Runners

In 1997 I decided to run the Comrades Marathon. A 90km ultra-marathon between the KwaZulu-Natal cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. The amount of training required, I thought, would help me shed the 20 kg I was overweight.

I had trained for more than 9 months, running six times per week and at my peak before the race in 1999, was doing 60-70km of running a week - minimum (1500km in total). On my first attempt, I completed the race in a respectable 10hrs and 13 mins. Problem was, after the rigorous training schedule of the previous 9 months I was still overweight by nearly 10kgs after having completed the race. How was this possible? During the ensuing 13 years, I was constantly battling with my weight and running on and off. In 2013 I realised I was not winning the battle against my inevitable march to obesity and resigned myself to the "middle age" beer belly.

Fortunately, I picked up a book by Prof Tim Noakes titled: Challenging Beliefs. The book had a chapter on how our overconsumption of sugar was the cause of weight gain and would ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes, especially for insulin-resistant people. I realised there was a good possibility I might be insulin resistant and immediately decided to follow his advice to cut out my carbohydrate consumption.

4 years later I have lost 24 kilograms, my Body Mass Index (BMI) is at 23 and I train when I feel like it because my body is self-regulating its weight. I also feel energised and never in doubt as to whether I will ever pick up the weight again.

Our world is facing a massive health crisis with an estimated 400 million people suffering from type 2 diabetes and countless more being pre-diabetic or not diagnosed at all. Sugar and by definition all grains and processed foods are to blame. I hope to spread the message fo the dire consequences of sugar consumption to as many people as I can.

Age at time of race = 48

I was a couch potato too tired to participate in any sport. When I tried to run myself thin, I put too much weight on my feet and damaged them. When I tried to swim myself thin, I was so exhausted I had to take a nap after every training session. 6 years of eating low carb sees me having fun at the back of the pack in mini-triathlons, open water swims, trail runs, hikes, and half marathons.

My appetite diminished naturally on low carb and I kinda fell unintentionally into 2 meals a day and then 1 meal day for a few years. Since my activity increased, I play around with short fasts, long fasts (up to 5 days) and 1 to 2 meals per day.

I was quite sickly before low carb. Nothing life threatening, but so many smaller niggles that my quality of life was diminished. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. But also didn’t know what to do about it. Had I been more invested in my health, I suspect I would’ve been diagnosed with Pre-diabetes and Insulin Resistance. When I was categorised as Obese Class 1 by a dietitian I decided to do something about my weight at least.

I became a Certified Banting Coach shortly after starting low carb. I’ve helped men, women and young adults take back their power over food and mood for more than 5 years. I signed up for the Freedom Run to explore the beliefs around glucose as a fuel source for endurance sport. I’m also inquisitive about how my own body responds on this particular journey.

I’m 42 years old and I grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. For most of my life, I have ridden horses and competed successfully on a regional level. After having both knees reconstructed for varying reasons, I retired from the competitive scene. My other fitness interests lie in the gym where my focus was on strength training. Today, however, I spend most of my time getting walking fit and doing resistance training.

From a health perspective, over the years I noticed how I picked up weight and battled to lose it again. I blamed it on stopping riding and cutting back on the amount of time I spent in the gym. I eventually made an appointment with an endocrinologist who diagnosed me as pre-diabetic. He put me onto a low carb, low fat diet which initially helped me lose 15kg, but I found this diet unsustainable and I slowly started going back into my old ways ,which of course, led to weight gain again.

In Feb 2020, I had a checkup with my doctor and found that my sugar had gone from 5.9 to 9.4. My doctor changed my medication and suggested I start fasting and following a low carb diet again. At this point I contacted Sam for coaching and started on my Keto journey. Since Feb, I have dropped 6kg and my blood sugar is down to 5.5.

From a fasting perspective, I consider myself a beginner. There’s a lot I haven’t done yet and a lot I’m still learning but with guidance from Sam, I’m on the right path. I think the fasting is going to be the hard part for me, however I’m tenacious and am applying the mental skills I’ve learnt in my fitness training and rehabilitation to get myself to where I need to be.

