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NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04 210710
SSRC Newsletter
April/May 2018
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BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT IN THIS ISSUE
It will never happen to me… Néstor Espinoza
Many of us are preparing for the annual pilgrimage to the ‘Ultimate Human Race’ and the great news is SSRC will have two support points along the route. As usual, there is a long check list for the support crew: trailer, gazebos, radio and sound system, generator, petrol, food, drinks, banners… and a medical kit. The medical kit has things like bandages, arnica oil, cooling spray, plasters, vaseline and other little items that could be a lifesaver 60km into Comrades. However it does not contain the most requested item: painkillers – and there is a good reason for this.
Taking painkillers during a long and intense exercise session poses a significant health risk, and that is - kidney failure.
Knowing about the things that can go wrong with taking painkillers, it is tempting to think that they only happen to other people, people in other countries, faster people, slower people, people that don’t train enough, people that train too much, and most of all - people you have never met.
Regular Morning School runners must be familiar with David Goncalves, you see him at the start and then he disappears into the horizon with the faster runners. David ran in SSRC colours for many years until his speed got him a KPMG sponsorship in 2018. Back in 2001, in his early running days, he took one too many painkillers and went from Comrades straight to the ICU, with kidney failure. Four long days later he was discharged from ICU. He eventually made a full recovery, but has naturally stayed away from painkillers ever since.
So now you know about David’s scariest Comrades and hopefully that will make the risks of taking painkillers feel a bit more real and closer to home. Please feel free to chat to him about this before you make up your mind about your pain management strategy.
“It will never happen to me”
Comrades 2018 Call to Action & Important
Information
OMTOM Send-off
OMTOM Results
Easter 100 fun
SSRC Survey Results
Events & Announcements
The long road to Comrades Strider of the Year Award
Upcoming races
Club Runs
Strava
________
If you or another SSRC member have participated or
excelled in a recent event, please send details and pics for
inclusion in the newsletter to [email protected]
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
Comrades 2018 – Call to Action
A Message from Hamish Hardres-Williams
The biggest day on the South African running calendar is fast approaching. With only a few weeks left to the 93rd Comrades Marathon, it is all systems go while many of our athletes begin their tapering and any necessary final preparations.
The same goes for arranging our annual support point at the 60km mark and now an additional support point at around the 40km mark. I will be in charge of the 60 km support point and will be driving down in order to have everything ready for race day.
We are calling on all members who are not running this year to come support our athletes.
Should you be able to support, please let the committee know on
A message from Alistair Heald
We would like to thank all the volunteers who have kindly offered their services to assist and support our runners at the Comrades this year.
At our Monday committee meeting, we were scratching our heads as to whether we would be able to support one table let alone two. However, reading the WhatsApp messages on Tuesday morning, the names of Hamish, Nel, Roelien, closely followed by Greg, Nico, Seb and AJ appeared and it looks like the list is still growing.
We can now confirm there will be two support points
40km and 60km
I know the committee and especially our comrades runners will be looking forward to seeing familiar faces at the support points.
A WhatsApp group will be formed for easier communications between the support members.
Important Comrades Information
SSRC Support points: There will be 2 support points – one at around the 40km mark and one at the Serepta church at the 60km mark (Old Main Road, Kloof, Durban)
Finish: Once again, SSRC has a suite at the finish. All comrades runners plus 2 guests are welcome. Please email your guest(s) names to [email protected]
Support Bags: Join us for the Comrades Breakfast run on Saturday 2 June at the Beach Blanket Bohemia at 8am. Bring your Comrades support bags to hand over to the support crew.
Comrades Speaker: Join us for a Comrades Send-Off evening after time trial on Tuesday 29 May. Collect your Comrades goodie bags. Richard McEvoy will be sharing his Comrades insights.
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
OMTOM Send-Off
There was great turnout at the Beach Blanket Bohemia for our Cheese and Wine send-off for the Old Mutual Two
Oceans Ultra. We combined this event with the March Time Trial social. Each ultra runner received a bottle of Two
Oceans Sauvignon Blanc wine.
Congratulations to Mariska who won the Brooks shoe draw.
