Imagine you’re a ballerina…

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Bo

Last week I happened to attend my very first book opening which happened to be for one of my friends from primary school. As she sat reading a few chapters out to her captive audience, I was thrown back 30 years to the days I knew her in Primary School.

Casey B Dolan was in my eyes the strongest girl I knew. Full of confidence, over-flowing with life and just magnetic to be around. She feared nothing. She stood up for what she believed and was always looking for her next adventure.

She was in fact completely opposite to me. I was shy, nervous and insecure. I was terrified of speaking in crowds; I hid behind the other girls and would never voice my opinion. I felt safe around her. She made me laugh. She protected me. Being told at one of her birthday parties to imagine we were ballerinas all day has stuck in my head forever.

Our school trip to Cape Town when we were 10 years old. (We didn’t do selfies in those days, I was taking the picture).

The same trip where I sat on an ostrich. This photo was taken 3 seconds before the bird turned around and pecked me so hard I cried in front of all my school mates.

I lost contact with Casey after primary school. I had seen her pictures in magazines. I listened to her on 5FM. So reading her memoir “Appetite for peas” totally floored me. I had grown up believing that this strong, confident friend of mine had grown up where the world was her oyster. But for those who have read Casey’s book, you will know that behind the beautiful smile lies a very sad past where she writes a raw, open & honest account of her abusive relationships and struggles with family.

Our perceptions of people and what we imagine in our heads of what their lives to be like are sometimes so far from reality. All that glitters is not always gold.

Holding her new book, “When the bough breaks” in my hand and hearing of how she has just recently won the Best Actress award for her role in “Konfetti” at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival Awards made me smile. This is her world. This is exactly where I expected to find my old friend. In the limelight she loves and where she can shower others with her massive smile, her catchy laughter and her love for the arts. Well done Casey!

“When the bough breaks” book launch at Annica’s.

Here’s to the crazy one… #IM703SA

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Bo

I’ll be running the Johnson Crane half marathon on Sunday. This particular race holds a special place in my heart. It was my very first 21.1km race. It’s also the race where I ‘hit the wall’ for the first time and had no energy to continue when two friends assisted me in that last stretch of the race (thanks Piet & Rita). Great running memories.

This Sunday will be no different. It’s special but for another reason.

One of my friends @Bohoparadox will be competing in her first Half Iron Man triathlon happening in East London on Sunday. When she first signed up, I thought “OMG, she’s crazy!” But I’ve watched the many months of training, of small victories won and seen her grow from strength to strength.

The bike riding, the laps in the pool and the running. She just hasn’t stopped. She hasn’t given up. It’s a big race and I’m hoping she soaks up each and every second she’s out there! That race belongs to you Bennii!

I know Johnson Crane will be tough on me. I am under-trained and quite nervous about the distance even though I’ve run the race twice before. But my thinking is that in those moments that I doubt myself, in those dark patches of the race where I struggle, I will be thinking of the strength of Bennii and I’ll tell myself that “if she can do it, then so can I.”

But I’m also hoping that when she has any moments of pain or struggle on those up hills and long stretches, that she knows I’m thinking of her and hopefully it pulls her through.

All the best Bennii!

My high school reunion: Stepping back 20 years

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Bo

I have always found it odd when people talk about their high school reunions. The discussion is usually about how they are dreading it and how much they hated people they went to school with. So when I got the invite to my 20 year reunion, I wasn’t too sure what to think. Was it really that bad as everyone made out to be?

It’s not like I hated school. I didn’t have any bad experiences. I was well-liked by my teachers. I guess the thing that stood out for me the most was my friends. They’re the ones that made those years so fantastic and memorable.

The experiences with them was what played a part in how I viewed life when I left school 20 years ago and how I learnt to value friendship, trust and loyalty.

So I went. Nervous as hell (especially since KK was away and I went alone). It was like stepping back in time… I could not stop smiling.

My bestie from school (and who still is) put together a slide show of everyone: what we all looked like in 1992, what we looked like now, what we were up to…

It was so cool. How weird to see that friends from school were now parents with kids and full time jobs and responsibilities!

I imagined that we would all be sitting around quizzing each other about our present day lives but it was not to be. All we could talk about were memories from school. Stories of rebellion, our favourite and worst teachers, whether or not our headmaster was still alive. It was awesome to laugh and remember back.

No one really cared who was a big shot director now. No one even bothered to ask where I worked. It wasn’t even about who had put on weight, who had gone bald and who had/had not aged well. When we looked at each other’s faces, we saw the 18 year olds we knew from 1992.

I am so glad I went. It’s the latest I got home from a party in a long time and was on a high for so long. A part of me is happy to have seen all those faces and friends, but a part of me is sad that time is flying by so quickly. So much has happened during those 20 years. Ups and downs. We are sadly not the young, innocent, carefree youth we were then.

But for one evening, we most definitely were!

Set your own goals. Run your own race.

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Bo

I’m going through a process of goal setting at work. Funny enough, I only really set goals for myself when it comes to my running (and weight loss). As a regular reader of my blog, you may know that my goal is to run faster than 8mins/km. I’m getting there. Slowly. Two friends entered my mind as I sat at my desk, thinking about goals…

Both of them ran the Comrades marathon this year. The one friend was aiming for a silver medal while the other was running her tenth Comrades. Both had different goals, even though it was the same race. Only one was successful in reaching her goals and proudly boasts her permanent number which I’m sure she’ll wear with pride on future Comrades runs. Well done @tanyakovarsky! It’s an awesome achievement!

My other friend, unfortunately, had to pull out of the race half way. According to reports, she had headed out too fast and became ill. She still won’t talk about it and I suspect this will haunt her for quite a while especially since she came 22^nd overall in 2010 and achieved a Bill Rowan medal in 2011.

In discussions with some of my other friends, some have asked why she pulled out instead of taking it easy and just finishing before the cut-off gun. She had time on her side. But as a runner, this is not what it’s about. I’ve often had people say to me, don’t worry about your running time. If you miss the 3 hour cut-off for a half marathon, it’s okay. Do it for fun. Fun?

The fact is, unless you are successful at reaching your goals, it’s not fun. If you aren’t able to reach the goals you set out for yourself, it makes no sense to deliver on someone else’s goals. The goals you set for yourself are incredibly meaningful and it’s important that you don’t allow someone else to dictate what they think is the goal post.

I know she’ll be back running soon and achieve that medal she is striving for. In the meantime she remains one of the most inspirational runners I know. In fact, she’s one of the few people who make me believe in myself. Thanks Estie!