Making A Runner

This episode kicks of our latest limited series covering The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. We unpack training, preparation and race day strategies from 3 different perspectives: The marathon newbie The personal best hopeful and the injured athlete... Coming up within the limited series: What's up with all the Abbott's Marathon Majors stuff? A discussion about the trail running festival with some big...

Often when speaking to elite athletes, it's hard for us average Joe's to relate, but here's someone who not only gets it but is leading the race in both her running and professional career too. In this episode of MAR we chat to Kyla Jacobs, an elite athlete specialising in the middle distances (5000m, 10km), who is set to represent SA in the World 5km Road Championships later this year. You'd thin...

This weeks episode of Making HER Runner is a follow up on last weeks conversation with Julie, where we take a deep dive into training, hormones. and stress for the female runner. In our conversation we cover: major lifetime hormonal changes including: menopause, our perimenopausal years and an overview of running and pregnancy. "Oestrogen is where it's at!" says Julie." A look into oestrogen and t...

Running injuries are inevitable, that's the unfortunate reality of taking running seriously, setting and working towards goals. There are going to be set-backs and there are going to be periods of dis-ease but they don't have to knock you back to square one. In this conversation with physiotherapist, Julie Rawdon, who has a special interest in biomechanics, we take a look at running injuries from...

If you have ever struggled to stick to a training plan because of your period, this episode is for you! It's true what they say "women can do anything that men can do; while bleeding too", nothing epitomises that statement more than the viral photograph of Emma Pallant-Browne, captured during the run leg of a Triathlon with period blood visible on her Trisuit. Of course she could've selected anoth...

Meet Adrian Wildschutt, the name that's redefining the landscape of South African running! At just 25, he's not just the future; he's making his mark RIGHT NOW. 🥇🔥 Adrian grew up in Ceres, Western Cape, SA and set sails for the US soon after completing his schooling. The hard-working, academically focused talent, received a bursary to Coastal Carolina University to train under Zola Budd while pu...

On this episode of Making HER Runner we chat to Dietician and competitive Triathlete, Mariella Sawyer and explore the basics of fuelling the female runner. It's not atypical for women to have complex relationships with food and when many women's first experience with running is for weight-loss, it can seem impossible to fuel and achieve your goals simultaneously. In this "real-talk" style conversa...

On the 11th of June 2023 the annual Comrades Marathon, South Africa's oldest ultra-endurance event, was stunned by a performance for the ages by an unknown Dutch runner - Piet Wiersma. The 25-year-old racing his Novice Comrades, as an unsponsored athlete, completed the 88km race in a staggering time of 5 hours and 14 minutes (over 4 minutes faster than the previous record) in what was an iconic ba...

Welcome to a brand new segment of Making a Runner where we shine the light on the female running experience. For these episodes of Making HER Runner (MHR) we call our producer, Leah Acampora (@hello_leahg), into studio for a Woman’s perspective and together with coaches, athletes, health professionals and subject matter experts, we tackle the unique challenges that women face along their running j...

On this episode of Making A Runner, we take a look into the experience of a person LIVING with Diabetes & choosing to run! When Jono Le Roux was (surprisingly) diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 27, it prompted him to challenge the stigmas generally associated with this community. Whereas most people may be stricken with fear and choose to go about life more conservatively, Jono was determi...

On this episode of MAR we chat to Mike Wardian and take a brief look into his adventure-filled running journey (thus far). As for running, the man is a "Jack-of-all-trades" and even a master of some, holding numerous former records including: US championship titles in the 50km and 100km distance, fastest marathon run on a treadmill, and fastest marathon completed in an Elvis Presley costume. He is...

In this episode of Making A Runner, we dive into the complex world of fatigue & recovery. Our guest, Ant Clark, a Sports Scientist currently completing his PhD studies in fatigue, shares insights into the key principles of training, emphasising the important balance that needs to be maintained between stressing the body and recovering optimally in the pursuit of fitness and performance progres...

This episode of Making a Runner is one for the people by the people; we take a special look into the Comrades Marathon Expo and gain insights from the conversations had with various runners ranging from elite-level to every day enthusiasts, from the Green Numbered Comrades Veterans, who describe it as a 'drug' that hooks you for life, to the brave novices who admit to feeling nervous and excited a...

