Mike Sewell
In this episode, I chat with Mike Sewell. Mike is an avid runner on both trail and road. He has run in far-flung places like Patagonia and the Sahara. Mike is also the owner of The Running Company. Mike talks about his experiences running the London Marathon, The Lake Tahoe 50miler, running 1200 across Patagonia and taking the challenge of the Long Road to Comrades with a 1,000km in 19 days then Comrades
Dave Funnell
Dave describes himself as a middle-aged runner who started running by chance because a friend dragged him along to a Parkrun at the age of 48. Since then Dave has had running adventures spanning from local Parkruns to far off places such as Chamonix. In this interview, we get to know a bit more about Dave and he gives us detailed outlines of his most memorable racing adventures, including Skyrun, 9 Freedom day Parkruns, Comrades, Two Oceans Ultra, Ultra-Trail Cape Town, Mac Mac 100 miler, Death Valley Marathon, Grand Canyon R2R2R, CCC at UTMB and TDS at UTMB.
Nontuthuko Mgabhi
Nontuthuko Mgabhi is an absolute Powerhouse! Her running journey started when a friend invited her for a 10km walk and she has never looked back. Nontu is the first African woman to run 7 Marathons on 7 continents in 7 days (The World Marathon Challenge). She is currently training for the Marathon des Sables. Nontu has also managed to raise R1.7 million Rands for Khiphinkunzi Primary School at Dukuduku area in Mtubatuba (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) through her running endeavours.
Fred Richardson
Fred Richardson is the founder and head coach at Mindful Runner. Fred is a certified running coach personal trainer and adventure guide. Fred lives in Johannesburg South Africa with his partner and their two dogs. This episode focuses on the importance of having a coach and the need to take time to choose a coach that suits your personality and running goals.
René Vollgraaff
René Vollgraaff is an extremely accomplished Ultra Trail Runner with several wins as well as numerous podium finishes. René is also the only person to have completed the Run AMUK Challenge in 2019 (Addo, Mac Mac, Ultra-Trail Drakensberg and Karkloof 100 Milers). René tells us about how she started running at a little race in Uppington to Mega ultras like the Munga 400km trail run.
Liesl Koch
Liesl Koch is an experienced Ultra trail and roadrunner. Liesl is part of the Randburg Harriers Committee and is involved in organising the Randburg Harriers Valentine’s Day Race and the Vitality Race Series. We talk about the importance of having a running community as well as how Covid-19 has affected our running culture.
Anele Bans
Anele Bansis an Elite Ultra Distance Runner sponsored by Hoka One One (through Inkhambi Distribution). Anele has numerous running achievements. In this episode, we discuss Anele's race at his first 100 miler, the Addo Elephant Trail Run, where he placed 5th. We also talk about The 13 Peaks Challenge as well as his plans for the future.
Brett Florens
Brett Florens is a well-renowned photographer as well as an accomplished runner. Brett started running when he was in the Police during a 6-week training camp which kickstarted his fitness and weight loss. Brett enjoyed being fit so much that he used the momentum from that camp to stay fit. His running journey progressed from running 5k's 3 times a week to a half marathon and then a full marathon. Fast forward 28 years later and Brett has completed 25 Comrades, 10 Two Oceans Ultra Marathons and over 120 marathons all over the world. Brett is also the Chairman of a local running phenomenon in Durban called Regents.
Wandisile Nongodlwana
Wandi is an accomplished road and trail runner with 12 Comrades finishes 7 of which are silver medals. Wandi's best time at Comrades is 6:39 on the down run in 2018. Wandi has also run the Washie 100 Miler, 2 times with 2nd place finishes both times.Wandisile has run Marathons all over the world including Chicago, Toronto and Paris. Apart from road, Wandi is also a serious trail runner with several podium finishes and he is currently leading the Backyard Ultra series of races with 2 wins.In this interview, we discuss how Wandi started running, skills for conquering the Backyard Ultra format of races, his life philosophy, what running means to him, as well as his goals for the future.
Jack Davis
Jack is one of the race directors of the Karkloof Trail Series. Jack is also an experienced runner on both road and trail, both locally as well as internationally. In this episode, we get to know Jack, our discussion spans from how he met his wife to what is entailed in being a race director of one of South Africa's iconic ultramarathons. Our discussion touches on Jack's first-place finish at the MacMac 100 miler as well as his podium finish alongside Martin Malherbe at the ADDO 100 Miler.
