| | TRAIL Mail #30: Friday 07 August 2020 | Your Women's Month superpowers.
Drink local with red espresso®.
Are you a trail running evangelist?
Win a TRAIL digital subscription. | | | | In this issue (click the category to save scrolling): - From the Editors. Women's Month superpower. Win a TRAIL subscription.
- Photo of the week. High-stakes planking on Matroosberg.
- News. Golden Segment upgrade, Colorado Trail FKT, and Gone2Gone top spot.
- Funny. We don't run to LOOK good, we run to FEEL good!
- Trail Poll. Are you a trail running evangelist?
- Calendar. List your event on our free online calendar. Women's Month virtual race.
- Gear. Local is lekker, so drink red espresso's Red Cappuccino.
- Competition. Win Polar Grit X and First Ascent gear worth R15,000. Enter today!
- TRAIL digital. Read issue 36 on multiple devices. Back issues on special.
| | | | | | Your personal superpower.Pretty great to have a long weekend ahead of you! Sunday is Women's Day, because on 9 August 1956, over 20,000 South African women marched on the Union Buildings to protest pass laws. More recently, it's become a day when businesses run promotions with flowery pink products, and we tell the women in our lives that we appreciate them. But I'd like to see a return to the revolutionary roots. Not a protest, but an urging for change. There are good people out there, like this ultra runner who used his outdoor skills and stamina to find and rescue a missing hiker. And the farm manager who intervened in the potentially violent situation I encountered on a long run last weekend. But then there's the police officer who looked me up and down and called “Need a lift, ladies?” to me and my friend on our social-distance beachfront walk. (The word “ladies” is so marked with slime that it can't wash off.) There are the people who hoot when I am on road runs. There are the soccer supporters who make comments as I sprint past on my soccer field speed sessions. There are the fellow trail runners who have made me feel uncomfortable with their teasing at events. Even an ex-contributor who sent an inappropriate email. I refuse to accept this treatment as my lot in life. I refuse to turn a blind eye to the ever-mounting numbers of women in South Africa who are abused, killed, or worse. The most powerful way to change someone's mind is through conversation. In my personal story about the man holding a young woman against her will it was a conversation with another man that changed his mind about intended violence. Did you know that you were that powerful? That you don't need a gun or a microphone to avert disaster? It is brilliant. I hope you take that power, and use it for good. Have a conversation with someone during Women's Month. Not with a woman, but with a man who makes women uncomfortable. You have the power. Now power on through the long weekend! Heloise Hunter, TRAIL associate editor | | We are a forest.
You have one life (that you know of), but it's like the cattle tracks in Lesotho – there are parallel paths you can take. You have your interest in trail running, and a whole lot of others: perhaps parenting, family and friends, growing orchids, collecting stamps, fundraising, helping those less fortunate, riding bicycles, investing, or nurturing fur babies.
They are all powerful pillars reaching high in the forest of our lives. As different as the interests might be, they all come from within us, like a giant bamboo stand that forms a vast forest from one founding individual.
No matter how different we are, we are alike in this way. With that in mind, I hope that Heloise's message inspires you to speak out, and where necessary, speak to those who don't understand or care about the hurt they cause. It all boils down to respect, doesn't it?
As a lover of nature, I see this lack of respect for our Mother Earth from society at large. As long as we attach less value to clean air, water, and soil than our pursuit of money, we're going to cause huge hurt now and for future generations too. Patriarchal society has not given women the massive respect they are due, and as a collective society, we humans are not giving Nature the respect she is due. So I am speaking out to those I can reach, to reconnect us to her. | | And now the good news!We'd love you to have a TRAIL subscription. If you haven't purchased the latest issue of TRAIL yet, you're missing out on learning about the local trail scene, as well as a mountain of tips to improve your running and your life. Let's fix that! Do our New Reader survey before 10am on Wednesday 12 August and you could win a four-issue digital subscription. Winner announced on Twitter at midday on 12 August. I hope you enjoy this newsletter, and your long weekend. Happy trails! Deon Braun, TRAIL publisher
PS – we were on track to send this to you at 9am, but Heloise jinxed us by messaging me "Very doable" when I replied that 9am was our target send time. Technical issues ensued (my dodgy HTML, I think!). Oh well. I'm not judging... I've missed more than a few deadlines before! | | | | | We loved seeing your photos on Monday's Trail Trophy Facebook thread. In our favourite this week, Thea-Mari van der Sandt posted this photo of herself planking on Matroosberg! “Hey, you have to give attention to your core if you want to be a good trail runner, right?” she quipped. Her photo may appear in a future TRAIL issue – and so could yours.Share your lockdown trail running #TrailTrophies on Facebook and Twitter at any time. Use that hashtag and #trailmagpix on Instagram and Twitter when you tag us. Or email us. Be sure to tell us a bit about your run for the caption. (Please note: event photographer images aren't printed.) Prefer words? Write a letter instead. Your opinions, life-changing experiences, happy and sad memories, and reflections on our sport are waiting to be shared with the community. If your letter is published, you'll receive a pair of run-specific Feetures socks. | | |
|
