Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 104, March 2018 | Page 13

country. She took a gap year to focus on her running, before starting her studies in
sports management at UWC in 2005. That year she won her first senior SA title in
the 3000m steeplechase, breaking the SA Record in the process, even though still a
junior, and that paved the way for her selection for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
in Australia.
World Half Marathon
Champs, Bulgaria, 2012
“I was young and inexperienced, but it went well, and it was a great opportunity to
see what it was like on the world stage, so it was great for my running career,” says
Nolene, who went on to run in the African Track and Field Champs in 2007, as well
as the World Student Games in 2005 and 2009. After completing her studies, with a
cum laude pass, Nolene was then recruited by the University of Johannesburg to run
for them while doing her Honours degree, which she then followed up with a PGCE in
education. While at UJ, she won the SA Cross Country Champs 8km title as well as a
second SA 3000m steeplechase title, and represented SA at the World Half Marathon
Champs and World Cross Country Champs.
After UJ, she began teaching at Vorentoe High School in 2014, where her then coach,
Hans Saestad, was Principal and Head Coach, and she taught and coached there
for three years. In those years, she added the SA 10km and 10,000m titles as well as
third steeplechase title, and made the SA team for the World Half Marathon, World
Cross Country and Af rican Track Champs for the second time each. But even better
news was that running in Gauteng really seemed to agree with Nolene. “I was getting
less asthma attacks, and I think I finally outgrew it – the last time I had an attack was
in 2015, and I no longer even keep a pump for emergencies.”
COMING HOME
In 2016 Nolene returned to the Cape when Elana offered her a job at Endurocad. She
says she loves the work, even though it is quite a job to manage 50 athletes, which
includes looking after their entries and kit, scheduling camps and travel arrangements,
and making sure they are in an academic set-up with skills enhancement, so that
they are prepared for life after sport. “Working alongside Elana is a dream come
true, because I looked up to her as a junior, and I learn from her every day. She is an
awesome boss, because she was an athlete and knows how hard it can be to balance
work and training, so she gives me the freedom to do things in my own time, like a
gym workout at 10 in the morning.”
Spar Women’s Challenge,
Cape Town, 2017
She adds that working with young Endurocad athletes has led to her own dream
of starting training camps for girls from disadvantaged communities. “I feel there is
so much talent in those areas, and I want to show them the benefits of training and
sport, and that they too can achieve what I have. We need more girls in the system,
and my camps will eventually feed into the Enduroad system, but much as I would
like to start this year, I have too much on my plate for now. I’m in the prime of my
athletic career, so I want to focus on my own running and chase faster times.”
That’s why Nolene headed to Iten, Kenya in January, taking good friend Caroline
Wöstmann along to continue her return from a long injury lay-off. “Training there is so
amazing, because there are so many routes, including gravel surfaces that are easier
on your legs, and it’s very safe, with lots of friendly faces. I felt like I needed to get
away from work to focus on training and prepare properly for this season, and I did
160 to 170km in mileage for three weeks. I feel that I am in great shape now, and I’m
really looking forward to the World Half Marathon Champs.”
“We’ll be running on part of the same route as the Valencia Marathon, where I ran my
PB in November, so I already know the course, and now that I know from previous
experience what to expect at the Champs, I am going into these Champs better
prepared. I consider my previous two World Half Champs outings as highlights of
my running career, first in Bulgaria in 2012 and then Wales in 2016. I finished 34th in
Cardiff, and this year I’m not just going to make up the numbers, my aim is to at least
make the top 20.”
COUNTING BLESSINGS
With a packed calendar ahead for 2018, including another big city marathon and
an attempt to run a 2:30, Nolene says she never takes her success, or her health,
for granted. “My career has paid off to the extent that I was able to buy my first car,
and later I was able to build my parents a new house, and I have been lucky to have
people who believed in my talent, like my parents and siblings, as well as friends like
Vonney Dreyer who are like family, and of course my various clubs and sponsors,” she
says.
“You can’t always change your circumstances, but you can change your attitude and
how you approach life. If I had given up in those first cross country races, I don’t think
I would be here today, and even if I had survived the asthma, I wouldn’t have received
a free education, or travelled the world and seen incredible places. I genuinely believe
I would not have made it to 21 without running.”
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