Linda Doke
Linda Doke has been running for 27 years, 26 of which she's been an ultra runner. Linda was sought out by Salomon SA in 2008 and has been one of their athletes ever since – for many years as a Salomon athlete, and now as an ambassador. Linda has an astounding number of achievements with over 30 podium finishes as well as several records on various courses.
( For a full list visit: https://rockhoppingtrail.run/about/). Linda is also the longest performing woman runner at an elite level in South Africa. In addition to all this Linda is a trail running coach.
Tobie Reyneke
Tobie is an accomplished ultra runner currently on a quest to get to 100 x 100-milers, of which he is at his 91st. Tobie has run over 45000kms in races, 1400 races, 197 ultra marathons and 173 marathons.
In this episode we get to know Tobie and how and why he started running. Tobie tells us about some of his adventures (don't try this at home) as well as his plans for the future.
Ann Ashworth
Ann is an Advocate, ultra-distance athlete and coach.
Ann was the first female in the 2021 Karkloof Trail Marathon series 50 miler in a time of 8:15:58, and third place overall. Ann also won Ultra-Trail Drakensburg 2021 in a time of 12:59:43. Ann also won Comrades in 2018 with a time of 6:10:04.
Jo Keppler
Jo Keppler is a wife, mom, ultramarathoner and in her own words a recovering alcoholic. Jo recently placed first at the Karkloof Trail Series 100miler and a few months before that she placed 2nd at Ultra-Trail Drakensberg. Jo is very passionate about advocating for drug and alcohol rehabilitation as well as mental health awareness.
Jo is also involved in several charity initiatives. In 2020, Jo ran a 130km Pacing way to Change run to raise funds for the Southern Lodestar Foundation. (The 130km represented R1.30 what it costs to feed a child.) This year she has been selected as one of the ambassadors for The Rhino Peak Challenge to raise funds for The Endangered Wildlife Trust.
Themba Mathebula
Themba is a social runner who is making a difference in his community. Themba undertook a 450km run in 2020 to raise funds for underprivileged school children, he managed to raise over R150 000. This year Themba plans to run another 450km from Gauteng to Nelspruit to support underprivileged children from his hometown Bushbuckridge. In this episode, we get to know Themba and how we can support his charitable cause.
Justin Oelogsen
Justin is an Ultrarunner, husband, and running coach. Justin is one of the finishers of AMUK, with only about 4 years of running under his belt. In this episode, we get to know Justin, what motivates him and how he managed to run 4 100 milers in one year. We also talk about how his wife Laurika is a big support in his running career.
Riana Henning
Riana Henning is a seasoned Ultra runner, she is the second lady to complete the AMUK challenge, The AMUK challenge consists of running 4 x 100 Milers in one year (Addo, UTD, Mac Mac and Karkloof).
In this episode, we get to know Riana and she gives us insight into how she managed to tackle AMUK as well as how she manages to balance her running with all the other aspects of her life including being a mum, wife and running an Occupational Therapy Practice. We also delve into the challenges and benefits of running as a mature woman.
Martin Malherbe
Martin is a husband, father, ultra runner and cancer survivor. He has 10 Comrades under his belt. In addition to other ultras, he has completed 9 x 100 milers. Martin's accomplishments also include a second-place finish for the ADDO 100 miler in 2021 and 2020. Martin also came fifth in the 2021 Karkloof Trail Series 100 Miler.
In this episode, we get to know Martin we talk in-depth about his ADDO 2021 100 miler as well as his 2021 100 miler at Karkloof. We also talk about family life, and how Martin overcame cancer.
Admire Muzopambwa
Admire is a professional runner, private chef and father. Admire has numerous achievements including a third-place finish at the Karkloof Trail Series 2021 100 milers, a 4th place finish at the Ultra-Trail Drakkensburg 2021 100km race. Admire also participated in the Nedbank Reunified 50km world record attempt. Admire is also an Asics Front Runner
Andrew King
Andrew is a multi-sportsman and filmmaker. In a nutshell, Andrew is all about exploring mountains and making films. This episode was inspired by a challenge between Andrew and his friends to traverse the Drakensberg on what seemed like a whim, followed by an impromptu tennis match. In this episode, we talk about taking on challenges in novel ways, adventure racing, filmmaking and storytelling.
Dean Wight
For the past four years, local KZN runner, Dean Wight has held the coveted title of Comrades’ “Top Charity Fundraiser”. In his capacity as Charity Ambassador for the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT), Dean has successfully leveraged his extensive network to raise over R1.6 million for the official Comrades charity which is situated directly along the infamous race route in central Hillcrest and every year supports and uplifts thousands of families impacted by HIV/AIDS in the Valley of 1000 Hills....
