Author: Modern Athlete

He’s just 20 and currently focusing on his studies, but Nicholas Quenet is already considered a star of South African triathlon, and it appears to be just a matter of time before this young man starts making a real name for himself on the world tri stage. – BY TRACEY FALCONER, WITH SEAN FALCONER

Clanwilliam obviously agrees with Nick Quenet. The 20-year-old Maties student has driven the 230-odd kays from Stellenbosch to the small northern Cape Town to participate in the Freshpak Fitness Festival triathlon the last four years, and every time he has come back with a podium position. In 2014 he finished fourth overall and first junior, then came home second overall in 2015, while his older sister Alexandra won the women’s race that year. Last year he went one better and took the men’s title, which he successfully defended this year, coming out of the water first and maintaining his lead through the bike leg, then blitzing the run for a dominant win. However, he admits he didn’t expect to win, and really thought the chasing pack would catch him on the bike leg. “Winning again was a surprise, because with my studies getting busier, I don’t have a huge amount of saddle training time available,” he says.

Currently in his second year at Stellenbosch University, studying towards a Bachelor of Accounting degree, Nick has made the decision to focus on his studies. When asked if he would consider putting his studies on the backburner, or even on hold, if offered a pro racing contract or more opportunities to compete overseas, Nick says that will have to wait. “I have thought about that, but I’ll stick to my degree! I’m definitely a numbers man and I don’t think one can operate in this country without a degree, so my aims are to get my degree and then do an Honours here at Maties, and then try to take triathlon to the next level.”

In fact, he already turned down an offer last year to race in Europe, but having just started his studies, says he couldn’t go. “It was sad to turn the offer down, but while I’m studying, I’m biding my time and focusing on the individual aspects of triathlon, doing running and biking races, and swimming galas, so I’m stronger when I graduate. Then I hope to base myself in Europe in the hopes of getting a contract with one of the French teams and race the grand prix’s. I’ve put my mind to it to work for four years – after that I can do what I want, and hopefully by then the triathlon doors will be open.”

Great Sporting Genes
Nick grew up in Worcester, where his family owns a pharmacy. Both he and Alexandra showed huge sporting talent in primary school, so when Nick was in Grade 8, the family moved temporarily to Stellenbosch, so that the kids could benefit from the more established school sports structures on offer in the town. “We lived here with my mom while we were in school, and my dad commuted regularly, but they are now both back in Worcester, while my sister and I still live here while we’re studying,” says Nick.

While at school, Nick focused on competitive swimming, while Alexandra focused on running, but about three years ago they both changed to triathlon. That was no surprise, really, given that their father was an elite triathlete in his younger days, racing in France in the early 80s and only just missing out on the World Champs in 1986 after falling off his bike and breaking his collarbone. “He later took up running, doing the Two Oceans Marathon, and is still doing trail runs, but these days it’s more about ticking things off his bucket list,” says Nick. “He really wants to go run the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in France.”

Of course, Nick’s swimming ability often gives him an upper hand in triathlon events. “I have the advantage of being able to lead from the start, and countless hours in the pool is now paying dividends, especially as there is so much technique involved in swimming. It’s an advantage not to have to learn how to swim, so I can just maintain my strongest discipline. I also did biathlon in school, so my running was already quite strong, but cycling was completely new to me. Still, I’ve achieved massive growth in a short space of time and am getting stronger, even though the training takes the longest, and I’ve also worked hard on my running this season. I did my first road running race at the Sanlam Cape Town 10km and clocked 31:40. I am pleased with my time, but still want to go faster, because if you look at the results on the world triathlon circuit, I believe it all comes down to the run, with the fastest racers all winning the foot race.”

Making His Name
While Nick is very understated about his success in triathlon, a quick look at his track record shows why he is already considered a star in the sport. In 2015 he won the Junior title at the SA Champs in Buffalo City, then added the African Champs junior title in Egypt a few months later. In 2016, he was second junior at the African Champs, then added a sixth place and an eighth place in ETU Junior European Cup events in Hungary and the Netherlands, but things didn’t go as well at the 2016 World Triathlon Grand Final in Mexico. “I got a bit of heat stroke due to the 100% humidity and did not finish the event, but getting to the World Champs is still one of the highlights of my tri career so far.”

