Zoë Scholtz

Season of 2020 Remember the time of plenty Now so empty It was the time of 2020 Winter was cold and without song Summer was lonely, just as long  Oh for the day it does not hurt anymore World history we try back to claw When the night time brings the darkness Pray to sleep the night away  But find the morning stress Always finds a way to stay I find it hard to face the day But still, I try anyway ~ Andy _____________________________________________________________________       Andrew Crawshay-Hall (Andy) is an accountant by profession, and an artist at heart. He has two daughters, one a teacher and, the other a doctor of art. When he is not running he loves spending time with his three grandchildren.  Andy is an avid runner and completed eight Comrades Marathons, before being forced to retire in 2012, as a result of a knee operation. At the time, doctors predicted he would never run again. Always eager to meet new people, Andy joined the Irene Athletics C...

When I started out on my running journey, I had no appreciation for the important role of running shoes. In fact, I ran a fair distance in my already old and worn out gym trainers, before I realised that perhaps I needed to buy proper ones. I was surprised to learn that this was not the same process as buying my next set of flip-flops. Apparently I needed to visit a specialised store to be fitted for the correct pair. I was puzzled, it seemed an inordinate amount of hassle over what was, after all, ‘just a shoe’. I would learn the hard way that there were very good reasons for all the fuss. Even though I didn’t see why it was necessary, I did my homework, found the nearest store and presented myself for my feet to be assessed. I felt awkward and out of place as I stood in the shop, I had no idea where to start. Fortunately the salesperson promptly came to my rescue and hauled out various options for me to try. He made me jog up and down outside the store and eventually conclud...

Did you ever think you would live through a global pandemic?   I sure didn’t.   It started out as a weird virus in China towards the end of 2019.   Hubby and I watched it all unfold from afar for a while, we were particularly concerned since his daughter lived in Beijing.   The sneaky infection allegedly started its rounds in Wuhan, but quickly spread throughout China.   It wasn’t long before the virus decided to broaden its horizons and infected the rest of the world.   South Africa wasn’t spared, registering its first positive case on 5 March 2020.   Lockdown and locked in The statistics and impact were scary enough to mobilise decisive action from government, resulting in the President declaring a Nationwide lockdown, effective from 26 March 2020.   The initial lockdown was referred to as a hard lockdown, one of the most stringent in the world.   Initially declared for a period of 21 days, government ultimately extended the hard l...