Clock is ticking to countdown
MORE than four decades of sporting history and folklore will be celebrated in just two weeks time with the 42nd running of the Discovery Surfers Challenge.
Many great sporting folk, not just runners and surfers, have put themselves to the test over an anything but easy course of up to 17.5km.
Name the sport and among the protagonists thereof will be found folk who have proudly earned the famous Surfers Challenge T-shirt.
Surfers is also about thousands of ordinary people who, on most days, simply go about their lives in respect of work and family. And then on that one special day of the year, always in February they, together with family, friends and work colleagues, take up the challenge offered by a race that starts at the mouth of the Kwelera River, traverses gravel road, bush paths, rocks, pebbles, shells, driftwood, sea-sand, grass, tar and still much more beach to finally end at Nahoon.
To add to the challenge there are, of course, two rivers to swim. No point in making it too easy.
Watching Ironman the other day brought home the fact that the human spirit never fails to surprise. There were many in the field who, at first glance, would have been written off as having no chance of completing the event and yet, in most instances, that is exactly what they did.
Surfers is, and always has been, a similar animal. Participants just put their heads down and get it done.
This is the last week to get in training that might make a difference come raceday and then only if a base is already in place. Done no running since the last Surfers and the thought is there to put in a late entry? Probably not a great idea.
The 17.5km race starts at 2.30pm and it will almost certainly be extremely humid even if it rains, so get out for some training between 12 and 2pm as often as possible between now and next Wednesday.
Run at all times with as little clothing as possible and if you run in shoes at the race, make sure they are as light as possible.
Over and above the heat training join in a hill or interval session today, next Tuesday and next Thursday. A parkrun on the weekend will give you a good feel as to how prepared you are. Those wanting to predict a finish time can mail me their parkrun time and details of total weekly training over the past six weeks and let us see what we come up with.
The other option is to run Tomato Trot, which is 15km long, though on very different terrain and many hills that are not found at Surfers.
This week’s Sunday run should include some beach running and a total of 14-16km done slowly.
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