Nick’s great results have also seen him pick up a few endorsement and product sponsorships, including one from Skechers shoes, and that, in turn, saw him get invited to Los Angeles earlier this year for the LA Marathon, which is sponsored by Skechers. “It was such an incredible experience! I actually started with the elite guys at the front, but stopped at the halfway mark, as planned, to avoid overdoing things at such a young age. But it was only once I stopped and saw 35,000 people coming past that I realised just how many people there were in the race! My dad ran the full marathon and we got to make a holiday out of the trip, including seeing the incredible Golden Gate Bridge. It was all just absolutely amazing.”

Future Goals
While his academics are his priority at the moment, Nick says he still makes time for some racing, with the Clanwilliam weekend being a must-do, as well as the Slanghoek Triathlon in November near his hometown, Worcester. “The races continue, so I do the academic work throughout the year to take the pressure of at the end of the year, and then it’s down to our holiday house in Hermanus to relax. It’s a brilliant place to keep training!” Then, looking ahead, he says he has a few goals for 2018 that he wants to chase down.

“If the SA Tri Champs are at sea level, I might have a crack at the Under-23 title, and then hopefully get to African Champs as well. Everyone says third year in my course gets harder, so I’ll have to see about Europe, if the opportunity comes up, and I’d also like to go after a 30-minute 10km, bring down my time for swimming 1.5km, and do a few cycling and track races.” Beyond that, he says his main aim will be the 2019 World Champs, and at the back of his mind are the 2022 Commonwealth Games. “I’ll see how those pan out and then plan the rest.”

The weight of expectation can sometimes weigh heavily, they say, especially when you put that expectation on yourself, as 400m hurdles star Wenda Nel has realised over the last year. – BY SEAN FALCONER

The 31-year-old Pretoria flyer finished a long 2017 track season in September feeling the same mixture of satisfaction and disappointment that she has had since the Olympics last year in Rio. That feeling was compounded by her World Champs experience this year, but she says she will get over it soon – and that bodes well for her chances at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Upward Trajectory
In 2015 Wenda ran a PB 54.37 in Beijing in May, then returned to the Chinese city in August for the World Champs and made her first global final, finishing seventh in 54.94. As a result, big things were expected of her in 2016 in Rio, especially after she won the gold medal in the African Champs in Durban with a 54.86 and had a great international season in Europe, with a season best of 54.47. However, at the Olympics she only got as far as the semi-final round, being eliminated after clocking 55.83.

“I walked away from Rio a bit disappointed. I was so focused and performance-driven, and really wanted to make the final, coming out of making the 2015 World Champs final, but I learnt so much. I think it brought me back to earth a bit, and made me realise it doesn’t just happen, that your focus, training, nutrition and sleeping pattern must all be on par to perform at the top meets. Therefore, at the beginning of this season I set specific goals, one of which was to make the final of the World Champs in London.”

Heartbreakingly Close
Once again, after a solid European season, including a season best of 54.58, Wenda went to the World Champs aiming to make the final, but once again she faced semi-final elimination. Sadly, her 55.70 was the tenth-fastest time of the round and thus she only just missed out on the final as one of the fastest semi-final losers – and that brought all the disappointment back again, but also more introspection and growth.

“To be honest, I am a bit disappointed with my 2017 season, because I didn’t make the final in London, but the more I analyse things, the more I realise it wasn’t all bad. I was competitive in the Diamond League and had some great races, but I just wasn’t consistent enough and struggled to get my timing just right. I tend to run a season best or a PB just before the big meets, but then can’t reproduce that at the major events. That is something I will be working on for the 2018 season… but Rio and London were still amazing experiences, especially Rio! It’s every athlete’s dream just to compete at the Olympics – but my goal had changed to compete in the final, not just compete, hence I felt disappointed.”

Talking Technicalities
Running the hurdles is an incredibly technical discipline, and Wenda says she is experimenting with her stride pattern to find the perfect mix that will eke out a vital second over 400 metres. “I have a race plan that I normally stick to, 16 strides to the first six hurdles, then 17 strides to the end, but I do experiment and change up the patterns. In my season best this year, I ran a race pattern I had not done before, because sometimes things happen in a race and you have to adapt. Now I am trying something new in preparation for next season, hoping to make myself sharper at the hurdles and allow for fewer strides.”

