Category: Columns

She dominated South African sprinting throughout the 80s, running world class times, winning national title after national title, and her SA records for 100m and 200m remain standing after more than two decades, making Evette De Klerk a true living legend of SA athletics
– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

In a grade one athletics day meet, Evette was on her way to sprinting glory when she tripped and fell, but she dusted herself off and still managed to cross the line fourth. A year later she was back and this time finished top of the podium, a step she would frequent for the next 25 years… “I specialised in the 100m and 200m sprints and when I was 10, I ran times on par with the world’s best juniors,” she says. “At 16, I scored my first national record and started running against the seniors, and at 17, I was a Springbok, training with the great Bessie Windell. She was a mother and mentor – and I needed her on my travels, because I didn’t know much back then!”

Evette also received great support from her school headmaster: “He said I should take the first four months of the year to concentrate on my running and even arranged exams to be shifted! In those days, everyone appreciated athletics more.” Another aspect of her career that she cherishes is the support she received from her family, and later husband Gous. “When I went to Cape Town for nationals, my parents would be on a train, and Gous was there for my records. Also, at SA’s and Nedbank prestige meetings, the athletes motivated each other. There was zero politics and every meet was packed with spectators. We were a family back then.”

UNTOUCHABLE
In April 1986 Evette ran 50.57 in the 400m for a new SA record, but that was eclipsed just nine days later by Myrtle Bothma. Her two other SA records have stood for a much a longer time! In April 1989 Evette posted 22.06 in the 200m, which has not been beaten in over 26 years, and was the second-fastest time in the world that year. Just over a year later she clocked 11.06 in the 100m, on the same day that she ran a wind-assisted 10.94 in an earlier heat. “It’s incredible that the records have lasted. Hennie Kotze, who was also part of Bessie’s group, showed me a photo of those runs a while back. There I was, barefoot and strapped – I only wore spikes when it was raining or the tartan was too hot.”

From 1982 to 1991, Evette claimed 10 straight SA titles in both the 100m and 200m, and in 1987 she added the 400m national title for a cleansweep of the women’s sprints, which prompted a telegram of congratulations from the State President. She added another two 400m titles in 1992 and 1993, but the early 90s also proved quite frustrating. With SA finally back on the international stage, Evette tore her Achilles and was left out of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic squad. “I wrote them telling them I will be right when the time came, but there was politics, even though I qualified for the 100m, 200m and 400m!” She did get to the African Champs in 1993, bringing home a bronze medal in the 200m, but in 1995 she retired. “I was sick for six months with a coxsackie virus, which turned into glandular fever, so I stopped at my peak, then got pregnant soon after I made my decision to leave.”

YES, COACH
Today, Evette (49) still trains three times a week to keep active, and her daughter is proving a very talented 400m runner as well, while her younger son is more a rugby player. She teaches Life Orientation and Physical Education at Duo Edu, a learner-disabled school in Pretoria, and coaches young athletes at Waterkloof High School and Queenswood Primary, having taken up coaching in 1997. “I love coaching, but I’m not just a coach, I want to find out what they’re feeling and thinking. Athletics has been my calling, and while there were ups and downs, you learn to keep on. But I think if I had the same opportunities that athletes have today, I’d have run under my records!”

He’s one of South Africa’s most iconic sportsmen, thanks to that glorious Rugby World Cup win on home soil in 1995, when Madiba handed him the trophy while wearing a replica Springbok jersey. Since retiring from rugby, former Bok captain Francois Pienaar has turned his talents to promoting sports events, including the recent Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, and through it all, he still finds time for a regular run.  – BY SEAN FALCONER

MA: Francois, you must be really excited with how things turned out with the new race in Cape Town.

It’s a dream come true. We worked very hard on this, and Janet Welham and her team did a magnificent job over the last year putting it together. When I met Elana Meyer, I said let’s do this, and we then engaged with Western Province Athletics and the City of Cape Town, and they were really open to the suggestion. We surpassed all our benchmarks, such as we wanted X amount of people to run the race, and that gives us a platform to build on, because in our dream the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon should be an international event. On the global scale, there are 10 million runners who run marathons each year, and we just need to give them an excuse to come run one in Cape Town.

MA: I believe you have a 10-year deal in place, so you must have a really long-term vision for the event?

That’s what we’ve done in sport in general. We’re involved in university sports with Varsity Sports and that’s also a 10-year relationship. These things take time to build and we need to invest heavily in the beginning to build it to a platform that can become sustainable. I have always asked myself why do we not have a top marathon in SA, and the only reason is that we haven’t promoted it properly and haven’t structured it properly, because if you look at running in South Africa, it’s the second-biggest sport by registered participant and the biggest from a social, getting fit perspective.

MA: You ran the 10km this year, but any plans to run the Cape Town Marathon yourself in the future? After all, you’ve run the London Marathon, and you looked fairly comfortable finishing the 2004 Two Oceans ultra in 6:37…

I was actually hoping to run the marathon myself this year, but I picked up a few injuries in my preparation. I started a bit late, and you know, I’m a big guy, I need a lot of time on the road. I also have to take cognisance that my knees are not as strong as they used to be… Marathons are not easy, but it’s something that people aspire to do, so it’s not that I will or won’t do it, it will just depend on what focus I have then.

MA: If you’ll forgive a personal question, are the problems with your knees due to rugby injuries catching up with you?

Yes, invariably these old rugby injuries do remind us that once we played quite a tough game, but I don’t complain – when we played the game we loved it. And my problems are not as bad as some other guys.

MA: You must have a very busy workload, what with all the ventures and activities you’re involved in, so how do you fit running into your schedule, and what’s an average run for you?

I call it a ‘strog,’ a combination of a stroll and a jog, and it varies from 5km to 10km. I try not to do more than 10km, and I try to pick up the speed in it rather than go further. I have to squeeze out some time in my diary for running, but it’s something that I actually needed to do, because I’d become lazy, in the sense that you can always neglect yourself and just focus on pressing issues. But I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to get fitter again, and I’ve actually lost 4kg since doing that, so watch this space.

How far will you go this week….

Entries for the 90th Comrades Marathon will close at month end or as soon as the cap of 23000 has been reached. The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that more than 14230 entries have already been received since the entry process opened on 1 September 2014.

This means that less than 9000 entries are available before the overall entry process closes at the end of November or as soon as the cap has been reached. Thereafter, no entries will be accepted so runners are urged to enter as soon as possible or risk missing out.
CMA Race Director, Rowyn James says, ‘The 90th Comrades Marathon is going to be a very special one for us and our runners. We urge our runners to be a part of next year’s event on Sunday, 31 May 2015.’

The cost to South African runners is R380. Runners from the Rest of Africa will be charged an entry fee of R600 while all other International athletes will pay R2000. The entry requirements, which are clearly indicated on the entry form, must be adhered to at all times.

Entries may be made as follows:
· online via the Comrades Marathon website: www.comrades.com;
· by posting the completed entry form with proof of payment to the CMA Office in Pietermaritzburg: P.O. Box 100621, Scottsville, 3209;
· by handing in the completed entry form together with payment at the CMA office in Pietermaritzburg: 18 Connaught Road, Scottsville.

Runners may enter the race before running a qualifying marathon (minimum qualifying distance of 42.2km run in under 5 hours) which must be run between 1 August 2014 and 3 May 2015. Please note that the 2014 Comrades Marathon will not be an automatic qualifier for the 2015 race. Qualifying details must be submitted to the CMA by 5 May 2015.

The 90th edition of the world’s biggest and oldest ultra-marathon will be an ‘up-run’, starting at the Durban City Hall and ending at the Oval Cricket Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
The Substitution window period will be from 1 – 21 April 2015.

Having competed on the world stage for more than a decade and brought home 20 major medals, long jump and triple-jump specialist Godfrey Khotso Mokoena has been in golden, record-breaking form in recent months, and once again has his sights set on Olympic glory in 2016.

– BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

Modern Athlete:It’s been quite the year for you, winning gold in the triple jump at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the African Champs in Marrakech, jumping a massive 17.35m to break your own SA triple jump record at the Continental Cup, and you also secured African Champs silver in the long jump. You seem to be in the groove…

Khotso:I’m going in the right direction! The last time I did well on the world stage was back in 2010, and last year at World Champs in Russia, I came seventh in the long jump finals, and struggled to get amongst the best. Then at the end of last year, I changed coaches and now work with Emmarie Fouche, and after nine years of giving triple jump a break, we thought we’d give it a shot. Now, everything is falling into place and we’re slowly building towards Rio 2016. It’s down to my willingness to work hard and I’ve brought my experience to training. Every time I go out now, it’s a new-look me.

Emmarie’s programme works for me. My body is able to accept it because it’s catered for me. It’s an all-round programme with running on the track, pool sessions, Pilates and strength work in the gym. Jumping in the pit only comes near the end part of a season, where you focus on technique. A lot of people don’t realise the importance of balancing your running and strength work. You can’t be too big, because you can’t extend your knees and your body posture and jump is affected.

MA:I believe you were originally a high jumper?

Khotso:Yes! I was pretty good at school, in between cross-country, running and shot put. I didn’t even try long jump back then. In 2001, I represented South Africa at the World Youth Champs, finishing fifth in the high jump. A year later, it was long jump, which was an easy transition for me, and in 2002 I broke the SA Youth Record. Triple jump was natural to turn to a year later, and the first time I competed, I broke the SA Junior Record, then added a World Junior Champs title in 2004.

MA:Did you feel like you had something to prove, having been off the triple jump scene for so long?

Khotso:Finding that spirit for big competition is something I wanted again. As an athlete, you have to stand up on the world stage and fight. Only that will elevate you to the next level. The public care about medals, but many don’t know how many hours go into getting ready to compete – for the Olympics, we work continuously for years for just two nights of competition.

MA: And you have to juggle this hard work with being a father to your one-year-old son. Does the support from family and friends make it easier?

Khotso:Since I began competing and travelling, my family have been there – win or lose, when there is any spare time, I’m playing daddy to my boy.

MA:Most importantly, can you grab a medal in 2016?

Khotso:Definitely! I’m not young anymore, but I’m still improving, so why not take that chance to get to the highest level?

New research indicates that the strength of your quads and hamstrings should be equal in order for you to increase your running economy, allowing

you to go further and faster. 

– BY SEAN FALCONER

Most training programmes recommend some gym work or cross-training for distance runners, to build power, improve balance between muscle groups, and perhaps reduce the chance of injury. Therefore, runners often do a lot of work on their legs in the gym, especially on their quadriceps, hoping that stronger muscles in their thighs will reduce the chances of knee injuries. However, most focus on the quads and neglect their hamstrings, and as a result, many runners have quads that are up to 40% stronger than their hamstrings. And this could be detrimental to their running, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

THE RIGHT RATIO

The study, titled Relationship Between Functional Hamstring-Quadriceps Ratios and Running Economy in Highly Trained and Recreational Female Runners, found that the highly trained runners, who were averaging about 100km a week in training, had a hamstring-to-quadriceps strength ratio of about 1:1, and significantly higher running economy than the recreational runners, who were doing around 30km a week. Interestingly, the less trained group were actually found to have stronger muscles, but lower running economy, whereas the highly trained runners had weaker muscles but a more balanced ratio of hammie to quad strength, and thus significantly better running economy.

The authors of the study point out that the two muscle groups should ideally work in conjunction with each other during running, so the quads lengthen when the hammies shorten, and vice-versa – and the two muscle groups work most efficiently together when their strength is about the same. As they wrote, “Running performance in long distance events may be related to greater hamstring muscle strength relative to quadriceps strength, and not to absolute muscle strength.”

