The Italian Giant
I’ve always loved to run. To me, there is no sport more rewarding than running. After I finished my Chemistry BSc degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2011, I would run in the streets of Hilton wearing cotton t-shirts and Gilbert rugby shorts, and became known as The Guy with the Orange Running Bag.
Every day I would slip on my running shoes, grab my (very basic by today’s standards) hydration bag and dance with the souls of my feet for the afternoon.
However, my running career started long before my university days. At nine, I was running at Saint Charles in Pietermaritzburg in 1999, racking up the 100km term badges as fast as my little legs would carry me on crosscountry days. I was so excited to sew the badges onto my running pants and march around, displaying them to everyone that I’d achieved the 100 Club.
Dean Riley, my PE coach at the time, was a Comrades Marathon runner, and to me was one of the big boys who was conquering the world of running!
Yet I knew I wanted more than the road scene. The vast mountain ranges that I saw depicted decades ago in magazines devoted to mountain biking (following Greg Minnaar) and running were calling to me
