ROAD RUNNING
Another Bite at
Lusapho comes home for a record-breaking third Hannover Marathon win
BOSTON
With a frustrating injury lay-off now behind him , Lusapho April is determined to get back to the world class marathon performances that saw him win or podium at Big City Marathons in Europe and the USA , as well as run in two Olympic Marathons , and it starts with the Boston Marathon this month .
– BY SEAN FALCONER
Boston is not only the oldest Big City Marathon in the world , having been run for the first time in 1897 , it is also one of the most prestigious , but getting into the starting field is not easy . As an average Joe runner , you need to qualify by running another marathon , and the qualifying time standards are pretty steep . A male runner in the 18-34 age category needs to run 3:05 or faster just to be considered , and even then your entry goes into a ballot system if there are more entries than spots available – which there usually are .
Another way to get into Boston is to be invited to be part of the elite field – as an IAAF Gold Label race , the Boston organisers needs to invite a certain number of elite athletes capable of world class times , from a certain number of countries – so to get an invite , you need to consistently be amongst the best in the world . It is therefore a real feather in the cap that 35-year-old South African marathon star and two-time Olympian Lusapho April will be lining up for his third Boston Marathon on Monday 16 April .
Representing Border at the SA Half Marathon Champs
His previous two Boston runs in 2014 and 2015 produced commendable 15th and 12th positions respectively , and having recently returned to action after a frustrating injury lay-off for the last few months of 2017 , he says he is aiming to improve on those results . “ The injury is a thing of the past and I am ready to race . Hopefully my body will respond on the day of the race and I will do well ,” says Lusapho .
“ I want to improve on my previous performances in Boston , so I ’ ll be going for at least a top 10 . The downhill course hammers your quads , but I know what to expect , and the races in the USA tend not to be fast from the start , more like a champs race , which plays to my strengths . It just depends which way the wind is blowing ... the guys have run 2:03 on that course , but they had a strong tailwind that year . Both times I went there , we had no tailwind ; it was just very hot or very cold .”
RUNNING TALENT
Lusapho is one of the quietest elite runners in SA – in terms of speaking . In fact , the phrase “ under the radar ” seems appropriate in describing his character , and he prefers to let his feet do the talking . That began in primary school , in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape , where early success saw him selected for the Eastern Province under-13 cross-country team . In 2001 he started training with long-time coach and mentor Karen Zimmerman , joining her Atalanta Athletics Club training group in Port Elizabeth . She later became head coach at the University of Fort Hare , where Lusapho enrolled for a B . A . in Human Movement Studies . While there , he won numerous SASSU Student Champs titles and represented SA at the World Student Games .
Now based in East London , having followed Karen there , Lusapho says they ’ ve developed not only an effective working relationship over the last 17 years , but also a strong bond . “ We ’ ve got a good relationship and I think we make a good combination .
Images : Roger Sedres / ImageSA , Christiaan Kotze / SASPA & courtesy Hannover Marathon , Lusapho April
16 ISSUE 105 APRIL 2018 / www . modernathlete . co . za