Story

Our Story Part 2: The 2 Oceans Adventure   There are 3 parts to this tail,   1.    The flights to South Africa! 2.    The wedding planning and 3.    The run   All equally important for their own contribution to what I can only call a great thing! Let’s start with some humour (because we will have loads of heartstringy bits later),   The flights.   Perhaps this trip should have really been called the holiday that nearly never was! All packed and ready to go on Saturday night (10th April - the night before we fly), just printing the e tickets and looking for passports when my heart sinks, I start to sweat profusely and go a real pale colour. Toni asks ‘what’s wrong’, to which I reply sheepishly......’nothing, it’s just....’!   Can you guess what mistake I made when booking the tickets?   Yes, I somehow have listed Toni as male, yes a man, a full blown testosterone bloke. Her tickets quite clearly list her as a MR and not the expected MISS (which I can confirm she is). I am not sure I have ever felt so sick or helpless regarding what may happen next.   A bunch of calls later to airlines and the only advice I can get is, the tickets cannot be changed, we may be refused our seats but have a go, it might be ok......in a panic I then spent the next hour (11pm now) googling this interesting dilemma...do I cancel the tickets, loose all my money and buy new ones or what!   To my surprise I actually found that there were many more numpties out there just like me (predominantly male too!) who had made the same mistake and actually some had even mixed first names and surnames, fantastic I wasn’t alone.   The consistent theme of advice was that as long as the names were spelt correctly there should not be a problem...just a few funny looks. I must admit the best advice I got was to get Toni to claim she was in the process of a gender change and that she should get overly offended if any one asked her questions or insinuated that the change wasn’t working.   So we made the decision to keep hold of the tickets and chance our luck, which in it’s own way was quite entertaining to Toni as she spent some of the journey to Manchester airport creating an alter ego male Toni and even considered role play to prepare her for any questions. I just sat quietly and panicked....and tried to distract her.   You could not have planned things any better had you been Jeremy beadle (remember Beadle’s about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZABf4aHla34&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZABf4aHla34&feature=related</a>), it just so happens that we get the jokey guy at the check-in desk who proceeds to quiz us as to which one of us is Toni and which one is Kurt. It appears that in our passports we have the same hair cut....so he says and he couldn’t tell the difference. I believe he was just playing with us, but that did my heart no good.   After a further 5 minutes of me smiling and laughing on the outside but weeping on the inside he finally booked us on to the flights with no mention of the MR issue. Phew’ I thought, we were sorted and checked in all the way through to Durban. Thank the lord for those who are not into detail!   So you would think that was it and all would be fine! Not so simple for us....there is more humour in the return journey...which I will come back to later! However a note of learning for those in a similar predicament in the future, as long as your passport doesn’t define your gender (which the British Passport doesn’t) you should be fine.   On to the Wedding then.   I will keep this quite short and just say, you cannot go far wrong with a weeding in South Africa in terms of weather and scenery. We only looked at two venues and we were smitten by what we saw. We decided on Tala Game Reserve which is just outside Durban (see <a href="http://www.tala.co.za/">http://www.tala.co.za/</a>), a fantastic find and a great place. The date has been set for the 7th April 2012 and deposit is paid...so there is no going back now! I am sure you will agree this is a beautiful venue and a great place to start the next chapter of our life.   We also managed to book a photographer, a lovely woman called Thea. Her images are fantastic and she is really easy going, I know will get a great record of our day. Check out her website: <a href="http://www.tink.co.za/">http://www.tink.co.za/</a>.   So on to the run, the heartstringy bit.   Well I must admit there was some humour here too. Having spent 10 days fretting about whether I would actually be able to complete the race, given that my longest training run had been 23km and that was on a treadmill with no gradient and the race was 56km with quite a number of climbs. I was quite nervous when it can to boarding our flight from Durban to Cape Town (Toni was a MISS this time – phew!).   My nerves were not helped by my so called supportive family who to great pleasure in questioning my training methods (the fact that I hadn’t done much – in their eyes), my distinctive warm up style (I will show people for a fee) and my lack of general preparation. They even took time to question my running trainers (which really did make me think, what was I doing?). But my name was down and there was no way I was pulling out, I had a goal and I was going to achieve it!   