Ten years on the trails for La Lucia resident
After more than 30 years as a dedicated road runner, with 20 Comrades Marathons under his belt, Buzz Bolton discovered a new passion.
THIS year marks 10 years since Buzz Bolton started the Riverside Trail Running Group, which sees more than 70 people explore the trails of Durban North, running together on a weekly basis.
After more than 30 years as a dedicated road runner, with 20 Comrades Marathons under his belt, Bolton accidentally entered a 50km trail running race in 2007 and inadvertently discovered his new life’s passion.
Afterwards, he signed up to join a friend in the gruelling Cape Odyssey event, comprising a 210km run over five days.
After two years of running on trails, Bolton took it upon himself to start a formal trail running group in Umhlanga.
“Trail running is so big in the Cape, and with so many beautiful open spaces available to us, I couldn’t understand why we didn’t have any organised runs here,” he said.
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For most trail runners, Bolton says, the real draw card is the simple pleasure of being able to immerse yourself in nature.
“Unlike road running, trail running is not really about beating your previous time. Every run is different, with rivers to cross or mountains to climb, and we often stop along the way to take a photograph, and catch our breath,” he said.
Through the Riverside Trail Running Group, there are organised trail runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, always at 5.15am and starting at different points. Thursdays 7km ‘stamina run’ is the most popular with between 60 and 70 runners taking part.
“There are both fast and intermediate groups and you can even start off walking,” said Bolton, who has taken part in almost every single run over the past 10 years.
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He added that the Virginia Bush and Izinga Ridge routes are among the group’s favourites and their Monday morning runs often take place along the beach if the tide is low enough.
“There are so many things to love about trail running. It really allows us to enjoy the natural beauty around us. It also makes you super fit and time just seems to go by so fast when you’re on the trails,” he said.
The Riverside Trail group has become an integral part of the community and Boulton said it’s extremely rewarding to see people enjoying parts of the area they might never have seen otherwise, whether it’s running or just walking their dogs.
For more information or to join a run, contact Buzz via Facebook: RiversideTrail or on 082 777 7073.
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