OMTOM Results
70 Striders took the journey to CapeTown to participate in the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon and Half Marathon.
Congratulations to everyone who completed the race! Below are some of the results.
Half Marathon Results - Top 3 Ultra Marathon Results - Top 3
Ladies
Carla Briers - 1:43:56 Roelien Henry - 1:44:33 Anja Opperman - 2:13:55
Men
Henri Meyer - 1:58:13 Gert Opperman 2:10:19 Pieter Louw - 2:27:54
Ladies
Renata Vosloo - 4:20:09 Carly Kent 4:32:59 Julia Williams - 5:29:50
Men
Barry Crossan - 4:20:08 Ben de Klerk - 4:23:54 Mark Humphreys - 4:37:56
Easter 100
For those Striders that didn’t head off to Cape Town for OMTOM, the Easter 100 provided some great mileage. Sunninghill Striders had a small bus that ran all three days and completed the 100kms.
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04 210710
SSRC Member’s Survey Results by Thabile Mathe
We ran an online survey in February 2018 to understand the needs of our members and see if the club is meeting those needs. I would like to thank all those members (67 out of 250) that took the time to complete the survey. Although this is a small sample, we as a Committee have endeavored to respond to the messages that were communicated in the survey. Of the services that were mentioned, the following were rated as the most valued by members:
Support at races has been one of our main focuses this year. We endeavor to have food and drinks at pre-determined races and we only pack up once the race has officially closed. We also offer massages at some race for a small fee. For other races, however, support is dependent on members that have volunteered for the day. They setup the gazebo, kit bag and honesty bar
and spend as much time at the race as they can. As a small community club, we are very dependent on volunteers and need our members to get involved.
We have also put a lot of effort into the social element after our time trials. We decided to reintroduce monthly socials with food and drinks on sale as well as our Brooks shoe draw raffle. We now have our own clubhouse at St Stephens which offers our members a
sense of community and gives us our own space to have our socials.
The services that need improving are: - Annual Awards Ceremony (we are working on this - watch this space!) - Club runs on weekends
During Comrades training period, some members have individual programs that are not organised by the club and the running pace tends to be faster even for those who do attend club runs. Outside of the Comrades period, an attempt to accommodate all members is done.
Other comments include:
Race Substitutions - Members with entries to marathons who may have decided not to participate in the event should give fellow club members an opportunity to substitute their entry. Availability of substitutions can be communicated through the club media platforms. Committee
Response – This is already happening on our WhatsApp group. We urge our members not to run in another person’s number without a substitution - as it is illegal.
Making new people feel more at home. Sometimes feel a bit `clicky`. Committee Response – We encourage all our members to greet other members at races, even if one doesn’t know their names, shouting “Go Sunninghill” is always appreciated.
Last Comment: Sunninghill Striders is a community club that is run by a Committee consisting of volunteers. All the
Committee members have full time jobs and have to juggle work, family and club activities. All the other members are
welcomed to volunteer at any of our events.
Keep Striding
Support at races (76%) Comrades send-off (68%) Time trial (65%)
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
Events Comrades Send-Off Evening Comrades Breakfast Run
Announcements
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
The long road to Comrades – Ufundu Challenge
A small crew of runners will run 19 consecutive 90km ultra marathon distances across South Africa in the 19 days leading up to
the Comrades, the world’s largest ultra marathon. On the 20th day they will run Comrades.
Meet the team
Dave Chamberlain (41)
Dave, who hails from
Pretoria, has poured his
entire existence into
multiple long distance
runs
Mike Sewell (40)
Previously a
corporate slave in
Johannesburg, now
an adventure
seeker…
Roger Cameron (36)
Roger, from Jhb, has
completed 4 Comrades
marathons, multiple
mountain bike stage
races and ultra
marathons
Carla Molinaro (33)
Born in Jhb, an ex
army officer in the
British Army, has
represented Great
Britain in duathlon
and triathlon
Alexander Tucker
Former documentary
producer, restaurant
owner, from the USA,
has run on all
continents in multiple
race distances
Koot Steenkamp (41)
Former club captain at
Sunninghill Striders
running club, and long
distance running
enthusiast
The Route: The Ufudu Challenge will begin in Cape Town and
make its way across the southern part of South Africa before
heading north to Pietermaritzburg, the start city for this years
Comrades Marathon, which will then finish in Durban.
