Blog posts tagged 'south-africa-trip'

Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km - 10th Dec 2016

My first visit to Cape Town was back in 2013 - a few days of doing as little as possible before Comrades in Durban. As it was June, it was Winter in the Southern Hemisphere and out of season (a very cheap time to visit!) so you can't rely on the weather helping you out. But I got pretty lucky; every morning my fellow hotel resident couple would forlornly tell me the Robben Island Ferry had been ca…

My Inconvenient Truth

Back in 1991, when I was a student in Bradford living in the kind of squalor that would provoke national outcry these days (all part of the fun) I can't say I gave a single solitary toss about the environment. I wasn't a man-made climate change denier or anything like that, it's just that the issue had yet to go mainstream and I was completely unaware of it.  It's possible that my own immediate e…

Laptops for the Diepsloot EduFun project

I travelled to South Africa and the Two Oceans race in March via Johannesburg where the EduFun charity is based, supporting underpriviledged kids and young adults in the Diepsloot township.I visited the township last time I was out there for Comrades and it was an experience that will stay with me a long time.I took a couple of laptops out with me this time, generously donated by Dave of Demo3d.co…

Two Oceans Ultra 2016

Way back when my race bucket list was more of a quick scrawl on the back of a fag packet, I'd only heard of two races in South Africa - Comrades and Two Oceans and down they duly went. There are plenty more classics than that I've since discovered and I will be having a crack at the Otter Trail and the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km in due course. Not so sure about the Washie 100 but who knows? Maybe…

Diepsloot Township Project

When last out in Johannesburg, I was priviledged to spend a day 'teaching' (I have very few teaching skills!) English at the school in Diepsloot township. Helen, my ex-pat friend who put me up in Dainfern - 3 miles away geographically but light years apart in standard of living - volunteers there and as part of Edufun a charity that provides English language teaching to grade 3 and 4 kids from the…

2014 Comrades Ultra Marathon

There's something about Comrades that draws you back.  Many things.  When you've run your first one you get your one and only shot at a back-to-back medal by taking on the race in the opposite direction and that proved irresistible.  But it's not just a bit of (small!) bling, it's the draw of taking on one of the World's most iconic races cheered on by huge, passionate crowds drawn from every b…

Find your Inchanga

This June was all about running the Comrades Ultra in South Africa. The biggest ultra in the world. 14,000+ people running 54 miles over some serious terrain, with most aiming simply to break the 12 hour cut-off.The entries have just opened for the 2014 edition; this time a down-run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on the coast.  As I write this I'm considering whether to go back and have another …

The 2013 Comrades Ultra

So this is it. Sunday starts at 3am and we have to be in the start pen by 5:15am otherwise you start from the back. We have a taxi ordered and experience of Durban cabbies has made us extremely dubious of any promises they make, even in standard office hours, let lone crack of dawn runs into the centre of town.  But, we seem to end up picking cabs from the same company over the past few days and …

Comrades Trip Day 2 Joburg to Cape Town

Morning dawns, buffet breakfast gets polished off and a long discussion ensues with the owner of the place, Corlien,  over what we can do today and where she can get a driver to take us. Maarten has a potential job in Joburg - rather him than me I think on balance - and he'd vanished in a suit already for an interview.  My Cape Town flight was due to leave at 3:30pm so by the time the eggs had a…

Comrades Trip Day 1 - Johannesburg

So finally, 9 months after being talked into running this race and ticking it off the bucket list by my friend Helen who's here too, it's time to pack the bags and head out to South Africa.I cannot think of any race I've done, and I have entered a lot since I went for my first London Marathon in 2000, where the anticipation has reached anything like this pitch.  I guess that first London would be…