“I am shorter than many of the other hurdlers, so it’s not as easy to take longer and less strides between hurdles, but 15 strides are so much faster than 16, and my 16, especially later in the season, put me a little too ‘up’ on the hurdles, which means I need to brake a bit, then play catch-up. That’s why I want to change to 15 strides until hurdle three, then 16 to six, and 17 to the finish. I did that in 2015 and 2016 and it worked for me, but this time I may try it in the first race of the season instead of the third or fourth. Basically, I need to go faster to keep up for the first 200 metres, but without wasting energy.”

Looking ahead, Wenda says she is really excited about the 2018 season, given that the Commonwealth Games will be in April. “Normally we have SA Champs in April and we are working to peak then, so preparing for Australia will actually feel normal to us South Africans. I will also give the European circuit a go and will try to do a few Diamond Leagues again, plus we have African Champs, where I will hopefully qualify for Team Africa for the Continental Cup in the Czech Republic in September. So it will be another long season, but I’m looking forward to it!”

Just over a year ago, 40-year-old Johannesburg-based software developer Will Addison found himself in front of the mirror, and he didn’t like what he saw. That prompted him to take up running, and in just over a year he has lost 24 kilograms, run his first Comrades, and found a new lease on life. – BY SEAN FALCONER

The date 15 September sticks in Will’s memory. That was the day he saw the reflection of his round figure, then weighed himself and found he was 96kg, heavier than he had ever been. A father of two, Grace (18) and Dylan (15), Will attributes his weight-gain to a combination of factors. “I played a lot of soccer when I was younger and had done spinning at the gym to keep fit, but after coming out of a really bad divorce a few years ago, I got into terrible eating habits. I think life just got on top of me, with one thing after another, especially when Dylan left to go live with his mother in the UK.”

“When I looked in the mirror that day, I saw a man that had let himself go and realised I had to do something with my life, so I took a ‘before picture’ in the mirror and that same day I hit the gym for the first time in a very long time. I ran 2km on the treadmill that day and nearly passed out, but I persevered, and gradually upped my mileage till I was running 5km. In the meantime I cleaned up my diet – no more alcohol, and no more fast food. It was hard, but running made life better, and I came to love my daily run.”

Setting Goals
With his newfound love for running and having grown up watching the Comrades Marathon on TV, Will decided to make the big ultra his goal, but his fiancée Caryn Wilson, an experienced runner with two Comrades medals, told him he wouldn’t be able to run it just on treadmill training, and that he would need to hit the long road and increase his mileage substantially. “So about six weeks after starting running, I found a night run on a golf course and did my first ever 10km. I actually managed OK, so decided to go further. Then Caryn told me about the RAC Tough One 32km in November. I have never felt more sick and more pain in my life! I finished, but I had to lie down at the end, and I lay there wondering how people actually go further than this, let alone do the Comrades.”

Undaunted, Will continued training and went on to run his first marathon in January, at the Johnson Crane event, where he also qualified for Comrades. He followed that up with the Pick n Pay Marathon, Cape Gate Vaal Marathon, Old Mutual Om Die Dam 50km, and the RAC Long One 60km training run, and by then he had lost 22 kilograms in seven months. “I was really enjoying myself, and life just kept getting better!”

Mission Possible
And so June arrived and Will lined up for his first Comrades. “Honestly, it was the most daunting thing I had ever done, but I had my mentor Caryn running alongside me the whole way, just as she had been throughout my running journey. My aim was just to finish under 12 hours, but at 60km my body started shutting down, and from 70km it became really difficult. On Polly Shortts I saw runners collapsing and throwing up, and at the back of my mind I said I must just keep going. I felt that if I stopped, my legs would seize up and I would be done, so I just kept moving. We finished in 10:40, and I have to admit, I was in total disbelief that I had come so far in eight months. OK, I was completely dead afterwards, but I was so proud, because I had proven a lot of people who had doubted me wrong.”

With a hugely successful first year of running under his belt, Will is looking forward to 2018. “I’m entered again for the Comrades, and I also want to try other races, to see the scenery. I’m mixing running with strength training, because I want to chase my times – not so long ago running 55 minutes for 10km seemed an insurmountable challenge, but now I’m doing 53 minutes and feeling OK. I’m also quite happy with my current weight… I am now 72, so I have lost 24 kilograms in a year! You know, when this journey started, the first few weeks of training were incredibly difficult, but I never gave up, and I hope my story will motivate other people that anything is possible.”

