MASVETSEN Report (From a "noob's" point of view)

I've been asked to write a report on Nedbank - LVCC running club's annual in-house challenge - the MASVETSEN (Grand Challenge). As a new member I will try my best to honour the "second most important race of the year".

Before joining the club in 2012 I often heard about this "Matseven". Murray and Jo would discuss tactics, face paint, alcohol and prawns and I still had no idea what they were on about. Sounded like fun though! With Comrades fast approaching people started talking about "Mastseven" again.

This time around I learnt that its actually called MASVETSEN (Masters/Veterans/Seniors teams), a 21km relay race on the Lydenburg road, and not Matseven/Masvensen which I thought was the name of the farm where the festivities take place.

Up until two days before the race I also had no idea how this relay worked but I think I have a better idea after competing in it and I will try and explain how it works for those that haven't participated yet.

Teams of 6 members each compete in an out  and back relay race. Each member gets to run a leg as fast as he/she can and the time goes towards his/her team's overall time. All club members are welcome to participate in the race and Comrades runners are expected to complete the entire run on their high mileage legs. Each team has a team leader and this year Fanie was in charge of the Juniors, Marie-Louise the Seniors, Paul the Veterans and Jeanne and Iain the Masters and Grand Masters. Each team gets a theme and dress up accordingly to get some team spirit going. Now the part I'm still not too sure about involves bribery, corruption, dodgy penalties and lodged complaints burnt into memory banks. Let's leave it at that..

As a 30 year old "youngster" I had the privilege and pressure of competing for the seniors who have only won the challenge 3 times in the last 14 years. I was told that the Veterans are the MASVETSEN kings and that our young average age would count against us as points are deducted according to age. 

Marie-Louise's Native American theme was an inspired choice even though she claims to be an accountant devoid of creativity. This was just the spark Adriaan needed as he loves war stories about Crazy Horse and General Custer. Petro provided the feathers and I showed him a picture of the Lone Ranger's sidekick Tonto. The rest is itchy, flaky and acrylic face paint history. 

The Veteran team were caught napping this year, quite literally as they even pitched up in their pajamas. I'm not sure what the Masters were supposed to be in their glow in the dark shirts and sweatbands but I think it was a wise choice in the current economic climate as they will be able to use their kit again on early morning runs and winter time trials. My feathers wont see another run again. I asked them if the bright colours were in aid of poor eyesight or that they were planning on running until sunset. I didn't get a reply? Well done to the Masters for getting second place, they looked sharp and ran great times.

The prawn braai was hosted by Johan and Annetjie on their beautiful farm. The weather was perfect, the food fantastic and the company great as always. As the evening wore on a member was overheard exclaiming that it was the best "Porn braai" ever. Another member concurred.

Thank you to all the committee and club members involved. Special thank you to Johan and Annetjie for being such great hosts!

Toy Dupper

Victorious Senior team 2013: Adriaan, Elsa, Andrew, Steve (Veteran photobombing), Fanie and Toy. Absent: Monday our star runner.

Runners up, Masters team: Iain, Coral, Lawrence and Jeanne.

Crazy Horse (Tonto) and Touch The Cloud.

Senior Native Americans
Adriaan, Neil, Andrew, Annelie, Petro, Toy. Marie-Louise, Monday, Janine, Elsa, Mirandi, Fanie, Murray and Wimpie.

Images: Toy Dupper and Helen Clarke.

Time Trial Results - 2013-05-02

NAME	TIME	NOTES
Reuben	19,05
Sipho	19,05
Adriaan du Plessis	20,13
Neil Salter	21,2
Toy Dupper	21,39
Colin Bekker	22,07
Steve Brisley	22,14
Andrew Dollenberg	22,21
Fanie Bekker	22,21
Elvis	22,24
Monday Mabuza	22,3
Wesley Tecklenburg	24,02
Annelie Dollenberg	24,33
Anthea	24,33
Eva	24,51
Ian Toomey	25,52
Joe Classen	25,52
Gladys Mabuza	31,26
Joseph Khoza	31,26
Julius	31,26
Mirandi Bekker	32,22

Running In Circles Newsletter - May 2013

Nedbank LVCC - Comrades 2013 Runners

CHAIRMAN'S CHATTER

It’s the month of May and all Comrades runners are more than likely starting to get nervous. We are counting down fast to the main event on most roadrunners calendar. Hopefully the high mileage month of April didn’t  leave too many injuries behind. Good luck to you all with the last month winding down to the formidable up run on the 2^nd of June.

April saw Nedbank LVCC runners competing in events from Elands to a cold/ wet Loskop. Our runners performed well under difficult conditions. The runs were well attended by members and Nedbank LVCC green was visible everywhere. Well done to all our runners achieving podium finishes and also to the runners that achieved PB performances! It is fantastic to see!

Loskop was a wet affair. I took some serious convincing to make my way down to the start of the muddy 21km. A muddy  wet run indeed. ” Boy, was I glad I’m not doing 50km today”, was a constant thought in my mind. I was very happy indeed to see the finish approach and from there the day turned into an entertaining one!. Sharing stories under the Nedbank gazebo really warmed up the grey day. Thanks to Paul for organizing the away weekend and all the helpers at the boerewors roll point!  Here’s to a drier one next year.

