Carli van Niekerk qualified for her bronze medal at last year’s race. | SUPPLIED
Durban — South Africa is among countries with the highest overweight and obesity rates.
In terms of obesity, women rank the highest with at least 41%, while 20% of them fall in the severe obesity category. In contrast, only 11% of men have obesity.
This was why Carli van Niekerk, 46, from Roodepoort, decided to fight against becoming just another statistic. She pushed herself further when she decided to run the Comrades Marathon in 2020.
The mother of two, an accounts manager, had become morbidly obese at the age of 34, after suffering health issues for a couple of years.
“I was never overweight as a child or struggled with my weight. At 20 years old, I had hormonal issues and gained 12kg in about three months.”
She said over the next 14 years she gained more than 50kg.
“Between hormones, a less active lifestyle and resorting to convenient foods, I got caught up in a downward spiral of yo-yo dieting.”
She came to the realisation of her weight in 2011 during a family trip where she could not be active with her family.
“I was sitting at our townhouse on the patio, watching my husband and our boys playing, rolling on the lawn and laughing. Tears started rolling down my cheeks, as it hit me. I’m not having fun with them, because I am physically unable to. I was living life on the sidelines, as a spectator.
“That was my turning point. But with my history of yo-yo dieting, I’d lost all faith in diets and had to look for another solution to my obesity problem.
“So, after research, I went for bariatric surgery, because I fitted the criteria of morbid obesity, in April 2012. The year that followed was a roller-coaster ride of note but I reached my ideal weight and got a second lease of life. I lost half my body size and my life started at 35,” said Van Niekerk.
She started running in 2017 after she began regaining weight after her surgery.
“I realised the post-surgery honeymoon was over and with my 40s fast approaching, it was time to revisit my weight management strategy.”
Van Niekerk had to start focusing on regular exercise and fitness.
“In 2018 I ran my first half-marathon in memory of my brother who passed away at the age of 20 in a motor accident, as a special celebration of his birthday. I have since been running two dedicated races in his memory each year.”
In 2020 she ran her first Comrades Marathon which she qualified for at the Two Oceans race, also a first time run, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented her from competing.
“My late brother would have turned 40 in 2020 and it was also 20 years since he had passed away. I really wanted to do something big and special in his memory that year and decided to enter Comrades, but Covid happened.”
Van Niekerk ran her first Comrades, a downhill run, last year.
“I didn’t know what to expect and what I would be capable of when I stood at the start line of my first Comrades. I hoped to finish in under 12 hours,” she said.
“My training and qualifying didn’t go according to plan last year. However, I still finished in 10:44:05 with a bronze medal. I believe my saving grace was that I listened to my body throughout my training.”
This year, Van Niekerk tried to follow a more structured training programme paired with a low fat and low sugar options diet.
She believes in second chances in life, which is why she runs for a charity, CHOC (Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa). She hopes to spread the message of hope to all suffering with health issues.
“My inspiration to lose weight and run the Comrades Marathon has always been because of my husband and sons.”
Sunday Tribune