After two freak injuries, Samantha Schoeman is incredibly lucky not to be permanently paralysed, or to have lost a leg, but both times she fought back to fitness, and even took up trail running along the way… in spite of what the doctors said. – BY SEAN FALCONER

It’s probably a bit of an understatement to describe 36-year-old Sam Schoeman as accident-prone… In 2009, while on holiday in Herold’s Bay, she slipped off a cliff, fell about two stories and landed on her back on the rocks below, and was then washed into the sea by the waves. After 10 minutes of being pummelled against the rocks, her boyfriend spotted her, dived in and rescued her. “At the hospital they said my back was just bruised, but a week later I was still in pain, and when they rechecked my X-rays, they found I had broken the transverse process off my L4 vertebrae. That’s the little wing on the bone where the ligaments attach,” says Sam. “Thankfully, after six weeks, the orthopaedic surgeon back in Pretoria said the bone fragment looked to be sorting itself out, so no operation, but by all accounts, I could have been paralysed!”

Having recovered, Sam went back to one of her greatest passions, riding horses, until a second freak accident. While training a young horse in 2012, she fell off and fractured her patella, and the doctor that cleaned the injured knee apparently missed some dirt in the wound. “A week later I was in hospital with potentially fatal gas gangrene, systemic septicaemia and some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. I had to have an emergency knee op, followed four months later by another op, and not a day goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars that my leg didn't need amputation!

Back on her Feet
To rebuild the strength in her knee, Sam started walking, and before long she was regularly doing 5km, but she saw everybody around her running and wanted to join in. “I hadn’t done any running at school due to asthma, but now I started, bit by bit, and fortunately my knee and lungs held up. Soon I was hooked and absolutely loving it, and in 2014 I decided to challenge myself with some short trail races. Then a friend jokingly challenged me to do the Otter Trail Run marathon in 2015, so I said I would if I could get in, even though my longest run up to that point was just 10km! But then I got in, and thought oh hell, what now?”

So Sam, who is the younger sister of Olympic swimming gold medallist Roland, ran the Bastille 28km down in the Cape, followed by the Crazy Store Magaliesberg Challenge 35km, and duly lined up for the Otter Marathon, but once again things didn’t go to plan. “That year’s race is now known as the ‘Snotter-Otter,’ because it rained non-stop, and they pulled all of us backmarkers off the course at the first checkpoint, just 8km in, because the route was getting flooded. I was livid at the time, because the entry was not cheap, and I had prepared myself mentally for running on the rocky coast, due to my fall in 2009, but I do understand it was a huge responsibility for the organisers.”

“After Otter, I needed another knee op, because I had developed osteochondrosis, where the cartilage in the knee peels away, and before the op, the doctor warned me that I may not be able to run again. He added that even if the op went well, I would likely need a knee replacement in my 40s if I kept on running, but I told him I’m going to need a replacement anyway, so why stop doing something that I enjoy, and he said OK.”

No Holding Back
In the meantime, Sam started a new business, BabaGrub, which makes home-made meals for babies and toddlers, and she’s currently getting a new venture going, The Grub Hub, to make prepared meals for athletes. “I do everything myself – the cooking, packaging and delivery – and I’m hoping to bring in a partner soon to grow it.” Earlier this year she also returned to running after more than a year out of action, but experienced chronic pain when she increased her mileage. “The physio said my muscles and joints were seizing up because my stabilising muscles had atrophied, so I am still busy with a rehab programme, because I want to get back to running crazy races.”

“Next year I really want to do the Isimangaliso Trail in St Lucia on the KZN North Coast, and hopefully in 2019 I will go back and avenge my Otter run, because it’s the only race I have not finished! But I am just grateful to have my leg, to be relatively pain-free, and to be able to run and do things the doctors told me I would never be able to do! Whatever the future holds, I know that I am so much stronger than I ever thought I was.”

