, just down right nervous. I thought on this week’s podcast I would focus on race day and managed to assemble a pretty impressive line-up (even if I say so myself!).  Between us there are 85 Comrades medals including 9 winners’ medals! Granted I only add 1 but it still sounds impressive.

This week I catch up with:

-          Dave Rogers who is the person with the most medals to his name. He has completed 44 and is aiming to complete his 45^th this year.

-          Bruce Fordyce (9 time Comrades Marathon winner)

-          Lindsey Parry from the HPC in Pretoria, who a strong opinion about the use of pain killers on race day

-          Craig Fry from Craig Fry Management about who he reckons will win the race

-          Patrick Baransky who is the head of Sponsorship at Nedbank and in charge of running countrywide.

If you are running on Sunday, have a great one. Be safe and I hope you have the race of your life!

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Just over a week to go to the Two Oceans and with Comrades approaching pretty quickly we chat about rally driving, shoes and the run walk strategy on this weeks show.

I would love you to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here

The line up this week is as follows:

Bruce Fordyce (9 times winner of the Comrades Marathon) – we chat the run/walk strategy, cross training and injuries with the king of Comrades

Gugu Zulu (South African rally driver & TV personality) – Gugu shares with us how important staying fit is in motorsport and we find out what he has planned athletically in the months ahead.

Lindsey Parry (Sports Scientist at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria) – We chat about shoes. How many kilometres should you get out of a pair of running shoes? What running shoes should you be running in and we also discuss the minimalist/barefoot movement.

Race Calender

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This is the fifth running podcast and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Don’t to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here
The running order of this week’s show is as follows:
- Lindsey Parry (HPC – University of Pretoria) on Speed Work
- Bruce Fordyce (9 Times Comrades Winner) on when is the best time to do your long run before Comrades and how long is long enough
- Nick Bester (Comrades Winner) on what to do if you have an injury
- This week’s race calendar

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I am happy to report things have settled down a bit after last week’s chaos, training is going well and I have managed to put together an interesting episode of my running podcast this week. Granted I am a bit biased but hopefully you’ll feel the same after listening to it. Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss any episodes. To subscribe via iTunes click here or to subscribe via the RSS feed click here Also if you would like to be in touch you can email podcast@bradbrown.co.za

In this week’s show (Episode 4) I speak to:

Nicole Da Silva – 5FM DJ who is running her second Two Oceans Half Marathon this year

Johan Van Staden – Comrades Marathon race director about substitutions at the 2012 Comrades Marathon

Lindsey Parry – High Performance Centre University of Pretoria talks black toenails

Bruce Fordyce – 9 times winner of the Comrades Marathon talks about the Parkrun concept and also gives advice on getting started in running.

Weekend Race Calender 17 & 18 March 2012

As February starts to wrap up and Comrades training is in full swing the Comrades Marathon Association is putting on another round of the Bonitas Novice Project Seminars. In 2010 these talks proved to be extremely popular and this year they promise to be the same.

These seminars are an invaluable source of information for first-time Comrades Marathon Runners. The following topics will be covered in detail at these seminars:

• The importance of recovery
• Nutrition
• Qualifying
• The final long run
• Tapering
• Race day – Getting to the start, the profile, strategy.

Speakers this year include the Official Comrades Coach, Lindsey Parry, Bruce Fordyce and myself to name just a few. All the speakers will be on hand to answer all questions from the audience. Entrance to these seminars is free and bookings are not necessary but it is advisable to get to the seminars early.

This year they will be hosted at the following venues on the following dates:

22 February 2011
19h00
Sunninghill Striders Running Club
The Auditorium, Eskom Megawatt Park, No 1 Maxwell Drive Sunninghill Sandton

23 February 2011
19h00
Boksburg Athletic Club
Baseball Clubhouse  Boksburg City Stadium Cnr Dudley Smith and Jubilee Roads Boksburg

01 March 2011
19h00
acsis VOB Running Club
The Alphen Centre, Main Road,
Constantia, Cape Town

05 March 2011
09h00
Nedbank Head Office, 90 Ordnance Road, Durban

08 March 2011
19h00
L.C de VIlliers Sports Grounds
Pretoria University Sport Centre – Lecture hall 1 ; South Street, Hatfield, Pretoria

I had the funniest experience last night that I just had to share. I attended the Rockies Road Runners Comrades 2010 panel talk at the Zoo Lake sports grounds. The speakers had a wealth of Comrades experience and knowledge and I thought it would be good to go learn from them. Included on the panel was 9 times Comrades winner Bruce Fordyce, Dan Oliver who is a running coach extraordinaire (He has also completed 19 Comrades marathons himself) and well known and highly respected sports physician Dr Jon Patricios. Don Oliver opened the meeting breaking down his training programme and Bruce Fordyce wrapped things up with a bit of a what to expect session and opened the floor for a bit of a Q&A session which was very entertaining and informative.

The amusing bit of the evening was the talk by Dr Jon Patricios Read more…

Former nine times Comrades marathon winner Bruce Fordyce has had a go at runners who run with mp3 players for company in a recent blog. I must confess that I am one of the runners he is having a dig at. The vast majority of my training Read more…