We have some activities coming up during the month of May as we wind our way down to the Comrades. Please go to our blog to see all the dates and if and where you need to reply to. We are trying hard to send out newsflashes and as much communique as possible. This doesn’t help if people don’t read the info send out to them. We have 88 entered Nedbank Mpumalanga runners for this year’s up run. There are people working hard to try and keep all involved updated with events. So please have the decency to reply if RSVP’s are required.

The club will have at least 2 support points along the Comrades route this year. We will update all our runners with the procedure to get your special requirements to us a couple of days before the event. Please note that I will be seconding this year and  I won’t be driving around picking up parcels on the Saturday before the race. So, if  you miss the deadline for delivery, you will need to run with a backpack!

We are trying hard to come to an agreement with Nedbank regarding our kit. We do our best to see how we can accommodate the runners that still doesn’t have proper kit. Please bear with us. Janine will  offer you some substantial discount on our big sizes which you can then just go make smaller.

A big thank you to all the bloggers posting some wonderful stories and experiences on the website the past month. Please visit the blog site to view the next month’s calendar and events.

Please support our time trials on Thursday afternoons at 17:30 at LVCC CLUBHOUSE.

See you at the Masvetsen on Sunday! Let’s see if the seniors can run as well as they talk!

Steve

TRAINING SCHEDULE

APRIL 2013

Committee duties

DATE	TIME	VENUE	RACE	DISTANCE	DUTY/CONTACT
2/05	17:30	LVCC CLUB HOUSE	TIME TRIAL	5/8km	Helen
9/05	17:15	LVCC CLUB HOUSE	TIME TRIAL	5/8km	Linda
16/05	17:15	LVCC CLUB HOUSE	TME TRIAL	5/8km	Juanita
23/05	17:15	LVCC CLUB HOUSE	TIME TRIAL	5/8km	Janine
30/05	17:15	LVCC CLUB HOUSE	TIME TRIAL	5/8KM	Steve

CC Comrades Corner - Andrew Dollenberg

Halfway to the top

Despite having climbed a whole lot to get over Cowies, Fields and Botha's, you are not at the top yet. The 'top' is at Umlaas road. There is only one way to get there. And it involves you. And Inchanga.

Drummond to Umlaas Road:

Just after passing through the halfway banners and crowds at Drummond, the toughest hill of the day lies in wait to greet you. And as they say, if it has a name, then it is probably quite big. This one is called 'Inchanga'.

On a positive note, it is not that long. But it may take you a while to conquer the 2.5km rising 150m. At this stage of the day, it will feel far more difficult than any of the preceding hills. So take it easy - there is still a long way to go. If it takes you 20 minutes to crest this one, so be it. Your clue to being as good as at the top is the Indian head painted on the rock face. This will appear on your right hand side, unless you find yourself walking up this beast backwards. Even if you don't see this, you will know when you've made it to the top. Because it stops going up!

From the top of Inchanga, there is only a marathon left to get to Pmb. Not far now...

Relax and enjoy the 2km downhill on the other side of Inchanga, down to Mayat's Store, and then past the Ethembeni School. The kids line the road here, cheering on every runner, and if this does not encourage you then nothing will.

Harrison Flats (which, incidentally, is not that flat) is a rather uninspiring 2.5km section before Cato Ridge. Most of the crowds and supporters have found their way to Cato and Camperdown, so this stretch of road can be lonely. Find yourself a running buddy to help pass the time.

There are no significant hills between Cato and Camperdown - just lots of little ones with no names that collectively drain your weary legs. Large crowd support will greet you at Camperdown, and you will recharged again for the final haul.

The climb from Camperdown to the top of Umlaas Road, which marks the highest point on the route, is so gentle and trivial you might not even notice it. But some fool will point it out when you are there with a comment of "its all downhill from here". Try not to slap them.

Except for the spectator spots at Cato and Camperdown, there is little crowd support along this section of road, but it is a leisurely section of the race to enjoy. So make friends with some runners that you will possibly never see again. And if you find the sun a bit scorching and you have chapped lips, DO NOT take vaseline from ANY supporters or medical staff on the side of the road - it is too late in the race and far too many people have gone before you. ;-) Bring your own, or use a trusted source.

Besides the 19km to the finish, there is just one more obstacle standing between you and a Comrades medal. But we will get to that next time.

Till then,
Cheers!

Andrew

Part 1
Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Long Run Report

Thank you to Legogote Villagers running club of White River for hosting us on their annual long run between White River and Sabie. Everybody enjoyed perfect weather, beautiful scenery and great camaraderie. It's not an easy run at all and any runner that completed the 48 km can be proud of him/herself! With a total of 1026m elevation gain and a massive 4 km climb just after halfway this is a true test of your fitness level before the big day on 2 June 2013! Thank you to Moses (Mozma) who provided a service vehicle for our runners.

Toy Dupper

Photos: Toy Dupper, Adriaan Du Plessis and Leigh Kay.