With personal best times of 1:47.74 for the 800m, 3:59.29 for the mile, the SA national record for 5000m at 13:04.88 and 27:41.30 for the 10,000m, coupled with road PBs of 28:18 for 10km and 1:01:09 for the half marathon, Elroy Gelant is one of the most versatile distance athletes in SA, and though he recently made his marathon debut, he still has his eyes firmly fixed on the track. – BY REGGIE HUFKIE

In 2016, Elroy made the men's 5000m final at the Olympic Games in Rio, clinched a silver medal in the 10,000m at the CAA African Championships in Durban, and set a new South African 5000m record along the way when he clocked 13:04.88 in the Netherlands. It was a brilliant year on the track for the Potchefstroom-based athlete. Then at the 2017 SA Champs in his current hometown, the 31-year-old started the 5000m too fast and hit the wall with 2000m to go, but held on through sheer determination for the silver medal, and came back the very next day to win the 10,000m national title.

Unfortunately, he did not quite do enough to qualify for the 2017 IAAF Track and Field World Championships, but that disappointment was tempered not only by his continued success on the track, but also his success on the road. This year has also seen him take home another silver medal at the South African Half Marathon Championships, clocking a blisteringly fast 1:01:30, and he ran an equally fast 28:16 solo effort for 10km in Cape Town, which until recently was the fastest time in SA for the year. Then he made the big move – one he has been talking about for a while now – and stepped up the marathon for the first time, at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in September.

Going Long…
“Last year I was a pacemaker at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, so this year I decided it's the perfect time to make my full debut. After making the decision, I was totally excited to train for it,” says Elroy, whose 1:01:10 half marathon PB, set in 2014, and a 2017 best of 1:01:30, pointed to him being able to post a really fast marathon time. He ran just behind the leaders until the 30km mark, then tried to close the gap, but found himself running alone for the last 5km and ended up slowing down a bit, eventually finishing in 2:12:49, earning him fifth place overall and first South African over the line, but falling a bit short of his own high expectations.

“My goal was to go beyond my limits and I was looking for a 2:09 or 2:10 debut marathon time, but those last 5km were extremely difficult. I needed to believe I could achieve what I had set out for the race, but I can definitely use these opportunities to learn and prepare for future global marathons, and I am very positive to one day run a good time in Europe.”

However, having said before the race that he hoped to use it as a stepping stone towards qualifying for the marathon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, in a somewhat surprising move, soon after the marathon Elroy said he is putting the marathon on hold – for now – because he still has goals to chase on the track. “This is a very brief outline of my main goals for the next few years. In 2018 I’m going to attempt to break the South African 5000m, 10,000m and 10km records, and my goal is to finish in the top three at the Commonwealth Games. In 2019 I’ll again be attempting the 5000m and 10,000m records, but I will also be targeting a sub-2:08 qualification marathon, and in 2020 my main goal will be a podium position in marathon at the Tokyo Olympics.”

The Challenge
Away from athletics, Gelant enjoys spending time at his family home in Pacaltsdorp, on the outskirts of George in the Southern Cape, where he was taught the importance of living a purpose-driven life. “What keeps me motivated is the belief that God provided me with a talent, and I want to live out that talent fully by giving my best in each race I participate in. Every time I compete, I run against not only the other guys, but also myself and my own ability. It's the best feeling to know that I gave my best on the day, and all of my failures in athletics just serve as extra motivation. Winning medals or championships is only a bonus for me; it's all about my God-given talent and the happiness that comes with it.”

If there is one runner likely to agree with the old saying that “life begins at 40,” it is Ulrica Stander, especially given the amazingly successful year the 43-year-old Capetonian has enjoyed on the road after moving up to the marathon distance and beyond. – BY SEAN FALCONER

After seeing her running take a major dip in 2015 due to long working hours on top of raising two kids, 2016 saw Ulrica return to the type of form that had given her personal bests of 35:25 for 10km and 1:17:34 in the half marathon. She won the Peninsula Half Marathon and claimed the series title in the veteran category of the Spar Women’s Grand Prix, and along the way she was recruited by the KPMG Running Club, and signed up with a new coach in Lindsey Parry. That saw her decide to make her marathon and ultra debut in 2017, and the podium positions have come thick and fast since.

