Zoe Hawkins

One-track mind

ZOE CONQUERS WORLD'S OLDEST ULTRAMARATHON RACE

by Jo Crompton

Want to run an ultramarathon? Train consistently. Wear good shoes. Find some hills.

School hours were Zoe Hawkins’ saviour when she was in training for the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon. Between running errands, running a household and running four kids to and from school and sport, squeezing in time to actually run was a daily juggle. Now, having completed South Africa’s Comrades Marathon for the second time, her only regret is not allowing herself a little more ‘down’ time in her training.

Comrades is run every year between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The direction of the race alternates each year between the ‘up’ run (87km) starting from Durban and the ‘down’ run (92km) starting from Pietermaritzburg. Having completed the ‘up’ run in 2019, Mrs Hawkins (Class of 2001) was determined to collect the ‘full set’ when the ‘down’ run returned after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most people would expect a downhill run to be much easier, but as a graduate of Bond’s Health Sciences (Sports Coaching) degree, Mrs Hawkins knew she was in for a world of pain.

“It took an hour longer to run the downhill race than it did the uphill,” she says. “It was much quicker going up than going down because my legs cramped so much going down. The difference isn’t about fitness levels,

it’s about muscle fatigue. And it was hard to train well for the downhill aspect because we just don’t have the same terrain around here. Short of running down Mt Tamborine, there’s not a lot of territory nearby that I can get to inside school hours that would have prepared me more. Most people would think the up is actually harder than the down but maintaining your pace and stability while running downhill is that much harder because you have

"There is so much respect for anyone who runs Comrades, they know how hard and how gruelling the course is."

to stabilise yourself. You almost have to be ‘braking’ the whole time which puts a lot of strain on your muscles. It’s up for the first 42km and then 50km down at the end and the muscle fatigue was the most painful in my life.”

But the sense of achievement that comes with completing a race requiring such stamina and preparation, she says, makes it all worthwhile.

“Comrades is known to be the oldest and toughest in the world, so many people compete in that race from all around the world,” she says. “South Africans are incredibly passionate about the race. I’ve never been supported along the entire route the way I was there – there are people cheering and people dancing, it is such incredible support. And there is so much respect for anyone who runs Comrades, they know how hard and how gruelling the course is. It’s the best race I’ve ever run, and I’ve done quite a few races.”

Mrs Hawkins won her first 100km national championship when she was in her 20s, a feat made easier by youth and not having parenting responsibilities.

“The training is exhausting. When you’ve got a large family with four kids you just don’t get the rest that you would if still young and single. Running now

Zoe’s Top Tips

is much more challenging but I enjoy the challenge,” she says.

“I’m also extremely lucky in that despite my husband’s extremely busy job, he is a massive supporter of my running and even came to South Africa with me as my support person.”

With children aged 13, 11, 9 and 7, all with their own individual sporting and extra-curricular goals, finding time to maintain a training schedule that required her to run up to 140km a week was almost as tough as the race itself.

“For a long run, I would run 50km and be running for four hours or more. School hours were usually when I managed to get my best runs in. I would drop the kids off at 8am and then run until midday or 1pm, then I’d head back, eat something and then go and pick them up again,” she says. “Weekends weren’t really an option as all the kids play individual sports or have activities and my husband’s job means weekends are busy for him as well, so fitting in running around the school runs was how I made it work.”

Inset: Zoe's medals. Zoe Hawkins and her husband Andy pictured with their four children (L-R) Mia, Harriet, Isla and Macaulay.

1Find a good coach that you can trust to help formulate a training plan that is achievable for your fitness and ability. I am indebted to my coach Jackson Elliott from Gold Coast Run Co.

2Be consistent with your training and don’t increase your weekly volume by more than 10 per cent as this increases your injury risk.

3In your training have at least one speed session a week. So this is faster than your race pace. This taps into your anaerobic zone and a different energy system and has a greater cardiovascular stimulus than your slower aerobic long run. This helps you run faster for longer and therefore reach your personal best. 4 A hill session once a week is great way of getting strength in your legs, especially if your marathon or ultramarathon is over an undulating course. Also consider backto-back long runs if training for an ultra.

5Rotate shoes and keep track of how far you run as they only last approximately 500km depending on the quality. That’s not long if you average more than 100km a week.

Watch a video interview with Zoe Hawkins here