I’ve asked myself a ton of times why I want to do the Freedom Run. What is my why? It’s a tough question to answer but I mainly put it down to a “need to know”. I need to know what success will feel and look like when we complete the 160km journey. I see it as an opportunity to do something bigger than myself and to hold myself accountable to my health journey as well as keeping me excited about my fitness and food choices.

I am 39 years old and have been overweight for the most of my adult life.

It was always a goal of mine to run a comrades and after many years of being overweight and no foreseeable change on the horizon, I was happy to accept the fact that I was never going to even start a comrades, nevermind finishing one.

Then at 28 I had a health scare where my lifestyle caught up me and I was told to make a change or suffer serious consequences, this was a hard pill to swallow as I always considered myself a sportsman even though I did not look it, and I never thought I was this unhealthy.

Fast forward to today I have finished two comrades marathons, back-to-back, and I do not have any health concerns as I had when I was 28.

I want to be part of the Fat Fueled Freedom Run because I really believe in the human body's ability to run on fuel stored as fat on the body.

I want to be part of the change in mindset of runners to show one don't have to run consuming sweet things and carbohydrates.

I am 40 years old, always been involved in sport. Was an avid athlete and swimmer but because of injuries got involved in cycling and for the last 10 years been active in the road and mountain biking scene. Have no experience with fasting activities but being involved in the research of this event, the opportunity to partake will give me some real insight that I otherwise would not have been available to me.

I am 60 years old and I have always been involved in sport I have run about 40 marathons and ultra marathons over the last 10 years and all of them Barefoot. I started restricting eating carbohydrates about 11 Years ago as I was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis. I have been inspired to do this Freedom run as I always enjoy challenging my body and what it is capable of doing. This would be the ideal opportunity to monitor all the different health indicators on a daily basis and what significant changes there will be or not. I have a passion for all things that are healthy.

I am Marius Bezuidenhout and I'm glad to be part of the FFFFR. Since I've heard about the Freedom Run, I realized that if I can do it, anyone can do it. I therfore applaud and appreciate every person out there that chooses to embrace a healthier lifestyle. The journey may certainly have its challenges, but it is both rewarding and achievable.

Although I'm not the fastest, leanest or fittest person around, the Freedom Run is my way of showing that a healthier lifestyle is possible and achievable to anyone that has the guts to make the change and take his health back ... and it's certainly a whole lot easier with a little help from your friends.

So, as a devoted husband to my wife, a father of three children, and a businessman with a too-busy schedule, I'm taking the time off to show that a fasting lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle, that exercise can be fun and that help and encouragement by friends and family really makes a difference.

Come on, make a move

I am 58 years old and started running about 10 years ago. Although I did some running in my twenties, I lost interest and only went for a hike now and then. I started running again for several reasons, one was that I started to pick-up weight, I had time at hand as the kids became more independent and I was fascinated to see trail runners running vast distances on mountain trails.

Instead of hiking mountains I tried to run trails and enjoyed it tremendously, not in a competitive way but just exploring and getting up and down a mountain quicker. Over time my distances increased, and I started entering races mainly because it gave me access to areas I could or would not run on my own, as support was needed.

However, I also started to realize very quickly that there is a big difference between the nutrition requirements in running a 21km and anything longer than 60 km and that is where I learned a bit about carbohydrates burning and fat burning. After having some bad experiences while trying to get an energy gel down with a lot of coke, I realized there must be another way. At about the same time I started running 100-mile (162km) races and was looking for something else to sustain myself during the race. So I started to run within a heartbeat zone that, according to what I figured out, is my “fat burn” zone and I knew I did something right when I managed to finish a race in 2 days and 2 nights with only about 40 minutes sleep and two compulsory stops over that time. At this moment I know that I cannot run long distances relying on sugar spikes, besides that, I don’t think it is good for the body. So, when I heard about this study it immediately caught my attention as it is something I have not tried at all and never would without medical support. I feel it is exactly what I would like to experience and I hope to gain more insight as to how my body can perform without carbohydrates at all and in a fasted state.