Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 44

RACE WALKING
g
n
i
Tak
on the World
Earlier this year Race Walker Dennis ‘Denny’ Hines made
his first appearance in SA colours at the World Masters
Indoor Athletics Champs in Toruń, Poland, where he finished
ninth in the 3000m and 17th in the 10km. We asked him a
few questions about the experience. – BY SEAN FALCONER
MA: Denny, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into walking.
DH: I’m 52 years old and live in Somerset West in the Western Cape. I do
technical and development work for Brooks South Africa, including talks and
promotions, and I have a little shuttle tour business as well. That means training is
sometimes hard to fit in, especially when I have early morning trips to the airport,
but I just restructure my schedule accordingly, especially when it comes to the
major events like national or provincial championships.
I was a runner and triathlete for many years, but just decided one day to do the
Big Walk, which used to go from Simon’s Town to Mowbray in Cape Town. After I
walked that race, I was approached by one of the clubs to do race walking, then
met Olympic 50km race walker Mark Mundell, who became my mentor, and from
there it just grew from strength to strength. The 20km is my speciality, and I will do
10km if there is no 20km event, but at the World Indoors I did the 3000m and the
10km. I still do a lot of running for cross-training, and recently I’ve started back
again with cross country.
privilege and an honour to do that.
I recently won the 20km in my age
category at the South African Masters
Championships in Oudtshoorn, which
was really special. Also, last year I
was third in the 10km at the Inter-
Provincial Champs in Cape Town,
and it was a privilege to be on the
podium with the likes of former SA
senior champion and record holder
Chris Brits.
MA: So how did you get from
there to the World Masters Indoor
Champs?
DH: We opt in and pay for
Denny in action in the 10km at the World Masters
Indoor Champs, which was raced outdoors on the road
due to a congested programme on the indoor track
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ISSUE 121 AUGUST 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
ourselves to go to World Masters
Championships. With these being
indoor champs, we only had a small
SA team, led by Ian Hacker, because
MA: You’ve represented Western Province a number of times over the years...
DH: That’s correct, and it’s been a