Ramaala learns from past mistakesHendrik Ramaala learnt from last year's mistakes and that enabled him to win the Nedbank half marathon in Pretoria on Saturday in fast time of 64 minutes 11 seconds.
Last year he was beaten to the line by Zimbabwean Wirrimah Juwawo, who took the lead within the park leading to the finish. This year he learnt from that mistake and kept up with the youngster to beat him to the line in the home straight.
"I must thank the runners from outside the country, they prepare well for the race and give me a good opportunity to see were my training is and I am pleased to say I am in better shape now than when he beat me last year," the multiple SA champion explained.
In the end Juwawo finished 12 seconds back in second with the surprise of the day being boxer Elmore Sibanda, who at stages tested the front runners.
The women's prize packet went north again, this time to Sharon Tavengwa (Zimbabwe) who lead from the two kilometre mark, winning in 75:54. Lesotho's Mamarolla Tjoka (MP) followed her home in 76:03, with Zimbabwean Samukeliso Moyo (MP) third in 77:34.
"I didn't think this route was going to be so tough, I only drove in from Bulawayo yesterday so for me this is a good result," the winner said.
Results 21km:
Men, seniors - 1 Hendrik Ramaala (Nedbank) 64:11; 2 Wirrimah Juwawo (Temp) 64:23; 3 Elmore Sibanda (Boxer) 64:24; 4 Tsotang Maine (Temp) 64:39; 5 Masilo Matjiane (Toy) 65:32; 6 Pakiso Pedi (Transnet) 65:37; 7 Luwis Masunda (MP) 65:54; 8 Zolani Ntongana (MP) 65:46; 9 Wesley Ruto (Toy) 65:49; 10 Enos Matalane (Temp) 66:05
Women, seniors - 1 Sharon Tavengwa (Zimbabwe) 75:54; 2 Mamarolla Tjoka (MP) 76:03; 3 Samukeliso Moyo (MP) 77:34; 4 Tabitha Tsatsa (Boxer) 78:32; 5 Rene Kalmer (MP) 80:10; 6 Poppy Mlambo (Nedbank) 81:48; 7 Matrinta Mota (PRC) 82:03; 8 Dimakatso Menong (GS) 83:03; 9 Charne Bosman (MP) 83:10; 10 Ntombisintu Mfunzi (MP) 83:37.
Gebrselassie just misses record in Dubai
Haile Gebrselassie easily won the Dubai Marathon on Friday, but said steady rain throughout the race hampered his bid to claim the $1 million bonus on offer for breaking his own world record.Gebrselassie finished in two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds - just 90 seconds off his record - to win from Ethiopian compatriots Deressa Edae Chimsa (2:07.54) and Wendimu Tsige (2:08.41).
Update from Niel
This morning I was moaning about not being able to snap out of my tired run's lately, then Ratso makes an appearance and writes a post that leaves me speechless again.
Briefly - my cancer has progressed rather fast over the last couple of months and my liver is badly affected by tumours. The upshot of this is that I am pretty weak and spending most of my time in bed reading, which is quite nice, but I am missing running and being at the races with all you wonderful people.
I saw the oncologist today and the decision was made that further treatment is likely to shorten my lifespan and decrease my quality of life rather than lengthen and increase it. So I won't be having further chemo or radiation - I am on strong pain medication (morphine) and steroids to help with the liver swelling. I have stopped working and am concentrating on spending my "good" days with my family and making the most of the time we have together. I am very happy and feel fortunate for the year and a bit that I was able to continue running and still firmly believe that it extended my life expectancy by a big margin by making me physically stronger and mentally tougher to cope with the challenges facing me.
Mentally I am strong and positive and plan to make the most of every minute I have. Since I am not running and I am not online that often I am not spending as much time here as I used to, but still check in from time to time - even if it just to see if someone wants to start a religious debate.
Tuesday 20/01/2009
Exercise and the Immune system
Exercise is good for your health. Isn't it?
It is generally accepted that regular participation in physical activity is an important factor in the maintenance of health and well being. However in recent years, exercise physiologists have realised that athletes are at a greater risk of developing infections, particularly of the upper respiratory tract (a sore throat), during periods of heavy training and / or competition.
See Figure : The relationship between the amount of training and the risk of developing throat infections (URTI). While moderate levels of exercise may reduce an individual's risk of developing an URTI, the risk is greatly increased following periods of strenuous training (adapted from Neiman, 1994).
The immune system consists of many specialist cells that protect the body against attack from bacteria, viruses and fungi that cause illness and infection. Although at rest an athlete's immune system is similar to an sedentary individual, a strenuous bout of exercise or prolonged periods of heavy training is suggested to produce an 'open window' of altered immunity. This may last anywhere between 3 - 72 hours, and consequently increase an individual's risk of contracting an infection. Moreover, a serious athlete will undertake repeated bouts of training throughout this period, which serves to further stress the immune system when already in a weakened state.
