Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 116, March 2019 | Page 17

ROAD RUNNING
Chasing
Amy
Young, talented, tough and driven, Amy Abrahams is chasing her running
and career goals with the same positive outlook, especially now that she is
back from injury. – BY PJ MOSES
A
The youngest sibling in her family and only girl, Amy
has always been an active person. “Before I started
running in 2009, I had various activities keeping me
busy, including being a drum majorette, but running
was my talent and my passion, and I haven’t looked
back since.” However, she says her journey in the
sport has not been easy, and she relies on her
spirituality to help her deal with stress or doubts.
“I have had to overcome many obstacles during my
pursuit of the best running me, including not being
able to be around the people I love and overcoming
the financial difficulties attached to the sport and
to studying. Running can be an expensive sport,
and when you don’t have a strong financial base to
work from, it becomes difficult, for example, to buy
the correct running shoes, as they are quite pricey.
I always tell myself that God won’t put you through
something that you can’t handle. Therefore, I wait
patiently for the storm to pass, and then I carry on like
nothing happened.”
When not running, Amy is dedicated to her studies,
and she says she knows how important education
is. “I think it is imperative for each individual to have
access to quality education, as it enables us to live an
independent life and to gain freedom. It also provides
knowledge to understand results coming from wrong
decisions, and helps us find alternative ways to better
solutions.”
Podium at the Old Mutual 10km
have spurred her on to work still harder to become faster
and stronger. “If it wasn’t for running then I wouldn’t
be the person I am today. It has opened so many new
doors for me, and taught me to be myself and have
confidence in the way I see myself.”
Return to Success
Winner of
the 2019 Dan
Luyt 15km
Spiritual Approach
Knowledge is Key
sk Amy Abrahams for some of her best
running memories, and she instantly replies
that her 11th place at the 2013 African
University Cross Country Champs in Uganda ranks
amongst her favourites. “Such a great experience,
and a culmination of all the hard work done in training.
Today, bettering my times, staying consistent in every
race and training hard are still my goals.” But it hasn’t
always been sunshine and roses for the pocket rocket
from Eerste River, near Cape Town.
“I think the worst memory for me was not making the
2009 Western Province Schools Cross Country team. I
placed seventh on the day of the trials, but unfortunately
for me, only the top six progressed to the next round.”
On the other hand, Amy says disappointments like that
Now that she is running again, Amy says she is
steadily building toward her long-term goal of doing
her first full marathon, but for now she says the half
marathon is still her favourite distance. And in terms
of training, she says she is blessed to have a great
support group behind her, helping her to chase her
running goals. “My coach, Cecil Roffey, and his wife
Anneline, who is also a training partner and friend,
always go above and beyond to help me get to the
level I need to be at in order to be my best. Also,
my awesome training partners, a group called The
Speedsters, help to motivate me and support me
at races. My family thinks I am mad because they
say I train too much, but their support has also been
extremely important to me.”
More recently, she had to overcome the
disappointment of being out injured for a while, but
returned to action at the beginning of this year in fine
form, winning the women’s race at the Dan Luyt 15km,
and finishing second at the Old Mutual 10km. She
recently transferred from the University of the Western
Cape to the University of Cape Town to continue her
studies, working towards a postgraduate certificate in
education. At the same time she also transferred from
the Nedbank Running Club to UCT Athletic Club, and
thus she was extra excited about her podium place in
the 10km race. “It was my first road race in my new
club colours and I could not be happier!”
Amy also cares deeply about proper youth
development for young athletes. “There is so much
brilliant young talent out there, but I see a lot of them
doing too much, too quickly, and losing their way. I
think it should be instilled in runners from a young age
not to rush into road running, to rather stay on the
track and do cross country, because it is much better
for their development. Also, they need to be clever
and not race every single race that they enter, as they
will most likely burn out if they do. Rather stick to a
proper plan and be strategic with which races to put
a big effort in. It is important that they hold on to their
talent and work hard at it, because it can open doors
for them and give them amazing opportunities.”
The speedsters
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