There is a need for more research into women’s sport, as most of the recent research done is solely focused on male athletes. This was according to Tarrin van Niekerk, a professional ultra trail runner and Stellenbosch-based physiotherapist.
Van Niekerk hosted a ‘Run Brave’ event on 31 July, with a group of 15 in attendance. The event started with a women-only social run through the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, after which the group gathered in the Balance Coffee Roastery for the Run Brave talk on women’s nutrition, according to Van Niekerk.
Tarrin van Niekerk, an ultra trail runner, addressed a group of 15 female runners on the importance of nutrition and refuelling one’s body. “Run for yourself, fuel for yourself,” she said. PHOTO: Amy Lindstrom
“We’d like this whole group to have a butterfly effect […] to normalise […] eating right,” added Van Niekerk.
“This is our second Run Brave event, what we are trying to do here is to create awareness […] and bring more girls together,” said Emily Robertson, the event’s co-host and current doctoral student in exercise, sport and lifestyle medicine.
Demystifying the statistics
According to Robertson, the inspiration for the event came from a conversation between her and Van Niekerk on fuelling one’s body as an athlete.
“The [statistics] around the research of women’s fitness are terrifying, only 7% of the research in the sports science space done in the past few years is aimed towards women,” said Robertson.
“The studies that show that women need 90-120g of carbs per hour on a run were done on young, male athletes”, said Van Niekerk. “We go through seasons as women, we need different things during different stages,” she said.
The Run Brave event included a women-only social run through the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. “Our mantra is ‘run like a girl’. We want to encourage girls to run bravely as women,” said Emily Robertson, a current sports science PhD student and co-host of the event. PHOTO: Amy Lindstrom
By women, for women
Another motivation for the event was to find other women who have a passion for running, according to Robertson.
“Within the women’s space, we always see men racing hard and women standing back a little bit […] but we are women, we have super powers and we are strong,” added Van Niekerk.
When approached by SMF News, Caylin Maree, a member of the Maties women’s hockey team, echoed the event’s sentiments. Food, she said, is a very important element of her training regiment as a female athlete.
“There is not a lot of information with regards to what you should eat before training sessions and how to ensure your body is getting what it needs in order to perform,” said Maree.
Following the social run, attendees gathered in the Balance Coffee Roastery for coffee and banana bread before the talk. “We chose banana bread as the post-run refuel specifically to highlight the importance of carbs as a source of fuel for female athletes,” said Tarrin van Niekerk, a Stellenbosch-based physiotherapist and co-host of the Run Brave event. PHOTO: Amy Lindstrom