Dear Trail Runners and Walkers,

So, about that “journey back to running” I wrote about… well, it’s been progressing (if you count stiff calves and a complaining back as progress!).

Two days of driving from Limpopo to Howick did my 40-something-year-old back no favours. Add in some over-enthusiastic sand dune climbing and a longest-stride-length competition on the beach (because I had to show my dominance over the kids while I still have longer legs), and my calves were in knots before I even laced up my shoes.

But the excitement was high to be at the Howick trail again and even better – on the start line! In March 2019, Ben and I ran our first trail together at Howick Trail – he was just six. Two years later, he ran his first solo race, went off course, corrected himself, and finished strong. This year, at 12, I wasn’t coaxing him along… I was watching a clean pair of heels disappear up the trail as he checked over his shoulder to be sure he had the edge (just) over Charlie!

And I couldn’t have been prouder. Or happier. Or stiffer, for that matter.

There’s something wonderfully humbling about being out there again – surrounded by familiar faces, feeling the burn, soaking up the beauty and that unmistakable sense of being in community as you meet old and new friends along the way. 

The boys finished a good 15min faster than me on the 5km 😳, so my stride-length dominance was short-lived, and just to bring the humility home, there is photographic evidence of me being overtaken by the leader of the 20km…

So here’s to small victories, to kids who fly, to the Big Kids who lace up and find joy in the small moments. To the kindred spirits. 

The journey continues, one slightly stiff, slightly slower, but still determined stride at a time. Thank you for being part of the journey!

See you on the trails,
Lauren and the KZNTR Team