Thursday 21st April Arrival in Cape Town   We arrived in Cape Town early in the morning and once we dropped off the bags we decided to drive the race route. Some may say this was not a great confidence builder....as at one point even the car was struggling with the climbs and this was not helped by a smell of burning. Although this could be due to the fact that this was the smallest car known to man (Chevrolet spark <a href="http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/spark/">http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/spark/</a>).   At around 35km along the route we reached what felt like the highest point, the top of a 6km climb called Chapman’s Peak (see: <a href="http://www.thatscapetown.co.za/2010/06/thrill-of-chapman%E2%80%99s-peak-drive/">http://www.thatscapetown.co.za/2010/06/thrill-of-chapman%E2%80%99s-peak-drive/</a>). This 9km section of the race, probably the most beautiful has 114 curves and skirts the rocky coastline of the cape……oh were my knees going to feel that!   It was at this point that I turned to Toni and said, getting here would be an achievement….. anything else is a bonus. I had no plan or idea how I would complete the rest of the race, even Toni was now having her doubts…. The rest of the route was a bit of blur although I did manage to take note of where the stage for the dancing girls would be (I think at around 46km)….   So off to the expo now to pick up our numbers, I had two. One was my number, my first ever Ultra Marathon number, bright orange to signify an International Runner with zero’s on it to show I was a novice. The second was my Uncles Blue Number. A blue number signifies someone who has run the 56km race more than 10 times. It is probably worth highlighting some facts about this bionic man and perhaps why it was hard not to respect what he had achieved and how much he had done:   ·         Between 1987 and 1998 (in has 50s and 60s) he had run the race 11 times ·         His best time being 5 hrs and 13 minutes in 1990, that’s an average of 5.36 min per kilometre (up hill!) ·         At his last attempt in his 60’s his time was 6 hrs and 5 minutes   An amazing effort and something I could only hope to emulate.   The bonus of the trip to the expo was a chance meeting with Zola Budd…for those of you who don’t know running these 3 things may help you remember her:   ·         A barefoot runner ·         A South African turned British (due to the politics of apartheid) ·         Accused of tripping Mary Decker in one of the most prominent races of her career   Check out a potted history at: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zola_Budd">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zola_Budd</a>   I was like a child in a sweet shop and couldn’t help but go over and asked if she would be ok with having her photo taken. Mint…along side Razor Ruddock and Jimmy Cricket I can now boast a photo with Zola ‘barefoot’ Budd. The irony is that she is now an ambassador of Newton Running Trainers (see:  <a href="http://www.newtonrunning.com/">http://www.newtonrunning.com/</a>) a natural running shoe! I have her Business Card and everything…think I might have to facebook her!   Friday 22nd April, 1 day to do before the race   Thankfully this day was full of distraction particularly centred around Toni’s visit to the emergency doctors, which strangely helped ease the worry of the big race.   Our holidays would not be normal without them. Yet again Toni had suffered an allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I think at the last count there were 12 scattered around her ankles and shoulder and a massive one on the back of her leg! It did not look great and was reminiscent of her 30th birthday trip to Egypt where we ended up in a real dodgy pharmacy where the chemist had to inject her in the rear with some unknown drug to calm the reaction….Thankfully the Doctors here all spoke English and we were able to sort this one out with more certainty as to what the treatment was….   Saturday 23rd April – Race Day.   We woke at 4am (as the race stated at 6:25am), showered and loobed up….yes you heard me right loobed up! If there was one piece of advice I was not going to ignore it was lubricate everything that moves… As I had not had time to buy any running based lubrication products I had to sift through Toni handbag to find her Vaseline lip balm. You know the stuff that comes in that little round blue and white tin. I had my last trip to the toilet and began to smother my self with the Vaseline. This may sound a little rude but 3 places that are a must…   1.    The armpits….after a while they will sting if not rubbed down 2.    The crotch…that knicker line will rub, I know that from experience 3.    And yes you guessed it the bum! This apparently is a must and should never be forgotten as chaffing here is unbearable…..so I am told!   As you can imagine Toni no longer wishes to use this Vaseline and it has been kindly donated to my running kit – Thank you Toni!   