Eye on the Future
Long Road to Success
ROAD RUNNING
Every once in a while , an athlete comes along that stands out from the rest . An athlete who reshapes the athletic landscape , and carves out a legacy while still competing . A once in a generation athlete . American sprinter Michael Johnson was one such athlete . The inimitable Usain Bolt is another prime example of this legacy . And in South Africa we can look proudly upon Zola Budd , Elana Meyer , Wayde van Niekerk , and Stephen Mokoka .
Stephen will go down in history as one of those athletes who can boast an incredible range . In his career , he has won 26 national titles , including every distance from the 1500m all the way to the marathon , and he has proudly donned the green and gold colours of South Africa on 36 occasions , including those four Olympic Games as well as various World Championships , Commonwealth Games and African Championships .
He holds the SA Record for the half marathon – 59:36 , run in Gdynia , Poland at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships , which took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic . His 10km SA Record of 27:38 stood from 2015 to 2023 , when it was finally broken by Precious Mashele ( 27:35 ), and in 2023 he ran the second-fastest ever marathon by a South African when he clocked 2:06:42 in Osaka . Only Gert Thys has gone faster , with his 2:06:33 SA Record run in 1999 . “ That record I still want ,” says Stephen . “ And I want it next year .”
Eye on the Future
Stephen takes nothing for granted . He has always been a hard worker , and has always mapped out his athletics career carefully . “ I knew from an early age on that I needed to pick my races carefully and not over-race . So , even though times where tough at times , I resisted the urge to race every weekend to earn some pocket money ,” he says , and it is a mantra he preaches all the time . “ Life is tough , no matter what you do , so I learnt to embrace the challenges and not let them derail me from the ultimate goal . In life , you have to hustle , and what you experience in life , you will experience in running .”
Images : Action Photo SA , Lebohang Nkutha , Roger Sedres
In typical Stephen fashion , his progression from track to road was meticulously planned . Starting his career as a steeplechaser in 2003 , still in the junior ranks , he quickly realised that hurdling the barriers was not for him after he finished seventh at the SA Championships in 2004 . By the next year – his first competing as a senior – he had left the steeplechase behind and was pounding the tartan in the 10,000m , finishing sixth at the SA Championships in Durban , behind the likes of Coolboy Ngamole , Mbongeni Ngxazazo and Richard Mavuso . Back then he was studying on the Vaal and earned his first international call up , running the 10,000m at the World University Games ( Universiade ) in Izmir , Turkey . Eight years later , and still studying , he was crowned World University Champion in the 10,000m .
Even at 39 , Stephen still gives younger athletes a run for their money
Going back to his roots for some track work
Education was always part of his careful planning . “ I always knew that running was going to be part of my career and life , but I also knew that a running career is only so long . I am fortunate that 20 years later I am still running at the highest level , but I will go back to ‘ school ’ when my running career is done ,” says Stephen . More on that later .
Long Road to Success
In 2006 , Stephen made his first venture on to the roads , but initially limited that to the 10km distance , while still very much focusing on the track . Ironically , though , it was on the road that he won his first national title in 2008 , and it was in his very first attempt at the half marathon , when he won the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon , which doubled as the National Championships . That was the first of his eight national half marathon titles , and showed the first glimpses of what was to come in the marathon . That title also secured him his first international call-up on the roads , to race at the World Half Marathon Championships in Rio De Janeiro , Brazil .
Although still spending most of his time on the track , national success only came in 2009 when Stephen won both the 5000m and 10,000m titles . At that time , he was renowned for his devastating turn of speed , which came in handy at the 2010 SA Championships in Durban , when he beat the best the country had to offer in the 1500m . In that race , as the pack came around the top bend to start the final 100m , the experts were focusing on the likes of Juan van Deventer , Mthobisi Baloyi and Pharson Magagane for the win , but along came Stephen , racing around the entire field as he unleashed a devastating kick that saw him fly past the metric mile exponents to claim his one and only 1500m SA Title in 3:38.55 .
He still smiles when recounting that day . “ I tried something different that year . Instead of defending both my 5000m and10,000m titles , I decided to run the 1500m . I wanted to test my speed after I had run a hard 10,000m , because I wanted to see how the body would respond on tired legs ,” says Stephen , who had run the 10,000m the day before and set a 28:18.54 PB in defending his title .
Few realised then that this was part of a bigger plan , but Stephen was always the planner . He also made his marathon debut that year , finishing fourth in the Joongang Marathon in Seoul , South Korea , opening his marathon career with a 2:08:33 . At the time , that was the eighth-fastest marathon time run by a South African , and the second-fastest debut marathon time . Only Stephen ’ s
11