Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 37

it is only Stephen Mokoka and Desmond Mokgubo
who are competitive on the global stage, having
finished in the top 10 of top level international events,
and won titles overseas. Meanwhile, Elroy Gelant is
showing signs of returning to the form that saw him
take the SA 5000m record down to 13:04.88, and
Precious Mashele will have taken huge confidence
from his 16th place finish at the World Cross Country
Championships.
Bring the Best Here
In order to improve the standards in SA racing, the
best way to go now is to bring top international
competition to South Africa. Our athletes need to
be racing a higher standard of competition than
they are used to here at home. When you compete
against the same competition, race after race, you
tend to eventually fall into a rut. And that is what has
happened.
However, when you look at the FNB Run Your City
Series, and in particular this year’s Spar Women’s
Challenge series, you see a marked difference in the
approach by South African athletes. The Cape Town
Marathon also falls into that category, although to a
lesser degree, because it takes longer to recover from
a marathon. Nevertheless, the race’s impact on local
standards is clear.
In 2015, the FNB Cape Town 12 ONERUN was
launched. Three years later, it is part of a national
Run Your City series of three events in Cape Town,
Johannesburg and Durban, which have seen an influx
of international athletes coming to compete in South
Africa. More importantly, the series went one step
further than just bringing international competition
to South Africa. A select few South Africans were,
in essence, contracted (paid an appearance fee) to
compete in the series.
Incentivised Performances
This has had an obvious effect on our top runners, as
SA 10km Record Holder, Stephen Mokoka, has said
on a number of occasions. “The Series is great for us
South Africans. You know, when we travel overseas
it all takes its toll. So if we do not have to travel, it
makes it easier. But it is more than that. Our entries
are taken care of, we are put up, we get to race some
really good athletes at home, and you know that here
is an opportunity to run good times. Also, you know
you have to run good times if you want to be in the
top 10. It’s good it raises the bar.”
Mokoka goes further: “We are now seeing youngsters
coming through and wanting to challenge the ‘old
guard,’ and this is because of series such as the FNB
races. I mean, when you have someone race a 27:16
in South Africa, you know you just have to get better
if you want to be competitive and earn your money.”
(He is referring to Joshua Cheptegei’s performance at
the 2018 FNB Durban 10km CITYSURFRUN.)
Similarly, this year’s Spar Women’s Series has been
dominated by foreign athletes, with Namibia’s Helalia
Johannes twice going under 32 minutes (31:51 in PE
and 31:45 in Cape Town) to win the first two races.
Tenth place in PE was 34:17 and tenth place in Cape
Town was 34:08 – both times would have been good
enough for a win not too long ago! And while there
are a number of foreign athletes in those top ten lists
at these races, there are also several South Africans,
which means our local women have had to up their
game to make the top 10.
Faster Marathoning Too
Just as the FNB Series and Spar Series events are
making an impact on the level of South African road
running, so too is the Cape Town Marathon. In 2018,
Stephen Mokoka clocked 2:08.31 to claim the title,
and there were three South Africans in the top 10
in this IAAF Gold Label race. Benedict Moeng ran
2:12:53 (his second-best time ever) and Desmond
Mokgubo finished 10th in 2:14:13, both clocking
times that would have in recent years been massive
marathon wins here in South Africa. Again it is the
impact of foreign competition that has seen the level
of performance amongst South African athletes raised
a notch or two.
So for South African road running to climb back to the
highest levels it once frequented, foreign competition
is vital. I will go one step further and say that for the
sport to improve, the way that races are organised
will need to change as well. The Run Your City Series,
Spar Women’s races and the Cape Town Marathon
are leading the way. Not only are top athletes coming
to SA, but the events are generating an interest in
the sport again, from the public and media alike. This
will hopefully mean that more sponsorship will be
attracted to the sport, which in turn will mean more
appearance and prize money for the athletes. The
positive knock-on effects for both the sport and its
athletes will be terrific.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Manfred Seidler is a freelance Olympic sport journalist who has been in the industry
since 1994, in both print media and broadcasting, covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio, and
producing various athletics shows for the SABC. Follow him on Twitter: @sportmansa; Facebook: Sport
Man SA; Instagram: sportman_sa, and check out his weekly podcast: RunnersGuideRadio –
https://soundcloud.com/sportmansa.
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