EY: How do you think these two passions, work and running, complement each other and inspire you throughout the areas of your life?
Sandra: Running is the ultimate strategic long game – much like mergers and acquisitions (M&A), where a transaction can take anything from 12 to 36 months. You have to put in some work every, single day. Some days are great and filled with significant victories. And others are just a lot of hard work in the dark and in the rain – sometimes adding BOTH insult and injury. But what you put in, of yourself, your energy, and your attitude, is what you will get out of it. And, as much as you think that running is a solitary sport, anyone who has spent a quiet hour or two with another runner on the road, will know that it’s the camaraderie, the encouragement, the friends and family cheering you on the sidelines, that makes the experience so rewarding.
A great surprise to me has also been how it has brought something for me to share with my parents in my forties – I am not married, and have no children – so I don’t bond with my parents over grandchildren, like some other women have the great privilege of doing. But my parents love coming to my big races. My dad drove 160 kilometres right next to me when I ran the Washie – for 22 hours! And my mom walked all of the big hills with me, with my arm tucked into hers. It’s given us so many shared experiences and adventures.
Aside from the fact that my morning run creates a quiet space in which I wrestle through deal challenges, running teaches me humility, that nothing counts as much as constant effort, and that, no matter how hard you try, sometimes things just go wrong. It also teaches me that you and your ‘colleagues’ will carry each other with your actions and your words.
In many ways my work and running are very similar: When the deal goes wrong, and you have to go back to the drawing board, and you find a solution that works. When a run goes wrong, and you really just want to stop, but you dig deep, and you finish feeling that you overcame something bigger than just a bad day.
Advice to my younger self: “You can’t spend all your money on clothes, shoes and bags!”
Currently reading: ‘The rise of the Ultra Runners – A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance.’
Currently studying: All my EY learning!
Find me on:
EY.COM: Sandra Du Toit - Partner, Corporate Finance Africa Leader (ey.com)
LinkedIn: Sandra du Toit | LinkedIn
Mining Weekly/Engineering News Profile: Sandra du Toit (engineeringnews.co.za)
