聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 In 1994, Bob Neufeld from 鈥淪toughton via Waldeck,鈥� he says, began introducing running into his life and hasn鈥檛 looked back.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 start running marathons right away, it took me about four years to get up to that point,鈥� Neufeld explained. 鈥淔our years of a lot of reading Runner鈥檚 World and figuring things out. In 1998 I started and now I鈥檓 up to about 70 full marathons and about 30 half-marathons, a few ultras, and a few triathlons as well.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Why decide to lace up his runners and hit the road?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏asically I tell people I hit my mid-30s and realized I couldn鈥檛 spend my leisure time in the pubs and the bars anymore. That鈥檚 more than about 70 percent true, and what else do you do with a somewhat compulsive personality? You take up running and then it becomes addictive in its own right. If you don鈥檛 run for awhile you鈥檝e got to get out and do something; it鈥檚 a good stress relief and you can do it anywhere. With work I travel a lot and on holidays I travel a lot and it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 easy to do anywhere.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As a Biologist Ducks Unlimited, Neufeld has a special place in his heart for wildlife and nature, which is how one of his most recent trips came about to Africa. Not only was he interested in seeing wild African dogs in their natural habitat and scuba diving, he wanted to complete the world鈥檚 largest and oldest ultramarathon for a second time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here鈥檚 an ultramarathon, the Comrades Marathon, and was developed as a way to honour the First World War veterans,鈥� Neufeld explained. 鈥淥ne year they run from Durban on the coast to Pietermaritzburg which is inland, and then they switch.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淟ast year it was an up run from Durban, it is really, really hilly. A group of 10 of us went last year and seven of us were entered in Comrades. Five of us actually finished. Last year it was just a little under 88 km and you had 12 hours to finish, and you have certain cut off points. If you don鈥檛 make that point, boom you鈥檙e at the end of your run. One of the women with us last year missed a check point by a minute, she had like 20k left to go, 2.5 hours, but they put barricades across and that was the end of her race.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭en of us met up with eight other people in Johannesburg the next day and we went to Botswana for two weeks of safaris. I鈥檝e been to Africa counting this year 11 times and until this year I had only seen one African dog in the wild. African wild dogs are a really neat animal and reason I went to Africa.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Wanting to take in more of the natural world Africa has to offer, Neufeld decided that he would take in the Comrades Marathon a second year. Last year was its 90th anniversary and was ran inland, while this year was a non-anniversary year, but was ran the opposite direction.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭his year, you have to qualify, so if you run a full marathon you have to do it in under five hours; if you do a 50k it has to be done in under 6 hours; and they have some longer ultras you can also use to qualify. So I qualified running Regina鈥檚 last September again and you only can enter from September to November.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淟ast year I finished in 11hrs 42min and this year I finished in 11hrs 26min.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The event begins at 5:30 a.m. and is operated for 12 hours, if those running are not at the end by 5:30 p.m. then there鈥檚 a bus that goes back to pick people up who have not made the time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he guy who won it this year did 89.2km in 5hrs 18min,鈥� Neufeld explained. 鈥淭hey have aid stations all the way along. On the hilly parts I learned last year you walk, run, walk, run.聽 And last year because it was the 90th anniversary it was done really well and they had pace groups, so it was really easy. This year because it wasn鈥檛 an anniversary year I was running on my own which made it a lot tougher. So when I came to the hills I鈥檇 walk for a count of 30, run for a count of 30.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Running for 12 hours straight is a test, but one that Neufeld says is more mental than anything.
聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽鈥淚t鈥檚 a long slow day of running and you just sort of grind it out,鈥� he explained. 鈥淩unning to finish is a lot different than running for a time. It鈥檚 just a very long day.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou gotta fuel and drink a lot. Best thing for you is probably cola with the caffeine and sugars it鈥檚 really good. Energy drink, coke, water, and make sure you take a lot of salt. Last year little cooked potatoes rolled in salt, which were really good because you get the salt and the carbohydrates.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Neufeld has now done marathons on every continent except for Antarctica and because he enjoys travelling simply adds in a running event if he鈥檚 decided to go somewhere.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淐omrades was interesting, but I have no urge to go back,鈥� Neufeld explained. 鈥淵ou get a finishers medal each year and if you do the run two years in a row you鈥檙e given a back to back medal.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, it鈥檚 now time to find another race to run, but for now he鈥檚 headed to the Queen City Marathon in Regina, a race he鈥檚 attended every year since it began.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚f you put your mind to it you can do it,鈥� Neufeld said. 鈥淚 tell people if you can do 5k then you can do 10, if you can do 10k then you can do 20, if you can do 20 you can do a full marathon. It鈥檚 a big jump from the half to the full, but it鈥檚 more mental than anything else.鈥�
