Category: Features

With a World Championship title to his name, Michael Lord has the triathlon world at his feet, but this well-grounded young man still has his sights firmly set on his studies and making sure he uses his time effectively in between all his sporting activities. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Maties first-year geology student Michael Lord went to Sardinia, Italy for the ITU Cross Triathlon World Champs at the end of September with a point to prove. Having finished second in the junior elite category at the previous World Champs in Zittau, Germany in 2014, the 19-year-old wanted to win the title in his last year as a junior, but he says he went into the event feeling relaxed. “I wasn’t nervous on race day, because you can only do as well as you can. Also, I had spent a week in Sardinia acclimatising and learning the course, so I knew all the lines and knew I could make up time on the bike, even against faster riders.”

Racing in good weather conditions, Michael came out of the 750m swim in fourth position, just a few seconds behind the leaders, and was first out of transition. On the 19km bike leg he soon began to open a gap on the chasing athletes, especially when the leading juniors caught up to the backmarkers in the elite women’s race – then Michael says his strategy was to put as many of the women as he could between him and the chasers. In the 6km run leg, he had a lead of a minute, which he maintained right to the end, although he gave up 40 seconds when he missed the entry into the finish straight and had to walk back to find it. Then, having claimed a World Champs title and celebrated standing on top of the podium, he hit the books again – because he had a big chemistry test the Monday evening after he got back to Stellenbosch!

“Man, that test was rough – I wrote for over two hours, and I think I did enough to pass. Studying while competing overseas is not easy, but I still managed to get some done while I was in Italy. I find the pure maths and physics the most challenging of my B.Sc Earth Sciences subjects, but I passed everything in the first semester, so I just want to pass everything in the second semester, because next year I won’t have either subject any more.”

The young man’s attraction to geology stems from his father, who also worked as a geologist. “He told me stories of travelling a lot thanks to work, which appeals to me, like taking various survey trips into African countries for weeks at a time, plus work opportunities in the field are generally good. However, with the Chinese economy currently down, geologists are suddenly struggling for work for the first time, since China buys much of South Africa’s mineral resources. Hopefully that will have changed by the time I start working, and that may also affect my decision which area to specialise in.”

Promising Young Years
Michael grew up in a sporty family based in Somerset West that used to regularly go for hikes and mountain bike rides together. He began doing triathlons and duathlons at the age of eight, and won his first SA Junior title at the age of nine. “I remember my first triathlon at the Coetzenberg Dam here in Stellenbosch, and I have been doing the sport ever since,” says Michael. “Back when I started the Western Province had a very strong group of juniors that were well looked after by Tony Bradford, and we used to dominate the podiums at SA Champs. I still love the sport and the lifestyle.”

In primary school Michael did cross-country and swimming, and then in high school at Paul Roos Gymnasium he played hockey and waterpolo, rode for the school’s talented mountain biking squad and sometimes did athletics – and sang in the choir – but triathlon remained his focus. Meanwhile, his younger sister Megan also got into triathlon, but is now focused on hockey, having made the Boland Schools’ team, and dad Kim’s provincial squash team won the 2015 SA Squash Champs title in the 40-44 age category, despite only having one player in that age bracket and all the others being much older – so Michael comes from talented sporting genes.

Preference for Trails
Having enjoyed much success as a junior in road tri’s, Michael says he much prefers the off-road events these days. “I find the road events a bit boring, especially the biking legs. Mountain biking is always more interesting, especially for that ‘X factor’ up in the mountains, and there are also far less spectators, so you have to motivate yourself. Besides the challenge, scenery and enjoyment, there is more of a mental aspect to it as well.”

Unsurprisingly, Michael says his favourite event on the calendar is the two-day Fedhealth XTERRA Grabouw, the off-road tri in February that not only serves as the SA XTERRA Champs, but also as the African qualifier for the Cross Tri World Champs. This year Michael won the XTERRA Lite overall for the third time on the Saturday, also taking the 15-19 age category as he crossed the line just over two minutes clear of the next athlete. Then the following day he also raced the XTERRA Full, this time going in the 20-24 category because there is no junior category for the longer event, and not only came home 14th overall in the men’s race, but also first in the 20-24 age category, although he almost didn’t finish the race…

“It was not an important race for me, as my focus had been on the Lite the previous day, and I actually only did the Full so that I could check out the mountain bike leg. So when I got a flat tyre near the end and had to run the last 2km pushing my bike, I was ready to call it a day, but when I got to transition they told me I was still right up with the top 10, so I decided to run,” says Michael. “Out of all the triathlons that I’ve taken part in over the past 11 years, the XTERRA Grabouw is the best route and the best organised triathlon by far, and we could easily hold the World Champs there. The run route is amazing – I was just smiling the whole race!”

Grounded Attitude
What is surprising is that Michael does not specifically want to pursue a professional career in triathlon, in spite of his long track record of success in the sport and his recent World Championship title. “I would like to travel and race on the international circuit for one year after varsity, to see how well I can do, but I’m not planning to go pro. To do that you have to find sponsors to pay for you. I’m very fortunate right now to be sponsored or supported by Jeep Team, Silverback Cycles, Torq Nutrition, XTERRA Wetsuits and Mason’s Bike Inn, and they’ve all been very good to me, but finding sponsors for a pro career is very hard.”

“Still, if somebody does offer to pay me to race, why not, I would consider it, knowing I have a decent degree to come back to afterwards – but I would have to find something to do at the same time, because you have so much free time. I can’t just lie around in between training sessions and races, I would need to run a business or do something to pay my way. That’s why it is working for me now while I study, because I train early in the morning, then go to class or study… although sometimes I am too tired to study. But I can’t just lie around.”

Racing Plans
With a number of years of university still ahead of him, Michael says he will continue racing triathlons and other multi-sport events, but from next year he will no longer be able to compete as a junior. “This was my last year in the under-19 category and next year I will be in the under-23s, but I am keen to see how I go in Grabouw, not just in my age category, but also against the elites. The nice thing for me is that while they’re always under pressure to perform, I won’t be, so I can just enjoy my race – and I will continue to give thanks to Our Lord for giving me this ability. One of the main benefits of this kind of exposure is being able to witness a bit.”

After suffering the sudden loss of my husband, it was my running family that got me back on my feet. – BY IRENE VAN ROOYEN

I started doing long distance running about 22 years ago and had the support of my wonderful husband Andre all those years. He never complained about the early mornings to take me to races or drop me off at gym, not even talking about the money spent going all over to do the different races. Unfortunately everything changed two years ago, coming back from doing the 2013 Wally Hayward Marathon, when he suffered a major heart attack and died in my arms.

Months passed by and I couldn't get myself back on the road, but thanks to two of my fellow runners, I was eventually convinced to do the Old Eds 21km later that same year. Entering the finish, I couldn't lift my head, knowing that there was no-one waiting for me at the line, but then all the people that knew started clapping and calling my name, running with me to the finish and crying with me. Thanks to my running family, I could face the rest of the day.

Not Ready Yet…
But it was all too emotional for me and I didn't go back out on the road until I went on holiday in George in December and ran a 10km race in Mossel Bay. It was a race on the beach, 5km out and back, and when I reached the 7km mark, I decided to take off my running shoes and take a dive in the sea. Something wonderful happened at that exact moment – I think God chose that time for me to see the beauty of life, because I was surrounded by colourful fish, and I could feel that some healing took place.

Coming back from George on the 6th of January, I opened my laptop and pre-entered most of the races I had run before, and I re-entered the Comrades Marathon, having skipped the 2013 run. I also decided to do all my races in memory of Andre, including the Wally Hayward Marathon, and I eventually ran seven half marathons, two 32km, four marathons and three ultras before the Comrades.

I didn't finish the Comrades in 2012 when he went with me, but I did last year, in 11:30:42, and had my best Comrades ever… not in terms of time, but the way I felt. And it is thanks to the support that my running family gave me, and still does, that I'm back full-time on the road and enjoying every minute spent running, knowing he is next to me.

The comments about our #RunClean campaign to clean up the litter problem in our races keep coming in, so we know we have struck the right note with the running community. – COMPILED BY SEAN FALCONER
 

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More Feedback from Readers

David Haefele: Did you see the marker board that says “No rubbish after this point?” If you didn’t, then open your eyes.
Donovan Gould: I am embarrassed as a runner by litterbugs… my planet is not your dustbin!
Alison Smith: I called a runner out on throwing a sachet into the bushes during a race. He turned around and gave me a thousand words, telling me that the person who picked up the kilometre board would get it… not that it was close to the board. He clearly has no conscience, which makes the problem a lot bigger than we may think. So sad.
Ally Lewis: It is about changing runners' mindsets. We need to embark on an aggressive campaign to stop this. I think people should be fined – if they can't take responsibility for their litter, they must pay the price. I run with mine tucked into my running vest until I pass a bin. If we can carry GU and phones and other paraphernalia, what's a sachet of plastic? Perhaps include a block on entry forms that runners must tick, committing themselves to running clean?
Martin Bongers: If all races commit to having at least one bin per kilometre marker, then a runner will only have to carry an empty sachet for a maximum of one kilometre. Not all runners have shorts with pockets, so let's make it easier for all our runners to comply by asking all races to adhere to a frequent bin policy.
Tracey Ann Ranson Jones: Unfortunately most sachets don't make the bins even when they are plentiful…
Teresa Morris: Agreed, put more litter boxes between water points, not just at the water tables, because not everybody drinks the water straight away.
Leon Visser: I ran the tough Satori Camel Run 16km for the first time this year and it was a prerequisite to bring your own water. I thought, how are those without hydration packs going to survive. Well, we all did – and no littered sachets, no mess, no clean-up! At 8km there was a refill water tank, and I was thinking, why not start doing this on all 5km fun runs and 10km runs? Do we really need that much liquid on a 10km run, because I'm sure a water bottle will be enough to carry you through.

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Letter to the Editor: We Need a RunClean Badge
It is a great article in the July issue of your magazine about us runners littering and expecting others to clean up. Being on my club committee, I would like to suggest that we as Vaal Athletic Club become active in this campaign, #RunClean. I cannot agree more that we need to address this issue very seriously, or we might lose the privilege to even run Chapman’s Peak. Once you have manned a water table and done the clean-up job, then you realise the effort it takes.

Do you perhaps envisage this as a slogan badge or something that can be sown on the running vest for others to see? I was thinking it must be visible advertising, and by having it on the vest or shorts, it will be seen by other runners. I just hope that they will then comply! – Roelof van Wyk, Vaal Athletic Club

Great idea, Roelof, and something we are already talking about here at Modern Athlete, in order to take this campaign to the next level. – Ed.

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We would love to hear from you about your efforts to #RunClean, so send your letters, photographs or ideas to [email protected].

Think before you throw – #RunClean

If Cornel Fredericks should line up in his starting blocks for the 400-hurdles final at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, it would be due to three words, namely: patience, persistence and resilience.

The 2014 Commonwealth Champion departed for England on Sunday (18 October) to start training in all earnest for next year’s Games. According to Fredericks not a day goes by without him thinking about these words, wondering how he can put them into practice. He realizes that if he manages to do so he will have a good chance of qualifying for the Olympic final. And, as he says, in the final anything can happen.

2015 was without doubt an extremely frustrating year for the Tuks/HPC athlete. It all began when problems with his Achilles heel prevented him from training properly. Another frustration was that there was uncertainty about who would coach him.

To cut to the chase, Fredericks had only a couple of opportunities to race during the entire season. His best performance was in Madrid in July where he finished fourth in 49.50s. This was good enough for him to qualify for the World Championships in Beijing but he did not compete in spite of being selected.

This was in sharp contrast with 2014 when Fredericks could seemingly do nothing wrong. In 13 races he only failed once to finish in the top three (finishing fourth) and was victorious on seven occasions. He won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the African Athletics Championships and the Continental Cup meeting. To top it all he finished third in the 400-hurdles Diamond League standings.

Fredericks admits that he went slightly off the rails because of his severe frustration.

“There were times when I was still out and about in the early mornings. I wandered about aimlessly, not really caring about anything. I began to eat all sorts of junk food because I could not see any reason why I should stick to a healthy diet if I am not able to race. I tended to do some other irrational things as well. In short I was really down and out. Luckily I have wonderful friends and family who really cared, especially my mom, Maureen. They made me realize that I have unfinished business on the track and that it would be foolhardy of me just to let go of my dreams and goals.

“I also had time to think during my five week holiday in Caledon and I came to the conclusion that I still have the hunger to become one of the best 400-hurdlers in the world.”

There was much speculation about why Fredericks did not compete at the World Championships in Beijing. Some of the rumours were quite upsetting to him, especially when it was hinted that he simply stayed away.

“There is nothing more special to me than representing South Africa at a major championship. When I do, it is important to me to do my utmost to win a medal for South Africa. That is why it hurt when it was said that I deliberately chose not to run in Beijing. Nothing could be further from the truth. As luck would have it I picked up a small hamstring tear. It was nothing serious but given my experience with previous injuries I decided the risk of racing was just too great. I was certainly not able to run flat-out and I really did not want to end up having to do another three months of rehabilitation. That is why I withdrew from the World Championships.”

The Tuks/HPC athlete becomes quite excited when he talks about going back to England to train under the guidance of Malcolm Arnold. Arnold is the national event coach for hurdles and a senior performance coach for UK Athletics. He has attended every Olympic Games since Mexico City in 1968 (12 in all) as a coach of National Teams. He has also been responsible for coaching athletes to win more than 70 major medals over 46 years.

“Malcolm is a strict coach who does not hesitate to call a spade a spade if he thinks it will help his athletes to excel.”

When asked if he would be prepared to represent South Africa in the 4×400-hurdles relay at the Games, Fredericks’s face lit up before he answered: “Yes, definitely.”

“I think it would be exciting to run the 4×400 relay. You only need three good 400m athletes because Wayde van Niekerk (400m world champion) will do the rest. I think South Africa will be able to win a medal in the relay, but I need to know by March whether or not I would be expected to take part. It is one thing to run a 400-hurdles race, but something quite different to run a flat 400 metres.”

He wishes to remain anonymous, so this is a slightly different article to the norm here in Modern Athlete, but the story behind Twitter’s @theAngryKenyan is just too good not to share. – EDITED BY SEAN FALCONER

The first time I heard about the Angry Kenyan a few years ago, I was not on Twitter yet and had no idea who or what the hype was all about. I actually thought there was some guy originally from Kenya who was angry about life – or perhaps just about his running prospects – and having a rant on Twitter. What I subsequently found out was that the Angry Kenyan is actually an incredibly inspirational and humorous guy, not angry at all, and when I finally got to meet him a few years later during the Comrades Marathon, I saw exactly how positive and upbeat he really is. However, I didn’t know what was behind his Twitter handle until he recently sent me an explanation, which I have decided to share with you here in the mag, so you too can share in his incredible passion. – Ed.

The Kenyan Movement
By @theAngryKenyan

I haven’t been a runner for very long. In fact I only did my first ‘big run,’ the Dis-Chem 21km, in January 2012. I always said I wasn’t a runner, but after giving up on cycling as it just wasn’t safe anymore, I found I actually quite enjoyed running, and it was way easier to run – you just needed some good running shoes and a piece of road and you were away.

Saw the Sign
It was on the route of that Dis-Chem run, somewhere around the 15km mark, that I saw a little guy at the side of the road holding up a sign that said, “Run like an angry Kenyan.” It made me smile the whole way to the finish! As everyone knows, Kenyans can really run, so can you imagine an angry one? Now, I had been thinking about joining the social media circles, but not being a big FaceBook fan, I decided it was going to have to be Twitter, and when it came to a name for my profile, this name, and the emotions it brought to mind, was an obvious choice.

I didn’t want to be one of those people who tweeted about “I’m having coffee with John today…” or “What do you think of my outfit…” No, I wanted to use this as a platform to encourage and motivate other runners, especially novices like me. I created a little hype, as no-one knew who this Angry Kenyan was, which is what I wanted. I wanted to stay anonymous, be that person who inspired from afar. I wanted the Kenyan Movement to be about the people in it, not me.

Baby Steps
It started off slowly as I tweeted daily motivational pictures and sayings, and even went through a stage where I posted the ‘Exercise of the Day’ – I’m currently a personal trainer, so sharing this knowledge, as well as my running stuff, came easily to me. I called it the Kenyan Movement, mainly because of my profile name, but also because I was hoping it would take off and become something people wanted to be a part of. I also created the hashtag #runwithpassion and added it to my Tweets wherever I could, because I wanted people to share experiences, knowledge and encouragement for other runners, and to simply create a group of people who were passionate about running. I never expected it to become what it has, with a little over 1000 followers worldwide in just over three years, from novice runners to pro athletes. Now I continue to send out motivations and touch base with as many runners as I can, creating a bond and sharing with all who have joined.

I took on the Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon and the Comrades Marathon in 2013, as a novice, having only been running for a year and a half, and tweeted my entire journey. I ran for charity on both runs and loved being part of giving back to someone or something else, and still managing to be anonymous… to a point. Last year I was set to go back down to Cape Town to do the Two Oceans again and there was no getting away from meeting runners who had been following me for over a year. I met with nine complete strangers, all runners from Cape Town, who had come together to meet me. I was so humbled and absolutely blown away that I had made such an impact on complete strangers. It meant that everything I had tried to do had worked. I was getting people to share running and their passion for it!

I also met Stephanie Schultzen from Two Oceans and Bronwyn Freeman from Comrades and it became clear that the Kenyan Movement was making a difference in peoples’ lives, and not just for running, but also helping people to be more positive about who they are, about their place in this world. I get emotional just thinking about it, because I am just me – a nobody, really – and yet I have made this impact on people from Dubai to Kent to Kimberely, and even some followers in Kenya!

At Comrades last year – I went back for the Back to Back medal – I was just struggling through and I heard, “Come on Angry Kenyan!” from a complete stranger who had seen my Tweets, knew I was running in pink and had spotted me. It meant so much to me! I’ve run with a few people in the Movement and they have been the best runs ever. I can only dream of running on each continent where there are Kenyan Movement runners, and the London and New York marathons are top of my bucket list, plus a marathon in Kenya. How amazing would that be!

Broadening the Message
In the last few months, as I have trained and been inspired by others, and in order to encourage and motivate other athletes, including swimmers and cyclists, because I recently completed my first IRONMAN 70.3 event down in Durban, I changed the hashtag and it’s meaning from #runwithpassion to #BEwithpassion. I want to share my passion for training and life with everyone, and get them to live life to the full, to BE, and to do it with passion!

Doing my small part in the running community has made me realise that one person can make a difference, and by doing so, that one person can also be changed and motivated for the better! That is the story of the Kenyan Movement, and the Angry Kenyan.

You can join the Kenyan Movement by following @theAngryKenyan on Twitter.

Para-triathlete Stan Andrews tells his inspiring story, from growing up with a deformity to aspiring to get to the 2016 Paralympics. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Born with a deformed right foot and under-developed leg, Stan says that he faced challenges from day one, but his family raised him to believe that he was no different to other kids. “Obviously, my childhood involved a fair amount of bullying and exclusion, because as kids, not everyone wants to be friends with the kid who has a 'stupid leg,’ but that allowed me to develop a great amount of resilience, which has always played a beneficial role in my life.”

At age seven, the doctors recommended that his foot be amputated, as they were worried that it may limit him later in life, and he says it was a life-changer. “The best decision ever, as far as I am concerned.” Fast-forward to 2011 and Stan says after another failed relationship, he decided one afternoon that he needed to do something for himself. “I needed direction, so I decided that I would set myself three goals, a small one (swim the Midmar Mile), medium one (complete the 94.7 cycle race) and an impossible one (summit Mount Kilimanjaro).”

“As fate would have it, I was lucky enough to win a competition which gave me the funding to climb that mountain, and 21 September 2012 saw me standing on top of the world's highest freestanding mountain. I had done it! Naturally, once back, the pressure was on to now achieve the next goal, so on a borrowed mountain bike, with little over a month of training, the 15th of November saw me finish the cycle race after 4 hours 45 minutes of pure torture. The following February I had no option but to throw myself into the Midmar Dam and complete that swim. This all made me believe that the world really was now my oyster and that I was unstoppable!”

New Challenge, Please
That got Stan looking for his next challenge, and after meeting American para-triathlete Levi Kane early in 2013, who suggested he take on a triathlon, he did some research and decided that he wanted to be an Ironman! In November that year, Stan participated in his first triathlon, the 5150 African Champs. “Wow, I managed to complete it in a time of 3:42, and I had achieved another milestone. Then, packing up after the race, Kevin Garwoood, who is well known in the triathlon scene, approached me and suggested that instead of chasing the Ironman dream, I should rather see if I could perhaps make my way to the Paralympics in Rio 2016, where triathlon will make its debut. Honestly, I thought he was crazy, but I decided to research it anyway.”

A month later Stan qualified for the Provincial Championships, then went on to win his PT4 para-category at the National Championships in East London. “Unfortunately, due to a lack of events, I was unable to qualify to go to the Grand Final that year, but 2014 and 2015 have seen me improve even more, and I have been able to represent South Africa on several occasions. The highlight of the year so far was winning the African Continental Championships in Egypt in May. I have also taken part in various other international events, the most recent being the Paralympic test event held in Rio de Janeiro.”

Look at Me Now!
Now, with selection for the Paralympics looking good, Stan says he is really pleased with how far he’s come in a short time. “Just to put things in perspective, when I was training for the Kilimanjaro expedition, my 5km run time was 37 minutes, with some walking. My current 5km PB, after a 750m swim and 20km cycle, is 21:15. I just love running! And I hope that my story will inspire people who may have the attitude that running is impossible for them. It does not matter how slow you run, at least you are moving forward – and you are still faster than any person on the couch!”

You can follow Stan’s journey to Rio 2016 at www.facebook.com/oneleggedlegend or @stumpy_stan on twitter.

With the 2015 SA Half Marathon title to his name, Lucky Mohale is now gearing up for another shot at World Champs glory next year in Wales, and he says he is determined to do better than in past attempts. – BY SEAN FALCONER

Lucky Modike Mohale obviously enjoys running in Port Elizabeth: He won the SA Half Marathon Champs title there in 2010, and at the end of July he added a second 21km national title in the Windy City. The 30-year-old flyer from Thembisa in Gauteng came home in 1:02:06, pushed all the way to the line by Central Gauteng team mate Mbongeni Nxazozo, to claim his third national title, having also won the SA 10km Champs in 2011 in Germiston. “The weather at last year’s 21km Champs race was very bad, so I struggled and only finished fourth, but this year it was perfect, so I enjoyed the race much more,” says Lucky.

The win in PE capped a very successful year so far in half marathons for Lucky. He won the Dis-Chem Half in January in 1:07:40, having frustratingly finished in the top five in the previous three editions of the race, and then in April he set a new course record in the Birchwood Half, winning comfortably in 1:06:48. He also added another course record at the Adrienne Hersch Challenge in May, coming home in 1:07:05, one second faster than the previous record.

Wales Ticket Booked
The national title means that Lucky now automatically qualifies for the SA Team for the World Half Marathon Champs in Cardiff, Wales in March 2016, and he says that will be his next big goal. It will be the fifth time he represents his country, having previously run in the 2006 World Cross Country Champs in Fukuoka, Japan, where he finished 99th, followed by the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, where he was selected for the SA marathon team and came home a disappointing 49th in 2:38:22. Then came the World Half Marathon Champs in Kavarna, Bulgaria in 2012, where Lucky once again finished 49th, clocking 1:07:17, and that was followed by his selection for the 2013 Africa Southern Region Cross Country Champs, where he finished 20th in the 12km race. To his credit, he says he still has to prove his worth to the SA team at the highest level.

“I have always been proud to represent my country, but I was not happy about my performances in SA colours, so I have changed the intensity of my training programme in order to run better at the next World Champs. My plans now are to run the Cape Town Marathon at the end of September and hopefully qualify for the SA marathon team for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and then I will focus on the shorter distances as I prepare for the World Half Marathon Champs.”

Star Potential
Lucky started running at the end of 2003, when he moved to Gauteng from the Limpopo Province. By early 2004 he was running races, and by 2005 he was regularly winning the junior category at races. Ten years later he is 30 years old, married with two young kids, a full-time athlete running for the Boxer Club, and still a regular on the podium at most of his races. He made his marathon debut in Cassablanca, Morocco in 2010 with a fifth-placed 2:13:35, which remains his PB. He was also third in the 2013 Sydney Marathon in Australia in 2:15:58, and finished second in the SA Marathon Champs race in 2013 with a 2:19:38.

Looking further ahead, Lucky says he sees his long-term future in the sport. “I want to help with the development of athletes in the rural areas all over the country, and to help them reach the top level as well, so I see my future as a coach, but my focus now is on my own running. Whether I go to Rio or not, my plan is to focus on the 21km and the marathon in the next few years – I have no plans to run ultras. You can’t just run for money, so I’m planning to run faster times, and the money will come after that.”

Lucky’s PBs
10km 28:31
15km 44:56
21.1km 1:01:08
42.1km 2:13:35

When Wayde van Niekerk looks back on 2015, he’ll probably describe it as the year he arrived. He had already established himself as one of the world’s best in the 400m sprint, but this year the 23-year-old Bloemfontein-based sprinter has not only rewritten the record books, but also claimed the world crown in the 400m sprint at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing – even if it did once again leave him lying shattered on the track. – BY SEAN FALCONER

The 400m final of the 2015 World Champs ended on a worrying note for South African fans watching on television. First came the elation of watching Wayde van Niekerk power home to take the gold medal in a world class 43.48 seconds, ahead of former World Champ LaShawn Merrit of the USA (43.65) and Olympic and Commonwealth Champ Kirani James of Grenada (43.78), giving South Africa its first ever World Champion in a sprint event and making Wayde the first African athlete to dip under 44 seconds and the fourth-fastest one-lap sprinter of all time, just a mere three tenths of a second away from Michael Johnson’s World Record of 43.18, in the first race ever to feature three men dipping under 44 seconds. Then followed despair as we saw our new World Champ collapse on the track and be wheeled off to hospital on a stretcher.

Fortunately, there was nothing serious the matter with Wayde – he was simply totally exhausted after his gold-medal effort. The 400m is renowned for being one of the most brutal track events, as the body basically starts shutting down towards the end of the race, and according to Wayde’s coach, Anna ‘Tannie Ans’ Botha, it is normal for Wayde to leave it all out on the track, as he did in Beijing. “When he goes into a race like that, he absolutely gives it his all,” she says. “He gets very nauseous after he runs fast races, so it’s normal, even though he fights the thought of throwing up.”

By the following day, having been discharged from hospital in the early hours of the morning, Wayde returned to the Bird’s Nest Stadium to collect his gold medal, and in a post-ceremony interview, he finally got to tell the world about his race, which he described as nerve-wracking. “I might have looked composed on the track, but just lying on my bed the night before the race was not the best feeling ever. I sang the national anthem to myself to fall asleep… In the race, I knew that I had a quality athlete like LaShawn Merritt on the outside of me and I had to catch up with him as soon as possible. When I hit the 200-metre line, more or less, I saw that I had a slight advantage and I just started praying, asking God to not let go of me. I started pushing harder and harder, but the last 50 metres my legs just started sinking in. But I just had to keep on fighting.”

Born to Run
Wayde was born in Cape Town and later moved to Bloemfontein, where he attended Grey College before going on to study marketing at the University of the Free State. He says his love of sport started at a young age due to his family being very sporty. “I was always playing games in the streets, parks and at school, with my cousins and friends. As a kid, I tried everything – tennis, rugby, athletics and squash. You name it, I tried it! Eventually, in high school, I pursued athletics and my teacher referred me to a coach where I improved and started growing in the sport. That’s when my dreams and goals started to develop into something more.”

The build-up to that glorious moment in Beijing really started in 2013 when Wayde changed his focus from the 200m to the 400m, having earlier also been a high-jumper. He had finished fourth in the 200m at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Canada, and then blitzed to a 20.57 time to claim the SA 200m title in 2011, but persistent hamstring problems meant that explosive sprinting put too much pressure on his legs. The solution was simple: Tannie Ans suggested he run some 400m races, to improve his endurance and recovery training. The rest as, they say, is history.

One-lap Wonder
He soon brought his 400m PB down from 46.43 to 45.09 and finished the 2013 season in the world’s top 20. “It was a big surprise, as I didn’t expect to run that quickly,” says Wayde. “I was raw at the event and still in the rehab phase from the injuries, but it was also a relief, because it showed me I was stronger and finally over the injuries.” However, disappointment followed… At the 2013 Summer Universiade meet in Kazan, Russia, he just missed out on the final as the fastest non-qualifier, which was somewhat offset by helping the 4x400m relay team win bronze, and then at the 2013 World Champs in Moscow, an exhausted Wayde failed to make it past the first round heats of the 400m, the long season having left him drained of speed and power.

To fix the problem, he hit the gym: “It was the first time I’d done specific gym work – I even had a personal trainer – but the balance finally started to come together. The work I did helped condition me for the next long, hard season, and being able to handle three rounds in a championship,” he says. That saw him dip below 45 seconds for the first time early in 2014 as he clocked 44.92 to win the SA title, and then in June he stepped it up by running 44.38 at the New York Diamond League meet, to shatter the 15-year-old South African record of 44.59, long co-held by Arnaud Malherbe and Hendrick Mokganyetsi. “It had been a goal of mine to beat the record and the run was a blessing. I went out feeling extremely nervous, but then the race started and before I knew it, I was in front with LaShawn Merritt. I held on as long as I possibly could. It’s only then that I realised I got the national record!”

He then anchored the African team to victory in the 4x400m relay at the Continental Cup, holding off the charge of European Champion Martin Rooney, and while trying to recover from that race, he met one of his idols, Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic. Having won the 400m Hurdles World Champs titles in 2001 and 2003 as well as the Olympic title in 2004, Felix had returned from long-term injury to regain his Olympic title at the 2012 London Olympics, so Wayde felt he had something in common with the great man, and they ended up sharing notes on how to handle the severe pain and fatigue of a single-lap sprint. “I was actually lying on the floor throwing up when he came up to me and congratulated me on my run! Even though I felt like I was dying, it was a special moment for me. He even advised me on how I should handle such a thing!” That sparked a friendship that continues today.

Medals and Records
Wayde moved on to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and won the silver medal behind Kirani James, clocking 44.68, and less than two weeks later won another silver in the African Champs in Morocco. In Glasgow, he once again found himself feeling shattered after giving it his all in the final, and says he could barely join the traditional victory lap. “The same thing happened in that I took a while to recover from the severe fatigue. I managed to eventually grab a flag and get a few pictures with some of the guys who supported me, but I don’t think I even went on a victory lap. After about ten minutes or so I had to suck it up, because I had quite a few interviews waiting for me.”

While 2014 was a great year for Wayde, it was just a precursor of still greater things to come in 2015. In June he clocked 31.63 over the seldom-raced 300m distance at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham in the UK, setting a new SA and African record. He followed that up with another SA 400m record, 44.24, in the New York Diamond League meet, and then in July he became the first South African to dip under 44 seconds as he crossed the line in 43.96 at the Paris leg of the Diamond League, setting a new SA and African record, and handing Kirani his first loss of the year. And still Wayde was not done: Returning to the 200m, he became the first SA sprinter to dip under 20 seconds, clocking 19.94 to be beat Anaso Jobodwana’s still new SA record of 20.04.

More to Come…
Speaking after his 44.24 run, Wayde said, “It wasn’t easy, but I think I planned it well and really felt good in the last 200m. The first 200m was a bit relaxed, but that meant I saved a lot for the last 200m. Still, I feel there’s definitely still room for improvement, and my goal for the rest of 2015 is to continue pushing myself to improve. I hope this was just the beginning of great things ahead for me.” How true those words would turn out to be, come the Beijing World Champs. Now, with the World Champs title to his name, Wayde says a gold medal at the Rio Olympics next year is his next big goal, and beating that long-standing World Record could be on the horizon as well. “My goal is to try to get better with each and every race, so if that means the World Record will be mine at the end of the day, I'll just be thankful and grateful to the Lord that he gave it to me.”

Having recently returned from a first European tour to race on the international triathlon circuit, 25-year-old Boksburg-based elite Lauren Dance sat down to answer a few questions on her love of the tri life. – BY SEAN FALCONER

MA: You took up triathlon at 18, with a background in swimming, athletics, lifesaving and biathlon. Was triathlon just the logical next step?
Lauren: I had always been active, so my parents got me involved in as many sports as possible to keep me busy and motivated. I was generally athletic and found I was pretty good at most sports, I loved being outdoors, and I was ultra competitive. When I was 17 going on 18 a family friend, Herman Steyn, who is involved in cycling, said I should give triathlon a try and organised me my first racing bicycle. I did my first tri with no training at all, and by luck met my current coach, Mike Moriarty, that day, but it was the hardest thing I had ever done, and I thought I will never do that to myself again. A few months later Mike contacted me and asked if I would like to give it a go, as he saw potential. I decided to try and turns out it was the best decision of my life… I found out what hard work and perseverance are, and what it’s like to have someone believe in you and test your limits every day. Triathlon is now my sole focus. It has grabbed my heart like nothing before.

MA: You won the junior category of your next race, at the old Energade Series. Did that light the fire in your belly to really give tri a go?
Lauren: That was the first proper tri I did after five months of coaching with Mike, and that lit a huge bonfire in my belly, as I started to see rewards for my hard work. I also realised how much more work I needed to do to be good, which was really motivating, because I was used to sport coming pretty easy for me, but this was hard. Mike was always very positive, so every training session and race he was always leading me to believe in my ability. Having a coach that is so passionate about what he does and believes in my big dreams is a real blessing, and makes the hard graft possible.

MA: What do you rate as the highlight of your tri career thus far? You were SA u23 Champ in 2011, and brought home a win in the junior section of the European Cup in Turkey, but what about more recent results?
Lauren: Wow, those results seem like a lifetime ago, but they are definitely highlights. When things get tough, I often think about those races to get me going again. Last year I came second in the African Championships in Zimbabwe, which is another highlight, and at the beginning of this year I had a really good race in Cape Town at the Africa Cup, coming second again, but I had made a few personal mini-breakthroughs that stand out for me.

MA: You’ve just returned from racing on the European Circuit. Tell us about the experience.
Lauren: I did a couple of ITU races and then a 5150 race. After my breakthrough race in February, I was in the best form of my life, mentally, physically and emotionally, and was planning a big season ahead. However, the day before SA Champs I went for a warm-up activation run and tripped over the pavement, twisted my ankle and tore a ligament in the process. The next few months proved the most testing, battling to stay fit, and I also struggled with bad bouts of flu and bronchitis. So this European tour was my first racing in five months and served as a big test for me. I was just super excited to be racing again, knowing that I was there for four weeks and would be able to work on my race fitness and training intensity.

The first race was a massive shock to the system, however, because the level of European racing is out of this world, but that motivated me to get back to decent training so that I would be at a competitive level by the time I got to race the Tiszauvjaros World Cup event. I was feeling ready for that, but the race turned out to be bitter-sweet. I had a decent swim to get me into a bike pack, then I worked hard on the bike and bridged the gap to the second pack and then also the lead pack, and for the first time in my tri career I was in the lead pack of an international race. However, a lack of experience cost me, because working much too hard on the bike in 36-degree heat proved fatal for my run. I watched the lead bunch of girls run away from me with no comeback in my body, and I ended the race unconscious in the medical tent with heat exhaustion. It was the best-worst race of my life, marking significant improvements and confirming belief in me, but inexperience ruining any chance of a lifetime best performance against some of the best athletes in the world.

MA: You’ve already represented SA at World Champs, African Champs, the All Africa Games and World Cup events. What does wearing national colours mean to you?
Lauren: Representing your country never loses its magic, and racing at the big events is both special and the most terrifying thing at the same time. I love that and crave that feeling.

MA: You studied sport psychology at the University of Johannesburg and are now busy with your Honours in sport science, but you’re also racing full-time. How do you fit it all in?
Lauren: I am extremely lucky that UJ supports me so much and has allowed me to finish my degree part-time, giving me enough time for training and racing while still passing, so I will still be finishing my studies next year. After that I will need to look at ways in which to pay for my tri dreams. At the moment I am fortunate to have some solid people and brands that are supporting me, allowing me to pursue my goals: M.A.D. Multisport, Schaldor Plastics, ASG Sport Solutions – Pinarello and Rudy Project, Irwin Wheelsets, and XTERRA Wetsuits.

MA: What about hopes and dreams – I would imagine the Olympics feature high on your bucket list?
Lauren: My aim is to be able to fulfil my potential, which will hopefully be good enough for an Olympic Games or two, as well as Commonwealth Games. I do, however, look forward to racing the longer distances, like 70.3, when I am ready to make the move up.

We took our #RunClean campaign to social media and were blown away by the response from runners… but we know this is just the first step in a very long battle to promote a cleaner sport and try to eradicate the litter problem in our races. – COMPILED BY SEAN FALCONER

We Support the Campaign!
Tanya Timms: Ooooh, litter pee's me off something chronic!
Jannie Visser: There are always bins provided, so why not use them? If we can make a small effort, it will make clean-up so much better for others…
Barbara Foot: It annoys me no end – apart from all the other litter in the country that drives me insane!
Linda Doke: Plastic is toxic, and the repercussions of the damage it causes ripple through the food chain.
Peter Swanepoel: The number of times I have seen runners purposely aim to throw a sachet into a drain is beyond ridiculous!
Lisa De Speville: There is absolutely no good reason to litter at road races. Participation in a road race doesn't mean that you have permission to be a litter-bug. Good one, Modern Athlete!

We #RunClean already
Demitri Baroutsos: Only three sides of my ASA number on the front are sewn, so it acts as a pocket. If I can't drop my sachet in a bin, I stick it in there and run with it till the end of the race – it's not like it's heavy or impeding my run in any way.
Rene Mitchell: It doesn't take much effort to carry your empty water bag to the next water point and toss it in their bins… that is what I always do. Just plain lazy tossing it on the road.
Johan Grassman: I simply carry all my rubbish with me in my licence number ‘pocket’ that is sewn onto my running vest.
Wayde Kennedy: Think I'll also commit to picking up at least one or two bits of litter/rubbish at every race I do…

Been there, cleaned that…
Denise Dippenaar: I have helped out at my club run at a water table many times. You will not believe how far we have to walk to retrieve sachets and other items runners have thrown willy-nilly into bushes, etc.
Francis Rogan: I have worked at water tables and I don't mind picking up litter around the table, but very annoying to do it past the water point just because someone couldn't be bothered to hold onto their sachet. I always say, “If you can carry it full then you can carry it empty.”

Lecturing the Litterbugs
Johan Grassman: Spoilt brats. If you want to drink the water, then you are responsible for disposing of your sachet properly. Littering on the road or next to it should never be acceptable, whether you are in a race or not. You want the privilege of waterpoints, then accept the responsibility that comes with it. Stop mollycoddling the litterbugs.
Ruth Cameron: As a technical official I have spoken to people many times. The bags are so light to carry with you. Some runners are just ridiculous!
Glynis Mauldon: While running the Easter 100 with my friends, we spoke to some runners for throwing sachets in the bushes, or down stormwater drains. Nine times out of 10 we were laughed at and told, “Someone will pick it up.” Time to fine runners, because I am sure they don't do this at home.
Janine Nagel: Runners/walkers and cyclists, you found a clean path, so keep it that way please.

Trail Runners (supposedly) do it better
Torrin Theron-Visser: If a trail runner can use a hydration pack or waist belt and not litter, then so can a roadrunner!
Sue-Ann Fourie: Trail runners aren't as innocent as they are made out to be – if they didn't run with their own supply, I guarantee you we'd see a similar problem on the trails. I picked up eight empty energy sachets on Sunday in a trail race… so I'll add the litterbugs to my list of reasons for coming in 11th from dead last.
Alexis Olds: Not all road runners litter and not all trail runners are clean, but I do think it's high time we change the water sachet/littering mentality at races.

Learn from Triathlon
Petro Neethling: Coming from a triathlon background, where we are DQ'd for littering outside of a non-litter zone, it has become second nature to keep the empty water sachet or fuel wrapper in my shirt pocket and only discard at bins provided.
Christelle van Rooyen: I've learnt from Ironman to stash my trash. If you so much as throw away a banana peel and get caught, you get DQed.

The Pessimists…
Andries Kroese: Haha, can't see the front speed freaks cleaning up, but I certainly support the idea. It’s just too messy.
Tiaan Conradie: I just don't get it, why do we need a campaign to remind runners not to litter? How hard is it to either drop your sachet at the water table itself or put it in your pocket until you get to the next table or a bin?
Tracey McKay: This is excellent, but good luck trying to get runners to actually do it! We have a culture now of littering!

Cleaning Crews, Please
Tanya Timms: I think the point of the story is for the runners to be more pro-active in this approach and not give the organisers back-breaking work that is not necessary.
Natelie Kriel: I think runners just assume that the route will be cleared by the organisers/waterpoint stations – that if you are paying to run a race, you would assume that your fees would go towards cleaning. As a fun run organiser, we hire cleaners to walk the route during and after the race, and then re-ride the route to double-check it’s all clear. And by hiring cleaners (at a minimal cost), it really does help job creation, too.
Luzuko Ntissa: As much as I expect race organisers, with the entry fee, to hires cleaners, as runners we must still do our bit.

Useful suggestions
Margi Eksteen: Let runners carry their own water at races… problem solved!
Val Opperman: #RunClean is a great initiative, but if I could just suggest that the dustbins be spaced out a bit more AFTER the tables, not at the table, or like the one marathon I did, BEFORE the tables
At Schoeman: Clubs should announce it at all road races!
Gillian Grobbelaar: I have seen a bin idea that they use up in Johannesburg that had a sail type of backing to it, so the idea was that you throw your rubbish at the sail and it slips into the bin. Was easier to get the rubbish into the bin, and created a novel idea that everybody wanted to try out, and thus less litter.
Armandt Van Den Berg: A bin at each kilometre marker would help loads. A lot of people carry water sachets with them and take a sip on every kay.
Sue-Ann Fourie: Peeps need to take a photo of their empty sachets on their coffee table when they get home.

We would love to hear from you about your efforts to #RunClean, so send your letters, photographs or ideas to [email protected].

And think before you throw – #RunClean!