The Charity: Children of the Dawn The Ufudu Challenge will
be raising funds for Children of the Dawn, a non-profit
organization set up to support and strengthen existing or
budding community initiatives which focus on caring for
HIV/AIDS orphans.
If you want to get involved: Follow them on Facebook
Support our charitable cause - Children Of The Dawn, in one 3 ways; 1. donate a fixed amount here: https://www.givengain.com/cc/longroadtocomrades ; or 2. pledge X amount per km that I complete (knowing the max is 1,800km); or 3. pledge X amount per km that the team completes (knowing the max is 10,800km). If you choose options 2 or 3, please leave your pledge in the comments on FB in the Community Section or message Mike Sewell directly on +27 84 859 9876 or [email protected] You'll be able to track them live with SPOT Africa trackers
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
The Sweat Shop
Striders Discount Offer!
The Sweat Shop is offering
a 10% discount to our members on any purchase of Brooks shoes.
The discount is available at all Sweat Shop stores.
Simply inform them of your Striders membership,
when making the purchase
Licenses
Licenses are still available from the clubhouse after time trial. As per ASA requirements, you will need to complete
the ASA form when you collect your number.
Download it here.
You need to be a paid up member to collect your license, so renew your membership now if you haven’t done so already.
Strider of the Year Award
Exciting times ahead in the race for
Strider of the Year Award.
See the weekly Advisory for regular updates.
The competition takes place from
January to June (up to and including Comrades).
The award will be presented at the Comrades Awards
Dinner.
Results so far…
Name Distance
Mal
e
1 Sandile Gxavu 820.5
2 Nestor Eduardo Espinoza 747.2
3 Jay Killian 359
4 Francois Saayman 342.9
5 Nicholas Mark Humphreys 338.4
Fem
ale
1 Morgan Ross 473.4
2 Kanyisa Ndyondya 472.3
3 Tarren Meyer 425.3
4 Thabile Mathe 303.7
5 Dikeledi Makhubedu 292.9
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
Upcoming races – May 2018
Date Day Prov Event Distance Time Venue Club
19 May 2018 Sat AGN Race of Hope 21\10\5 7:00 The Grove Mall RWFLAC
20 May 2018 Sun CGA RAC 10km 10 8:00 Old Parktonians Randburg RAC
26 May 2018 Sat AGN Hercules Skosana Legend 10\5 7:00 Super Spar Hercules RWFLAC
Click here to see SSRC Supported races for 2018 Club Runs
Time Trial
Every Tuesday at 6pm from the SSRC Clubhouse, St Stephen’s Church, 67 Nanyuki Road, Sunninghill
4km and/or 8km timed course
Safe & Secure environment. Cars parked at your own risk. The Club is not responsible for theft, loss or damage. Please ensure your belongings are safely locked away and are out of sight.
Refreshments post run – our bar is available for your enjoyment. Relax with a drink and chat to your fellow runners, all proceeds go towards race day catering!
Wear light coloured clothing, reflector belts/ vests for safety.
Everybody welcome - Runners, walkers, members, social members, non-members, family, friends and colleagues.
Regrettably, for the safety of all TT participants, no dogs are allowed on the course or in the Club area.
Time Trial Social
Last Tuesday of every month
Food & refreshments will be on sale
There will be a shoe draw from our sponsors
Weekday Morning School Runs
Training runs take place on Tuesday and Thursday at 5am from St
Peters School, main parking area, off Maxwell drive. The runs are
approximately 1 hour long with a variable pace. All welcome.
Weekend Runs
Official Club run takes place on Sundays, (race dependent) at 6am from St Peters School, main parking area, off Maxwell drive. Route and pace varies. All Welcome
Click here to join our WhatsApp group to keep in touch
Download the 2018 Race Calendar
Supported Races
NEWSLETTER Issue 2018/04
Click here to view or join the Sunninghill Striders Strava Group
Strava Kudos