Next was the nipple plasters and getting into my running kit, then breakfast – a nutritious shake and a bag of nuts for energy! Oh and another toilet trip…think the nerves are getting to me!   5am now and we set off to the start, still pitch black out and quite cold. 5:30am we arrive at the start, say good bye to Nicky my cousin who is running the Half Marathon and make our way to the holding area where I begin the illustrious Lindley style warm up…yes people are looking and having a giggle, but will they be laughing at the end of the race!   6:00am and my running partner Andy decides he needs the toilet and not the behind a bush quick type, but the sit down and ponder version! We manage to find some of those lovely green, really well kept portaloo’s where the previous 500 users have taken great care to keep things clean….not! Poor bugger…   6:20am and he is still cueing, its like being at the post office where you always seem choose the cue with the guy who cant remember his pin number, or wants one of everything….In a last ditch a tempt to get to the throne Andy swaps lines! Big mistake, there is a reason that cue is short and I would not want to discuss that here. Thank god for the South African National Anthem running over! It is always played before the race start….   Around 6:30 and the starters gun goes off, precisely at the same moment Andy darts out of the loo, looking distressed but 2 stone lighter. We are now the last people in the race and cross the line with clear road ahead…although initially stressful I must admit it was funny and this was probably a good thing as again the distraction really did stop me thinking about the enormity of the race…..   I guess it’s hear where the real story begins and the heartstrings are tugged.   As we cross start line I looked to Andy and said, ‘today we are doing something big, something amazing, lets enjoy it’. It is then that it really struck me, I was there doing it. The planning, training and talking was all over, now it was time to deliver! Those first few kilometres were a bit of a haze, like floating, drifting, wondering what was ahead, why I was there and what I needed to focus on…can’t really explain it. Strangely chaotic but calm…   Still very dark and quite crowded the first 5km were filled with dodging slowing runners, and reminding ourselves to slow down, getting into a rhythm and feeling the atmosphere. We had decided on a race strategy which was to run for 9 minutes at pace of around 5:45 to 6:15 minutes per Kilometre, then to walk or stride out for 1 minute. Although keeping this pace wasn’t easy as we were both used to running faster (but for shorter distances).   People were out on the roads cheering us so early in the morning and that was great. However there were a few very confused people cursing us as they had obviously not paid any attention to the road closures and found themselves stuck in traffic for a couple of hours whilst watching over 8,000 people head out of the City. That was quite funny….   If I am honest I remember all of the race in some way but could not recite it mile by mile and some of this may actually be a little muddled but here goes. At some point within the first 10km we got our first surprise. One of our friends Shaun was also running the race (much faster than us it must be said), his wife and Dave (another friend) were up ahead cheering us on. Seeing a familiar face was fantastic and made me think of the points at which I would see Toni. Low and behold it wasn’t long before I heard her cheering voice….albeit a little forceful and intimidating…I think she was feeling the nerves herself. I quick kiss and off we went again. Although I had only done 10km I really was enjoying the race. The road was flat, there were drinks stations every 2-3kms, it wasn’t to hot and the scenery was amazing.   The run out to Kalk Bay (<a href="http://kalkbay.org/">http://kalkbay.org/</a>) was great and as we neared Fish Hoek the temperature was just right. We had caught up with two other runners we knew and we were all just enjoying the moment. This part of the route was all coastal and breathtaking. Our run walk strategy was working and because of it we kept passing people who would then pass us, which lead to some great banter. A one point I was chatting with a woman in her 50’s who had run the race 13 times, astonishing. It was all these chance meetings with friendly people that just inspired me to keep going. I was collecting them and storing them for when things would get tough.   At about 15km Andy and Jerry (my race partner and one of the guys we caught up with) slowed for a toilet stop and a 1st aid break (to put a plaster on a blister) so I kept running with a new guy (phil..it think). We seemed to have the same pace and were using the same strategy (run 9, walk 1). As we reached 21km I turned to Phil and said, I have never run further than this on the road, so who knows what will happen next. He laughed and said stick with me.   The roads started to twist and turn and climb a little as we headed inland toward Sun Valley and onto Noordhoek (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordhoek,_Cape_Town">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordhoek,_Cape_Town</a>). As we left one ocean (the Indian Ocean) behind and pointed ourselves towards the Atlantic Ocean you really got a sense of what this race was all about. Were about to climb over a mountain range…..   At about 29km (the base of Chapman’s Peak), there was a distinct change in gradient and a real need to focus on getting to the top of this climb. Still running with Phil I said lets re-think our strategy and perhaps run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute to which he agreed. I knew I had it in me but not sure how. As we started to climb out onto the cliff road (<a href="http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/chapmans-peak.htm">http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/chapmans-peak.htm</a>) I enlisted my secret weapon.   