It started with a third position in the NutriBullet Bay to Bay 30km in January, where she was also first veteran over the line in 2:02:35 as she went beyond 21km for the first time. After running the Red Hill 36km as a training run, she then won the Peninsula Marathon in February, posting 2:58:45 on debut to take both the overall and veteran titles. Two months later she stepped things up at the Old Mutual Two Oceans 56km, clocking 4:02:45 and claiming an incredible sixth place (and second veteran) in her ultra debut.

“I was actually very grateful for my performance at Two Oceans, because my training was a bit up and down, and I felt I hadn’t been able to focus properly. I went out with the four-hour bus, then at 23km pushed on a bit with my clubmate Renier Grobler and a guy from Boksburg, but I went through the marathon mark feeling a bit tired. They say Oceans only really starts there at the bottom of Constantia Nek, so I had to dig deep to stay positive when the sub-four bus went past me. What kept me going was the incredible energy of the crowds lining the route, and I remember smiling all the way down the home straight as I came in. It really was a privilege to run such a wonderful race.”

Then in September Ulrica lined up for her second standard marathon at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, and in spite of severe stomach issues, improved her PB to 2:54:09 as she finished 14th and once again claimed top spot in the veteran category, added the Western Province Champs title for good measure, and posted the fastest marathon time by an SA veteran woman in 2017. “I was aiming for 2:50, but I think the gel I took at 25km reacted with my stomach and I struggled for the rest of the race. I was still ecstatic with my time and position, but I know I can go faster.”

Natural High-Flyer
Ulrica was born in Pretoria, the youngest of three kids in a close family, and showed a passion for health and fitness from an early age. She started running competitively in high school, focusing on middle distances on the track as well as doing cross country, and soon earned provincial colours in both disciplines. She then attended university in Stellenbosch, choosing to go there because her brother was already studying there, and did a B.Sc. with Human Movement Science, majoring in physiology. While at Maties, she took up triathlon and soon made a name for herself, making the SA training squad for the 1996 Olympics, but unfortunately missed out on the final team selection. She did still represent SA, at the Triathlon World Champs in the USA, and still lists triathlon as one of her favourite sports.

After varsity, Ulrica began working in the pharmaceutical industry, first as a rep and later in a marketing role, doing so well over the years that her current position as Product Specialist in Marketing for Pathcare’s Histology and Cytology departments was specially created for her. Along the way she got married and had two kids, Liam (now 13) and Mila (10), and Ulrica is obviously proud of her two achievers, who both recently won their inter-house cross-triathlon events at school.

“Liam has Western Province colours in rugby and biathlon, captains the swimming and athletics teams, and is head boy at Kenridge, while Mila won the Vicrix Ludorum at the school athletics meet after winning the long jump, both sprints and the 1200m, and she also has provincial colours in biathlon and biathle. We actually all went to the SA Biathlon Champs together and it was lekker to compete alongside my kiddies. Mila finished fourth in the biathle and was chosen to go to Spain for the World Champs, but we decided she was still a bit too young for such a trip. So, we’ve told her she can go in two years’ time.”

Following Her Dreams
On top of family, work and running commitments, Ulrica still finds the time and energy to do even more, including co-chairing her own charity, the Radiance Foundation! A few years back, her long-time friend Madeleine Pretorius entered her in the Mrs South Africa competition and Ulrica made the initial group selection. Part of the criteria for final selection was charity work, but with her marriage of 12 years coming to an end, she decided to withdraw. “The organiser offered me more time, and invited me to enter again the following year, but I felt I had to turn her down. Still, that led to a new dream of a charity to help people, and when Maddie’s friend, ophthalmologist Dr Junet van der Merwe, told us there is a huge need for cataract operations, we decided to do something about it. We started fund-raising two years ago and we’ve already funded 180 operations here in the Western Cape.

Another thing Ulrica would like to pursue more of is TV presenting. In 2012 and 2013 she was sponsored by USN and became one of their health and fitness ambassadors, which led to her appearing on the Espresso Show. “I want to inspire everyone to be the best they can possibly be, and to do it on such a platform, alongside those brilliant presenters, was amazing. The most fun was doing ‘home invasions’ and going through people’s cupboards to suggest healthier nutritional options, and it was so obvious when some people were hiding the bad stuff!”