In this episode, we dive into the extraordinary journey of Michael Baker on the Drakensberg Grand Traverse (DGT). Michael, a runner, adventurer, and coach, shares his background and how he found his purpose in endurance sports. We explore his love for trail running, the allure of pushing boundaries, and the mental and physical challenges he embraces. The DGT, a self-supported and solo endeavor, po...

If you're going to be taking Comrades Marathon race-day advice from anyone, Gerda Steyn's advice comes with winning odds! Our guest today requires no introduction, but in case you've missed her epic rise to running stardom, Gerda Steyn is the 2019 Comrades Marathon up-run Ladies Winner - the race where she broke the ladies course record and became the first woman in history to run under 6 hours in...

We're all familiar with the old adage "life begins at 40", but no one is a better example of this than Geoffrey Crow, better known on Instagram as @lets_run_faster. Going into his 40's Geoffrey made a promise to himself that he'd enter the next decade of his life as the fittest & best version of himself. Having always had a fondness for running he decided to go "all-in" with his training and s...

It takes more than pure talent to make a Comrades Gold Medalist. Going on almost 30 years now, the Maxed Elite Team (first established as the Mr Price Sport Running Club in 1995) has become synonymous with winning Gold Medals at the Comrades Marathon - a title reserved for the top 10 male & female finishers each year. But how are these athletes afforded the opportunity to train, race and make...

If you ever imagined a life travelling the world, then running may be the way to make it happen - or at least that's how it happened for retired Chief Running Officer of RunnersWorld Magazine, Mr Bart Yasso. He is one of few people to have run a marathon on every continent. He has racked up an impressive amount of kilometres, or miles we should say, and played a fundamental role in the running mov...

“How do I train for the Comrades Marathon?” This must be one of the most commonly Google searched questions about the Ultimate Human Race, second to, “how do I run the Comrades Marathon/Race Day Tips?”.  All of which will be covered in this episode with the official Comrades Marathon Coach himself, Lindsey Parry.  From everything you know you need to know to the bits in between that are...

In this episode of Making a Runner, we sit down with the co-founder of BURNT STUDIOS, Andriana Cronje, a passionate runner with a knack for giving South Africans what they want - performance gear that’s Made to Move!  The beginning of Andy’s running journey is not unlike many other runners, a desire to get fit and healthy saw her taking her first 2km jog along the beachfront but it was the FE...

The legendary Comrades Marathon is back for the 96th edition, yes still in Durbs and yes, still 90km but this time we get to help you prepare for it!  In this first episode of the Comrades Marathon Limited Series, we speak to the familiar SuperSports commentary voice of the Ultimate Human Race, Cuan Walker, and it would seem that he was born for the job… Cuan shares stories of how his name be...

Dave Watkeys is an online transformation coach who has helped 100’s of clients navigate one of the most frustrating and common human challenges - weight loss. As we’ve come to understand from our experience, many people start running to lose weight - it’s an excellent way to burn calories! Unfortunately though, many people face similar problems in this pursuit, which can mostly be attributed to th...

In this finale of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, well-known South African Elite Athlete, Irvette van Zyl, helps you put the final steps in place for your TTOM race day. Having run and won the 21km 3 times & having placed 2nd in the 2022 56km race (you’ll remember the crushing moment that she lost the lead to Gerda Styen 3km before the finish) Irvette is more than fit to be giving advice...

As athletes we’re often told to “just believe”, or to “be confident”, to “relax & focus” but few people ever learn the skills required to execute these seemingly simple tasks. A massive element of running (especially marathon & ultra-distance running) is mental - in fact most people will tell you that up to 90% of it is all in your head. But how much time do we spend training our minds vs...

“Running a marathon is a physical challenge but I believe that running an ultra marathon is a mental challenge”, says Nic. Having run 3 x Comrades Marathons and 1 x TTOM 56km between the two of them, Nic and Davey talk you through the mental preparation for race day. From their limited personal experience with ultra distance running, they help you conceptualise and form strategies for the challeng...