On my forearms I had written inspiring words, the first on my left arm was ‘light weight’ this was something my trainer Nic (<a href="http://www.elite-personaltraining.co.uk/">http://www.elite-personaltraining.co.uk/</a>) had told me to use. His words were ‘when you think it’s heavy it is, when you think its light it is’…this was my light weight!   On my right foreman I carried the names of the people this run was dedicated to. I had written ‘Stringer’ my nickname for Toni (well it is her surname) followed by the initials of my Uncle and Toni’s Cousin. It was this that would get me to the top.   Strangely after 5 minutes of running both me and Phil felt strong so we decided to keep running, 10 minutes had passed before we stopped for a walk. We decided that we should just listen to our bodies and run as long as we could then walk as much as we had to. I am not saying it was easy but it wasn’t as hard as I had expected. 3 near falls from kicking cat’s eyes and 5km later we reached the 34km marker at the top of Chapman’s peak, where we took a well deserved longer walking rest. What was great was that we were greeted with bananas’ water, juice and at 35km’s Ice-lolly’s. The best Ice-lolly’s ever and on top of this Andy had caught us up. They guys at the water stations we great fun and really spurred us on.   As we ran down Chapman’s Peak into the beautiful coastal town of Hout Bay (<a href="http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/hout-bay.php">http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/hout-bay.php</a>) Andy started to pull away, he had trained well and was feeling strong. I did my best to keep up with him but felt I was doing myself no favours by chasing him, especially as I hadn’t got a plan for the rest of the race. I wasn’t that sure I would make it passed 35km. What made it worse is Phil was slowing too, so I found myself alone. Not something I thought I would be able to do for the remainder of the race. I made the decision to protect my knees on the down hill and did my best to keep Andy within eye shot and used him to pull me through this section of the race. It worked up to about 40km.   At this point I was really feeling it and the climb through Hout bay to Constantia Nek (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantia_Nek">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantia_Nek</a>) the highest point of the race was killing me. The heat, the hills, the road it was all getting a little bit to much. It was becoming more of a walk, walk strategy. I was struggling to put more than 100m of running together so made the decision to walk for as long as I needed, what ever that was even if it was to walk all the way to the peak (4km away). I checked the time and I had worked out that I had about a 40 minute gap between me and the sweeper bus (so I was ok for now). If that catches you, your race is over! You must leave the road, you do not pass go and do not collect your medal! I did think that this could be it for a while!   I found myself thinking about a friend from work, who the week before had run the London Marathon. I couldn’t help but admire the challenge she had set herself. The fact that she had already successfully done her race allowed me to believe it was possible; I used this to tell myself that I could do it too.   Check out her site at: <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=rachelhooper">http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=rachelhooper</a>.   Just as I felt I had nothing left the marathon marker at 42.2km appeared and I heard a voice, no I wasn’t delusional although you could have thought so by the way I was swaying. No it was Toni, her voice came bellowing out from the crowd screaming words of encouragement ‘come on you can do it’. I was glad she still thought so!   I have to admit I think at this point I was broken and was not sure how much more I could do. I could not remember if there were any more hills to go and if there was, I was very unsure if I could complete them. I think Toni saw this too, so she ran onto the road and grab me by the hand saying ‘you can do this and you will do this’ with the added threat that I had to do it within 6hrs and 30minutes. I would like to say she proceeded to run with me, but it perhaps it is better reflected in the term dragged with me….   Yes I am sure if there was an official adjudicator present they may have said I received undue additional support and should be disqualified but needs must and for the next 20 metres we ran painfully but lovingly together before the road tapered off and Toni had to let me go.   Whilst her efforts were gallant and propelled me over the climb I literally ran as far as I thought I needed, to ensure I was out of sight and had to stop and walk. I didn’t want to disappoint her but I needed a moment to reflect on what I had just done. I had run my first ever marathon, WOW! This was amazing. I was a winner now as I really didn’t think I would get to this point. I really couldn’t believe it and after a short walk I started to smile again. From somewhere I found the strength to keep going to the peak at 46km.   