How does this response occur?
Currently the exact nature of this response remains undetermined. Although it appears that a combination of insufficient recovery between training sessions, coupled with a persistent elevation of stress hormones (in particular cortisol), causes a fall in the circulating levels of cells important in fighting infection (leukocytes). As a result, the body is less effective at tackling bacteria and viruses, exposing the body to the risk of infection. For a number of years it was thought that a reduction in the circulating levels of the amino acid, glutamine, was an important factor in this response. As glutamine is a fuel source for cells involved in fighting infection, and this reduction may in turn affect their function. But it now seems that the fall in glutamine levels seen following strenuous exercise is not great enough to alter the function of the immune cells.
Can nutritional supplementation help reduce this risk?
It is estimated that around 10% of the UK population take some form of vitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis. While most take these as a form of 'insurance policy', many athletes believe that consuming doses many times greater than recommended will improve their performance and protect against illness and injury. Currently, there is no good evidence in the scientific literature to suggest that taking vitamin and mineral supplements is effective in reducing the risk of illness and infection in athletes, and large doses of some vitamins and minerals may actually be detrimental to health. Eating a well-balanced diet, sufficient to meet the increased energy needs of training, will typically provide ample levels of the vitamins and minerals required.
Firefighters battle Cape blazes
Cape Town - Firefighters were monitoring mountain and bush fires at Red Hill and near Athlone on Tuesday, the city said.
Table Mountain and National Parks fire manager Philip Prins said a fire started at about 03:00 near Simon's Town and Scarborough in the Southern Peninsula.
"It looks like arson at this stage but we are still investigating." Prins said there were no injuries and the fire was contained.
"We have managed to put out the flames but we will continue to monitor the area for the rest of the day because there's wind," he said.
The fire was not endangering any property or lives.
Meanwhile, firefighters were still battling a bush fire near the Athlone sewerage works.
City of Cape Town fire supervisor Paul Joseph said the fire started on Monday at around 17:25.
He sad the cause was not known at this stage. There were also no injuries reported nor houses burnt.
Thursday 22/01/2009
Symptoms and signs of the commen cold
Frequently the cold begins with a scratchy or sore throat, watery discharge or blocked nose, and sneezing. Not all colds follow the same pattern. In some instances a secondary bacterial infection occurs producing a thickened yellow nasal discharge, watering eyes, mild fever, sore throat, headache, malaise (discomfort and uneasiness caused by an illness), myalgia, and dry cough. Additional to the secondary infection can be laryngitis (hoarseness/"frog in the throat"), traccheitis, (irritation of trachea), acute bronchitis, sinusitis, and even the inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media)Control and treatment
Treatment of the common cold is symptomatic. Most colds last 5 to 10 days regardless of treatment. Nonprescription cold medications may help ease some symptoms (if a top athlete be aware of the nonprescription cold medications which or on the banned substance lists
Listed below are 8 Upper Respiratory Infections
1. sinusitis, 2. pharyngitis, 3. influenza, 4. hay fever, 5. infectious mononucleosis, 6. acute bronchitis, 7. bronchial asthma, 8. exercise induced bronchial obstruction (asthma)
Friday 23/01/2009
Ockert Cilliers, one of South Africa’s top 400m hurdlers, has quit South African athletics.
“I have no plans to ever run in South Africa again. I still can’t come to grips with how I was treated by the decision-makers at Athletics South Africa last year,” said Cilliers.
Cilliers won six races in Europe last year and met the A-criteria for qualification, but was overlooked for the team that was picked for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The fact that he was also overlooked for the 4x400m-relay also left a bitter taste in his mouth.
According to the ASA brass, he was not picked because he was not available to represent South Africa in a relay in Belgium.
“That was the last straw. I am finished (with South African athletics) and can’t sacrifice myself anymore for an athletics body that does not care about me. The Turkish club I ran for last year has already offered me another contract,” said Cilliers.
Rate a race 2008 results!
It's not a official yet but we have an idea who will take this years prize for most active runner / walker. I know there's a few who had problems with their emails when RW updated thier site so they won't be impressed when they see that they had a shot at the top 10 position. Some fanatics didn't see why they should bother rating a race while others don't have internet access.Wendal is no. 3 and we just so happened to have drinks with him recently at Bay to Bay's race :-)
This year I finished just outside the top 30 :-)
I missed the announcement that the inaugural MP Titans 21km, 10km walk & 5km races was shown on Cape Town TV (ctv) channel on Saturday 17th January 2009 @ 14h00. However there will be 45 min DVD available for runners to purchase from MP Titans A.C. at a minimal cost within a couple of weeks. Contact: Rosetta Scheepers (Secretary)
VOB uploaded pictures from Hohenhort 2009 15km
