Brad Brown

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It is a big week for ultra runners in South Africa. The Old Mutual Two Oceans happens on Saturday in Cape Town and for those of you in Johannesburg the Randburg Harriers Easter 100 provides some great training for Comrades this weekend. We chat about both of those events in this weeks show. We also chat to Comrades winner Nick Bester about cross training and he gives some great advice on how to get running as a novice. Lindsey Parry from the HPC at the University of Pretoria chats about hydration. The question is what should you be drinking, how much of it should you be drinking and how often should you be drinking it on a long run? Lindsey answers all those questions and more on this week’s episode.

I love South Africa. I really do. I love being a South African. I can’t imagine being any other nationality. One of the things I love most about this country is the spirit of its people. We just never seem to want to give up. It’s that never say die attitude that I love. If you actually sit down and think about what this country has gone through since 1990 it is amazing that there has not been major bloodshed. There are many countries on this planet that have gone through half of what we have and have imploded. But we have carried on regardless and made the best of the hand we have been dealt.

We also punch above our weight limit in a big way. We believe we can chew whatever we bite off. We just do. I love that. Our sporting culture screams that. In particular South Africa’s ultra distance running culture says tons about us as a nation. Go to any other country and mention that you are running or have run a marathon (42.2km or 26 miles) and they treat you like you are an absolute rock star! And you should be treated like that. A marathon IS a big deal. It’s a hell of a long way to run in one go but more than that it takes some serious commitment and dedication to train for the actual event. Tell a South African you’re running a marathon and no one bats an eyelid.

What really got me thinking about this was all the running Read more…