SBS World News Australia presenter
Words by Harriet Morley Photography by Mark Watson
For 10 years I kept going back to run Comrades (90K ultramarathon) because I had a tantalising hope of winning a silver medal. My personal best was 8:26 and you need to run 7:30 to get a silver medal, so I got within an hour of silver, but not quite there.
Being South African, Comrades and the Two Oceans (56K) in Cape Town, which I’ve done nine times, have particular significance to me. South Africa is such a scenic place to run, you can’t imagine doing something so wonderful in such a great environment.
When I was training for Comrades, I was disciplined with my running and had a specific training program. I would run two hours a day, do a long run on the weekends, and have one day off a week. I just knew that if I didn’t put in those hours I would struggle on race-day. I had a pursuit and I just went for it.
Nowadays, after migrating to Australia in 1999, I find going for a run is a bit of a treat. I enjoy six or seven kilometre runs around Centennial Park in Sydney.
Running in Australia is very different to South Africa. In Johannesburg there is a real road running fraternity with up to three events a week to choose from. Here, I was astonished to find that there is the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon in May, the Sun Herald City 2 Surf in August and the Blackmores Marathon in September and not much in between. So everyone spends months preparing for the big events, whereas in South Africa you can decide at the drop of a hat if you want to race.
Given my line of work, I don’t think I could find the time to train for another marathon now. I have run more than 40, and desperately wanted to go sub-three hours, but my personal best is 3:11. I love the feeling of being out in the fresh air and the way it keeps you shape. You get a real sense of achievement not only when you run races, but also from solid training sessions.
Running was a great way to meet people when my partner, Roger, and I moved to Australia. I joined Sydney Frontrunners, which was a great way to meet people who had similar interests about living a healthy lifestyle. My dream is to go back to South Africa to run my 10th Two Oceans, but for now I am looking forward to the City 2 Surf in Sydney this year.
Read more about Anton Enus in RW May/June 09.