WORK YOUR HAMMIES

Under Practical Applications, the authors give runners the following advice: “As running is basically a series of horizontal jumps requiring a strong and highly efficient extensor apparatus, we suggest that runners should aim to include hamstring muscle-strengthening exercises that imply horizontal motions. Runners should do exercises that imitate running while they add some resistance or overspeed element. For example, steep hill bouncing or running, fast downhill running, or horizontal bouncing manoeuvres such as repeated single-leg long jumps. These exercises should be combined with more specific strength training that targets the hamstrings.”

A terrific running-specific hamstring strengthening exercise is the hamstring hip lift: Lie on your back with your feet hip width apart and the soles of your feet on a small bench or step. Now push down into the bench with your feet, lifting your hips up high. You will feel your hamstrings working. Do not lift your shoulders or neck off the floor and keep your upper back flat down. Lower the hips back down until your bottom is just off the floor, then push down into the bench again to raise your hips. Do three sets of 15 repetitions, with 45 seconds of rest between sets. 

Once you can do 3 x 20 raises, progress to one-legged hamstring hip lifts on the bench. Start with 3 x 10 and build up to 3 x 20. After that, once you can do the one-leg lifts on the bench, progress to using the Swiss ball instead of the bench or step. Place two feet on the Swiss ball, as you did on the bench, and complete the exercise using the same technique. The instability of the ball automatically makes it harder. Build up to completing 3 x 20 reps of one-leg hamstring hip lifts on the Swiss ball.

If you’ve never used compression socks before and remain unconvinced about the benefits they could have for you, read on! – BY SEAN FALCONER

Not so very long ago, compression socks were unheard of in running circles, but when some elite athletes started running in them, notably women’s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, the craze soon spread. More elites started wearing them, despite the fact that they looked a bit funny, and nowadays you’ll see them on the track, in road running, trail running and triathlons, and even back of the pack runners are wearing the skin-tight, knee-length socks during runs, while still more are wearing them after a run as well.

Some runners believe that compression socks actually make them faster, but there is little physical evidence to back that up, whereas a growing body of research confirms that compression wear offers real physiological benefits, both during and after a run. Just as a massage applies pressure to reduce inflammation and soreness in muscles, similarly, when compression gear is worn for a few hours after a workout, it has been shown to measurably reduce swelling and fatigue.

Compression socks work by promoting bloodflow from the lower extremities using gradiated compression – in other words, the sock is tightest around your ankle and the rate of compression slowly decreases further up your calf. This promotes bloodflow back up to the heart, where it is oxygenated and cleaned, and then it can flow back to the tired muscles and help them recover faster. Thus wearing the socks after a run promotes faster healing, but wearing them during a run speeds this process up even more, and the added bonus is that the socks reduce the amount of micro-damage to your muscles by decreasing the amount of shock and movement in the muscle every time your foot lands. In other words, your muscles can’t ‘jiggle’ as much, so they don’t suffer as much damage. For that reason, wearing compression tights on your quads is also highly recommended for runners, especially if you often suffer from stiff quads after a long run.

NOT SO NEW

The science behind compression wear has actually been around from the middle of the 20th century, when doctors and physicians started using compression garments to treat patients who were recovering from surgery, fractures, arthritis, varicose veins and other conditions or procedures. Then somebody smart asked if it would work for sportsmen and women, and in 1987 the American Journal Of Physical Medicine published a study by two doctors called Michael J Berry and Robert G McMurray, which revealed that athletes wearing compression stockings recovered a lot faster than athletes not wearing compression stockings.

So today an Olympic athlete in his or her prime and a pensioner who just had surgery on his or her varicose veins both wear compression stockings for the same reason, to get the blood pumping and to aid recovery. Granted, sport compression gear is not the same as the compression wear doctors recommend after surgery, because some of the latter is so tight that it requires a prescription, for safety purposes, but the principle is the same.

So if you have not tried compression socks yet, you may want to think again. After all, most of us know the traditional acronym RICE when it comes to treating an injury: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. It’s been there all along, right in front of you, so go get the socks.