Get strong, quick, and healthy with TRAIL 20.
This issue equips you for a successful and adventurous life on the trails.
Have your best race yet with Coach Neville’s pacing strategy, targeted strength training, fixing your foot-strike, and some proper long training runs.
Relive South Africa’s biggest races from the last few months, and get the scoop on recent international events where South Africans waved our flag.
Get some time on your legs with with seven long runs in four provinces, between 20km and 60km in distance.
For more inspiration, read about our cover athlete Lucky Miya’s trail journey, from a speedy but unhappy road runner, to his Skyrunning title. As impressive as his achievements are, it’s his family that will inspire you!
And last, but not least, take the best care of your feet, insulin, and ankles with advice from medical and coaching experts.
There’s tons more: discover it all as you immerse yourself in the pages of TRAIL 20, available as a back issue here.
What else is waiting inside TRAIL 20? 
Competition
- Win a pair of Brooks’ latest shoe offering: the Mazama worth R2,199! The Mazama is the lightest, fastest Brooks trail shoe. The BioMoGo DNA midsole provides adaptive cushioning, which dynamically adapts to every step and stride. Enjoy a drop of 6mm (23mm/17mm) and mass of only 264g (Men UK8). The Mazama brings our best-in-class fit and biomechanics technology to the dirt, coupled with strategic protection and a grippy outsole.
Reader experiences
- Take a peek into the lives of other trail runners in our reader photos section.
- Read about Janet Woodhead’s accidental ultra-run, and get inspired by other reader letters.
- Join Andre Gie and Kane Reilly on an epic day in the Cederberg.
- Listen and run, or enjoy nature’s symphony? TRAIL readers share their trail music habits.
Locations
- Get your workout on farm trails across South Africa, from Ezemvelo Nature Reserve in Gauteng, to Botmaskop in the Western Cape, and the two-day hike, single-day run Leopard Trail in the Eastern Cape.
- Catch up with South Africans racing across the globe: Nicolette Griffioen in Slovenia, Hayley Preen in Germany, Landie Greyling in France, the Running Rhinos in China, and Brett Karlson and Kevin Light in Morocco.
People
- The murders of Franziska Blochliger (16) and Sinoxolo Mafevuka (19) in March 2016 caused national outrage. In response, India Baird of RockGirl created brave.RUN, sending a message of support to all women and girls. Kim Stephens and Linda Doke joined the run. They all share their hopes for the safety of women and girls in TRAIL 20.
- Blake Dyason of #LoveOurTrails joined ultrarunner Christiaan Greyling, and Once in Cape Town co-founder Gerhard Human for Mountain Week in May. Blake describes the experience of living on Table Mountain without a car for a week!
Phindi Gule and Kevin Burley became the first people to run the length of KwaZulu-Natal. Find out what they learned on their 900km trek in aid of LIV Village.- Willie Richards trained for his second 500km+ journey on board his field support vessel in Angolan waters. Get inspired by his Cape Coast journey to raise money for Fallen Angels animal shelter.
- If you want to run for a cause of your own, get guidance from Hanno Langenhoven and his fundraising journey with Wildlands.
Training
Knowing how to pace your race is a skill. Coach Neville shows you how to train for and plan your pacing strategy for 5km to 100miles!- Get your running form right, starting with your foot-strike. This is the first installment of Sean Tait’s Under the Microscope series.
- Target your hips, calves, glutes, and obliques with five of the best strength exercises for trail runner! Exercise physiologist Devon Coetzee demonstrates the exercises, and explains why they are so useful.
- Your strength and health does not come from exercise, but from adapting afterwards. Dr Michael Greger explains how to avoid undermining your adaption, so that you make bigger gains faster!
Experiences
- Hear from Bev and Richard Attfield at Team Eat.Run.See. They ran through Argentinian Patagonia with slowly shifting ice fields, towering peaks, and wind-swept flora as part of their three-year vegan globe-running adventure.
- TRAIL held its second Gauteng Trail Clinic. Find out why the heartland has such an exceptional trail community.
- Desert dreams came true at the inaugural 40km Augrabies Falls Klipspringer Challenge in May. Relive the magic with winner Nicolette Griffioen and Desert Dirk Cloete.
- When drafting the profile for her event, Lisa de Speville gained major insight into how to analyse a race profile.
Nutrition
The ketogenic diet is making a buzz. What is it, and will it make you faster? Nutritionist and triathlete Lucy Etherton demystifies the diet with plenty of scientific evidence.- Take control of your insulin with beans, lentils, and chickpeas. Dr Michael Greger shows you how.
- Make a Bear Grylls meal, completely free of milk, eggs, cheese, wheat, gluten and roadkill. This Mediterranean Quiche is from his new book, Fuel For Life, which was reviewed in TRAIL 19.
Body smart
- There are some strange and terrible foot conditions which affect trail runners. Foot-guru John Vonhof, author of Fixing Your Feet, answers questions about tricky foot troubles.
- Menstruating and the hormonal fluctuations of a fertility cycle can have effects on your running performance and comfort. Gynaecologist Robyn Spring gives a comprehensive guide to these issues, as well as options for managing your period during a race.
Gear
- Rain or shine, it’s time to get out there and play! This issue features a selection of some of the most popular options available right now, from Brooks, First Ascent, K-Way, and The North Face brands.
Events
- We look back at some of the bigger trail races that have taken place in South Africa, including Tsitsikamma Ultra, Platteklip Charity Challenge, Koppie X-ing, Merrell Hobbit, Kruger2Canyon, The Beast, Molweni Trail Run, The Giant’s Cup, and The Oxpecker.
- There are 163 events lined up from July to December 2016 from across South Africa, and internationally. Get the details and start lining them up with the help of our calendar!
Planet
- Get inspired by a family growing their own with the homesteading movement.
- The drought in South Africa is a warning. TRAIL magazine founder and editor in chief explains how to reduce water consumption drastically, making a difference to your pocket and the water-crisis.
About
TRAIL magazine became South Africa’s first print publication dedicated to the booming worldwide activity of trail running in December 2011.
Since then the mag continues to enlighten its growing readership with the best places to run, the most suitable gear and the most popular trail running events from every angle; visiting the Himalayas, Sahara Desert, Amazon and many local trails, including the famed Otter African Trail Run, the Fish River Canyon Ultra, and the Salomon Skyrun.
Buy TRAIL magazine
TRAIL retails for R58 (print) in 600+ outlets countrywide.
So where do you find TRAIL? SA’s only trail running print magazine is available at CNA, Clicks, SPAR, Pick n Pay, Exclusive Books, Sportsmans Warehouse, and specialist sports retailers nationwide.
The digital version is available on the App Store and Zinio for iPad, Android, iPhone, laptop and desktop devices in single issue and four issue subscriptions.
TRAIL is also available through Magzter.
All back issues are available here, as a single issue or a package deal.