The last 10km were the best. I kept telling myself, I have done this in the gym loads of time. What’s 10km, it nothing, it’s 45 minutes that all, nothing to worry about. The first 4 were challenging but doable (helped by the dancing girls at 46km), with each kilometre completed I felt stronger. I managed to catch up a bit of time and was really looking to make the most of my new race strategy. Run when you can, walk when you have to. It was working and I was so much happier I had achieved something and I hadn’t even finished. I managed to hold conversations with people on the road, and with the spectators. I could hear them now whereas for the previous 10km their shouts of encouragement were just noise. I was able to enjoy the humour associated with this event once more and respond to jokes told by the veterans and swap advice with fellow runners. Although I was disturbed when a woman in a full-on wedding dress passed me along with and 80 year old too….   With 6km to go I spotted Andy up ahead and was really surprised, either he was slowing or I was speeding up, which ever it was it gave me a boost. I spent the next 2kms slowly working toward catching him and I think with about 4km’s to go I was back on his shoulder. How amazing was this, we had started together and we could well finish together. I was looking forward to running with a partner again. It was hard work but I was enjoying each turn, each corner and especially the down hills. Andy seemed to be feeling the effects of his burst of pace over the last 20km but he was working hard to keep forging ahead.   With 2km’s to go myself and Andy agreed we would finish together, but we were at odds with our pace, Andy was walking quicker than me so I had to run further than him to ensure we stayed together. At one point we considered walking this last stretch, but we managed to keep going, the strategy was working and we could see the University of Cape Town up ahead (the Finish). I started to beam.   I couldn’t help but embrace the moment with a few skips and a look back over the route (a glance to signify what we had done and how far we had come). As we crossed the 500m mark and made our way into the finishing arena I turned to Andy and said, ‘today we did something big, something amazing’ and we should be proud.   The finishing straight was a hundred meters of roaring crowd, cheering as if we were the 1st and 2nd placed runners. I loved every step of this and couldn’t help but run like a crazed Englishman mimicking a plane swooping from left to right across the 20 foot wide finishing channel high fiving all the spectators. It created some mad Mexican wave with Toni somehow in the middle of it. I couldn’t believe it we had made it and I couldn’t have asked for any better support and inspiration, seeing Toni in the finishing straight was the icing on the cake. I gave her a wave and headed for the finish line with the biggest grin ever stuck stupidly on my face.   After 6hrs, 14 minutes and some odd seconds on the road Andy and I finished together hand in hand like to champions. We started the day together and we finished the day together, this was massive, indescribable!   In one day I had run my first half marathon, marathon and ultra marathon and I was beaming……   Within a few minutes we were the proud owners of a 2 Oceans Ultra Marathon Medal and were celebrating with family and friends. It was so nice to be finished and appreciate the accomplishment with people we loved. I advise you all to have ago at something big, its worth the reward!   I should probably finish here, with this big powerful ending, but will let you know that this was not the end. Over the next few hours and days there were more tails of adventure, including:   1.    Meeting Bruce Fordyce (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fordyce">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fordyce</a>) a South African running legend from the 1990’s. Yes I have spelt that right and no its not the dude of come dancing 2.    Having to do stretches at 3am in the morning in order to get out of bed, to go to the loo and back 3.    Having Toni’s plane tickets home cancelled and very nearly not reinstated 4.    And me almost being ejected from a flight for mistaken identity!   Yes I told you there was more…and for those who have a spare moment feel free to ask me about it.   Before I close I must say a big thanks to all my family and friends for all their support through this personal challenge. A big thank to Toni (my every thing) and a special thanks to Neil and family for carting Toni around to all the view points on the day of the race – they made it very special.   Thank you to Andy my running buddy (I don’t think I would have made it with out him) and Nicky for her positive vibes (she always seemed to have faith).   Thank you to all those who I have not yet had the privilege to call a friends but who have been of great support both with words of encouragement and through the kindness of your donations…stop me and chat, I would love to say hi!   Lastly 18 month ago today (10th Dec 2009) Toni survived a massive operation and 18 months on we have achieved another milestone in her recovery. We were given a clean bill of health this afternoon (10th May 2011) at Weston Park Sheffield, another step in the right direction.   Love to all – Kurt and Toni.

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