Running the show is her forté

A colourful and bubbly personality has helped Delaine Cools work her way through a number of jobs, from police reservist to welder.

Cools, 34, is the media officer for the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) - the official organising body for the annual ultra-marathon between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Cools worked as a radio journalist for the SABC prior to her current position. She has worked for the CMA for a year.

"I'm in my element. Obviously, you miss the fast-paced life of the newsroom. But I get to meet new people. Interacting with people is really my forté, so I am loving that," she said.

The Hillcrest resident, who travels to Pietermaritzburg daily, said it was fascinating to learn the history and traditions associated with the 90km marathon.

"When I was a young girl, my mother would wake us up early in the morning to watch the race. It became a family gathering, almost like Diwali and Christmas, so it was quite cool to come and work here," said Cools.

This year, she worked at her first marathon. "The most magical feeling was being at the start and it was my first. The adrenalin was pumping. There were 15000 runners waiting for 5.30am. I can't put it into words."

When they are not busy handling the logistics of the marathon, the CMA focused on its charity work.

Passionate about women's development and environmental awareness, Cools said she lived by the motivational words "Bring on anything".

After her school years, she worked as a public relations assistant for a welding company. Her interest in the trade was piqued and she qualified with a diploma in welding in 1998.

Cools, who is studying communications, also dabbled in fashion design, has an estate agent's certificate, worked as a police reservist for two years and is a trained yoga instructor.

"I'm up for just about any challenge. I have always been like that. If it's there to be done, we can do it," she said.

In 2004, she was named one of Cosmopolitan magazine's "Awesome Women" for promoting environmental sustainability, working in communities and helping make rural women aware of the need for planting trees.

"I got involved in greening townships with fruit trees. One of the townships was Newlands West and I'm still very much involved there," she said.

A naturalist who believes the earth can provide all she needs, Cools and her husband Kim made a decision not to own a television.

She said her time was better spent painting and "being in nature" by going on hiking trails or kayaking.

To add to her long list of jobs, Cools served as a communication consultant for suspended police chief Bheki Cele in 2009 when he was the KZN MEC for the Department of Community Safety and Liaison. She said he was "colourful".