Runners

JULY 2018 RUNNER’S WORLD 35### HUMAN RACEthe discipline and perseveranceit takes to run, even when ithurts and it feels hard, as a toolto navigate other painful timesin your life. In my case, it wascoming to terms with the tragicdeath of my father.”And persevere Hlatshwayodid. She has since finishednumerous marathons andultra marathons, including theComrades in 2016, 2017 and 2018.Rising upThis year, Hlatshwayo finallyfelt comfortable enough to talkabout her experience. She hasstarted a campaign, Rise18, toraise R180 000 (so far, she’sraised over R64 000) for theSouth African Depression andAnxiety Group (SADAG), and toraise awareness of depressionand suicide.She has pledged to run 18races, culminating in the longestroad-running race in SouthAfrica, the Washie 100-Miler.“To reflect my commitment, I’mwilling to run 161km; which isthe ultimate test, both physicallyand emotionally,” she explains.The Washie is a tough race,which Hlatshwayo has neverdone before. She’d be lying if shesaid she feels comfortable withthe prospect; if she’s honest,sometimes even the thought ofit scares her. She knows it willhurt, and that there will be timeswhen she will want to give in.But as she knows all too well, lifeis much the same.“We have to embrace pain inorder to overcome it, so that itdoesn’t consume us,” she says.At the time of writingHlatshwayo had finished her16th race (the Comrades), and isfollowing a structured trainingprogramme. A personal trainerhelps her with strength trainingand core conditioning threetimes a week. Typically, all otherweekdays start at Virgin Active``````in Glenvista at 4.30am, when shejoins a group of runners calledthe Stallions for an easy run,speedwork or hill repeats. OnSaturdays and Sundays, she runsupwards of 25km.The Washie 100-Miler starts``````at 5pm, and participants runfor somewhere in the region of26 hours. After completing theComrades this year (in 11:36:48),Hlatshwayo and the two friendswho have committed to runningthe Washie with her now need tostart training at night, betweenthe hours of 12pm and 4am,in order to acclimatise to theconditions they will experienceduring the race.As part of her campaign,Hlatshwayo has asked 18depression suferers to sharetheir story, and the ways inwhich they have surviveddepression and suicidal feelings.(They come from a variety``````of backgrounds; videos oftheir stories can be viewed onHlatshwayo’s YouTube channel,Rise18.)“One of them is an amazingguy called Sandile, who wasdoing well at school and in hismodelling career,” she says.“Unfortunately, he wasinvolved in a bike accident thatleft him disabled. Ask yourself:if you were a young personwho had many goals, and thensomething like that happened,how would you adjust to yournew life?“Sandile shares the ways inwhich he had to learn to copewith being a young man ina wheelchair. It’s importantthat he uses his story toencourage others who’vefound themselves in a similarsituation to seek help.”For Hlatshwayo, finding theseinspiring people isn’t just abouthelping others. Their storieshave played a significant rolein her own healing, becausethey’ve helped her to understandwhat her father went through``````as a depression suferer, and thereason he felt he had no choicebut to end his own life.For a long time, Hlatshwayohas defined her father’s legacy bythe way that he died, and not bythe way that he lived. Finishingthe extraordinary Washie willenable her to celebrate theextraordinary man he was: astrong father who was alwaysthere for her and her siblings,and who would have been proudof her achievement. And mostimportantly, her hero.``````Follow Hlatshwayo’s progresson Facebook ( /Rise18) andInstag ram (Rise18 _).``````PerseveranceWaving to thecrowd at the Pick nPay Marathon.“Despite what I wasgoing through, runningmade me feel strong.”Gearing UpA group ofrunners, theStallions,are helpingHlatshwayo toprepare for theWashie.