Getting back to running, she says her list of upcoming races includes the BlueBoost Winelands Half Marathon this November, followed by the same Bay to Bay, Red Hill, Peninsula and Two Oceans programme as in 2017, and after that, perhaps Comrades, too. “Lindsey said at the beginning of this year, perhaps I can run Comrades in 2018 as a training run, then race it 2019, but my focus is on Oceans and I’m hoping for a podium finish. Because of my age, the longer the distance, the more I feel I can compete with the elites, and work-wise and family-wise, I’m now set-up to be able to focus on my running, so my goal is to give it 100% and see where it takes me.”

Although he is still just 22 years old, Thabang Mosiako is quickly making a name for himself by taking on and beating the ‘big guns’ on the South African distance running scene, and he has some notable wins under his belt from the 2017 season, including an SA title. – BY REGGIE HUFKIE

This has been quite some year for North West Province-based Thabang. It started in January at the always hotly contested Dis-Chem Half Marathon in Johannesburg, where he cruised to a 1:05:53 victory, beating off the fierce competition of Desmond Mokgobu and Lucky Mohale to claim top spot on the podium. Then in April he lined up in the men’s 5000m final at the SA Senior Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom, in a field containing two SA record holders, Elroy Gelant (5000m) and Stephen Mokoka (10,000m), and once again claimed line honours.

Unsurprisingly, that 5000m final enjoyed a blisteringly fast start, with Elroy leading the pack through 3000m in 8 minutes 15 seconds. Meanwhile, Thabang had worked his way through the field and found himself in third position as the bell sounded for the last lap, but the gap to Stephen and Elroy now seemed too big. However, summoning up every last ounce of speed, he somehow reeled in first Stephen, and had the spectators on their feet as he caught and passed Elroy with 30 metres to go to be crowned SA 5000m Champion.

Glory in Jozi
Thabang then added a third big title in September when he outran the SA 10km Record Holder Stephen to win the FNB Joburg 10K CityRun, and says it meant a lot to beat his role model: “Stephen is the man who makes me go train every time, because I want be strong like him.” In the race, David Manja set the early pace, passing the 3km mark in 8:32 with 20 runners hot on his heels. As they approached the big descent past Ellis Park hill at the 4km mark, Thabang surged to the front and broke the leading group up, with only Stephen and Lucky Mohale able to go with him.

The trio went through halfway in 14:49 before Stephen opened a 20m gap, but at 7km Thabang was back with him, and at the top of the Constitution Hill climb, with 2km to go, the youngster took control of the race. He went on the win in 29:51, with Stephen taking second 25 seconds later and Gladwin Mzazi coming through for third. Afterwards, he said, “This victory means a lot to me because this is not simply a win… I was working very hard to be in the top three, but I saw myself beating this strong man, Stephen, on the last hill before 8km. Jozi is a very difficult place to run in, and it has many hills, so for me to run 29:51 is a great achievement.”

Late Bloomer
What makes Thabang’s success at 22 all the more impressive is that he only discovered his running talent late in high school. “My coach, Spring Phakate, introduced me to athletics in 2011, and in 2012 in Rustenburg at the South African Schools Cross Country Championships, I got position two in the under-17 boys’ 6km,” says the Human Resource Development student, who clearly has his eyes fixed on still bigger achievements in running. “My long term goal is to bring home a medal for my country from the Olympic Games, and short term, well, I want to be fit and strong for any race, but I don’t just want to be strong, I want to be in the top three. On the track, I am focused on the 5000m, but my favourite race is the 10km on the road, and that is where I see myself dominating.”

In order to achieve that, the young man is hard at work in training with the rest of the Spring Training Group, as it is known, under coach Spring Phakate, and it helps that he is surrounded by serious racing pedigree to push him to new heights. The group includes FISU World Student Games Steeplechase champion Rantso Mokopane, Southern Region Half Marathon champion Joel Mmone, former South African junior 5000m champion Xaba Mavusa, and steeplechaser Dikotsi Lekopa, who was part of the SA team for the IAAF World Champs in 2015.

But striving towards success on and off the field, like his training partners, mans that Thabang enjoys a packed daily schedule. “There’s only hard work at training, and we do two sessions most days. In the morning I go for my early run and after that I am on my way to class. After class it’s training again, and if I do not have a session, I just watch athletics videos so that I can learn more.” Judging by his results this year, he’s clearly watching the right videos!