June 12, 2011. Another highly informative trail running seminar was held at the Riverside Sports club in Durban North last week.
Three guest speakers gave those attending some technical statistics on how trail running should be approached and how it impacts the body.
Trail running in Umhlanga: Easter Carnival trail run.
Dr Rentia Denessen explained how quickly the body recovers after trail running (as opposed to pounding the tar), which makes multi stage racing more manageable and possible. Road runners take longer to recover due to the repetitive muscle extension.
Amun Maharaj, from a leading insurance company, gave a detailed review of how diabetes is being assessed and handled today, given there is now a better understanding of the disease. He emphasised the importance of exercise and maintaining control of the disease through diet or medication.
Fillipo Farella, a seasoned trail runner, gave an overview of the many events he has participated in both locally and abroad. From the daunting slopes and river crossings on the Otter Trail in the Cape to the bitter cold of Antarctica, there was one common factor and that was the solitude that the sport rewards him with.
Bears
While running in Canada he came face to face with a large bear and was lucky not be attacked. Bears are hard of hearing and do not easily hear anyone approaching. Sometimes they attack as a result of shock rather than aggression. Local runners in these forests usually wear a bell that gives bears an early warning of someone approaching.
Filippo went over the five testing aspects of trail running in detail and made excellent suggestions on how to manage these.
His big five are: 1. Water crossing 2. Mountains 3. Roots and Rocks, 4. Beach sand and 5. Solitude.
While solitude is a very rewarding part of the sport, where one can enjoy some beautiful trails, especially in the Drakensberg, running alone can be a problem if one were to get injured,lost or attacked.
Riverside Sports Trail has more than 40 active trail running members and offers training. Anyone interested in joining this fast-growing, fun activity should contact Buzz or Hildegard Bolton at 031 562 1153.