Love new beginnings and get strong with TRAIL 25
Get your trail skills on point with advice from this issue’s talented contributing experts, including coaches and elite runners. Cross-train on obstacle courses for whole-body strength and coordination, develop your vision to stay upright while speeding over trails, and go from parkrun to 15km on trails in just four weeks. TRAIL 25 will have you prepared, strong, and ready for the toughest trails.
Read digital? You can buy TRAIL 25 and all previous issues digitally.
Get ready for new beginnings and read on to find out what’s in TRAIL 25…
You can relive nine of South Africa’s biggest races from July and August, and get the scoop on recent international events.
Share your trail love with your best friend on five dog runs around SA.
There’s tons more: discover it all when you dive into the pages of TRAIL 25.
What else is waiting inside TRAIL 25?
Reader experiences
- Take a peek into the lives of other trail runners in our reader photos section, including a vibey silhouette shot on a Transkei Trott by Steven Stott.
- Read Renata Bossi’s hilarious letter – she lost her left shoe in a ravine! Renata and two more letter writers are rewarded with StaminoGro hampers for their trouble.
- Not all who wonder are lost, but you sure are! Share a laugh at your own expense with the TrailTalk confessions: I knew I was lost when…
Gear
- TRAIL 25 has a glorious six-page gear guide, packed with 25 products! We feature a selection from Almond Creamery, Brooks, Enduren, First Ascent, Hi-Tec, Hoka One One, Nature’s Delicacies, Salomon, Saucony, SuperBar, SWIZA, and Trailnuggets.
- How much does trail running cost? You’d be surprised! We sent out a survey, and chemical engineer/trail runner/number cruncher Carl Sandrock analysed the results. Discover what the sport really costs, and find ways to pay less.
Locations
- Man’s best friend can make a great running partner. Discover five doggy runs in South Africa, from Seven Dams Conservancy in Free State, to Brighton Beach in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Catch up with South Africans racing across the globe: Ryan Sandes in California, Nicolette Griffioen and Thabang Madiba in Mauritius, Landie and Christiaan Greyling in Magagascar, and Ryan Sandes (again), Kane Reilly, Emile Annandale, Mo Khalpe, and Conrad du Toit at Mont Blanc.
- Discover Corsica with Team C: Caitlin Lewis and Cobus van der Merwe. They completed the 180km GR20 and write about the experience in detail!
People
- Most of South Africa’s races are organised by six gorgeous couples: Nadia and Estienne Arndt, Andrew and Lauren Booth, Belen and Mark Collins, Christine and John Collins, Owen and Tamaryn Middleton, and Sian and Sheena O’Keeffe. How did they meet? What’s it like to live and love and work together? They tell all!
- Canines aren’t the only animals sharing the trails with their humans. Meet Shadow the adventure cat on a mission to run all the singletrack in Cape Town.
- Gaven Sinclair begins his 210 day trail across Southern Africa in support of Missing Children South Africa. SMS MCSA to 41006 to donate R25.
- Chase rainbows with Kim and Quinton Walker: their relationship started on the trails, their wedding was on the trails, and their honeymoon was at Rhodes!
- Cover athlete Bennie Roux has had an epic trail career winning the likes of Addo Elephant Trail Run 100 miler, and 400km The Munga races. He shares his hate for running (you read that right) and a scary story of being trapped on a ledge. His lovely wife, and mother of their two (soon to be three) sons, Isabel Roux, shares her perspective of being married to a daring ultra runner.
- When life takes a turn, you are defined by how you make sense of it. Kevin Light makes sense of his quad tear the only way he knows how.
Training
- Enjoying parkrun, but not sure how to up your game? Coach Neville Beeton provides a basic training programme to get you on a 15km trail within a month. If you are going to increase mileage, this is the way to do it!
Find out how a TRAIL magazine Camp can change your life – Aurore Mpinga attended our August Pondoland Trail Camp and shares the experience.- Our eyes provide our most necessary sense when we run trails. Even if you have 20/20 vision, there are ways you can train your peripheral vision, your ability to choose a line or to run in the dark. Get brave with drills from biokineticist Anca Wessels, TRAIL editors Heloise Hunter and Deon Braun, strength coach Peri Zourides, and physio/ultra runner Karine Bezuidenhout.
- The dreaded side-stitch can slow you to a crawl even if you have the legs and lungs for the run! Dr Gabe Mirkin explains the causes and gives tips to prevent or cure your side-stitch.
- Your fascia is just as important as your muscle for good movement. Physiotherapist Chantelle van Rooyen illuminates the workings of this ubiquitous organ and how you can keep it healthy.
It keeps coming back to the hips… In the the final instalment of Sean Tait’s Under the Microscope series, identify and correct your pelvic drop, also know as a dropped hip. Sort it out, and save yourself ITB and knee pain.- There is major cross-over between the stars of trail running and the champions of obstacle course racing. Trish Bahlmann and Claude Eksteen guide you into using obstacle course training to prepare for technical trail runs by building strength and coordination.
Experiences
- FKT culture is on the rise, leading to two attempts on the Nine Peaks Challenge within two months. Get the scoop on the harrowing attempt by Tian Liebenberg, Alex Harris, Adrian Saffy, and Sean Disney, and the impossibly quick counter-attack by Ruan van der Merwe, Greg Avierinos, and Ryno Griesel.
Marzelle van der Merwe and Rory Scheffer tackle five peaks in a mountain goat fantasy come true.- The Merrell Whale of Trail squeezes five days of hiking into a single day of running. Karoline Hanks takes you on the 53km journey with abundant whale spottings.
- Knysna experienced a tragedy at the merciless hands of fire in June 2017. But life goes on, and strength and community rise out of the ashes. The Knysna Oyster Festival and accompanying Trail Town events are an example of this. Find out how Magnetic South made the Bayport Phoenix and Simola Phantom happen.
Nutrition
- Start the day deliciously with overnight oats: recipe by Sara-Jane McShane.
On a long run, sometimes all you want is a simple salty snack; one that won’t cut your gums or make you cough. Enter the rolled sandwich! Recipe from Feed Zone Portables.- Running to lose weight probably won’t work unless you make changes to your diet as well. Find out why the energy paradox exists.
- Protein is considered the golden child of macro-nutrients, but there are many misconceptions. Dietician Jessica Kotlowitz dispels the protein myths.
Events
- We look back at some of the bigger trail races that have taken place in South Africa, including Fish River Ultra, Gauteng Trail Clinic, iSimangaliso Trail Challenge, Rhodes Run, Salomon Bastille Day, JBayX, Num-Num Trail Challenge, 1,000 Hills Challenge, Hout Bay Trail Challenge, Merrell Whale of Trail, and Trail Town.
- There are over 90 events lined up from October to June 2018 from across South Africa, and internationally. Get the details and start lining them up with the help of our calendar!
Planet
- Bring back our forests. Delve into international and local projects for reforestation, including Greenpop and Wildlands.
- Get the highlights of the war on plastic in the Global Green column.
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, Ultra-trail Cape Town, and the Salomon SkyRun.
Buy TRAIL
TRAIL retails for R58 (print) and is available at CNA, SPAR, Pick n Pay, Exclusive Books, Sportsmans Warehouse, Outdoor Warehouse stores and specialist sports retailers nationwide.
The digital version is available at Zinio for iPad, Android, iPhone, laptop and desktop devices in single issue and six issue subscriptions.
TRAIL 25 is also available through Apple Newsstand.
Issue 25 was on shelves from October to December 2017. Buy a back issue here.
Digital subscribers get their copies on the same day.
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