Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 30

AO: You now live in
Canada, which has
almost the opposite
climate of Doha. How
did you prepare for the
heat and humidity?
MM: Doha was
WALK
THIS
WAY
By Anel Oosthuizen
DOHA LEARNING
CURVE
Team SA unfortunately came home from the recent IAAF
World Championships in a very hot Doha with no medals,
but no doubt with valuable experience for the upcoming
Tokyo Olympics, which are expected to be similarly hot and
humid. I caught up with SA’s 50km Olympic race walker
Marc Mundell and asked him about his Doha experience.
by far the worst
conditions that I have
experienced in my
international career. I
didn’t have access to
finances to prepare
optimally, and did the
best I could, given the
amount of uncertainty
I had over selection
and the challenging
family circumstances
that played out. It
would definitely have
made a difference
training in heat or at
altitude, or in a training
camp environment. I
would have liked to
have been selected
further in advance of
the World Champs, in
order to prepare with
confidence.
AO: How did things go on race day?
MM: It was my first ever race at 11:30 at night. And in hindsight, I had a real
nightmare of a day. I felt that I ate well, but later battled with two toilet breaks
during the race. I tried to sleep in the afternoon, but just stared at my eyelids for
a couple of hours. I was just too excited to race, and wasted so much emotional
energy during the afternoon. That said, my final two to three hours were really solid
and according to plan, but I was unable to maintain that intensity through to 4am.
I deliberately started off slowly, right at the back of the race, but my heart rate was
incredibly elevated from the very beginning, even when walking slower than I had
anticipated, and I was feeling terrible at 6km already. I knew that I was going to be
in for a huge struggle and I suffered for the remainder of the race in the challenging
conditions, which resulted in more than a quarter of the 46 starters not finishing.
Although I finished 24th, the best position of my international career, it was the
worst race of my career, and I was gutted about my 4:41 performance, because
I was in a better condition than what I delivered. I knew going into the race that
it was going to be a suffer-fest, and that I needed to be prepared to dig deep in
the conditions. I felt that if I could hang in, I would be in contention for the best
finishing position of my career, as many athletes would stop between 30km and
40km, but when this materialised, I was unable to capitalise! I feel I sacrificed a
golden opportunity to do significantly better, but I was so dehydrated that I was
admitted to the medical tent right after the race.
AO: Lastly, how do you feel about the IAAF decision to remove the 50km
walk from major international competition after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo?
M
arc Mundell will tell you from experience that the 50km race walk event is
already a very tough event, but when you add ‘hellish’ conditions – as the
World Champs race was described by bronze medallist Evan Dunfee of
Canada – then you know you have your work cut out for you!
AO: How was your preparation leading up to Doha?
MM: It was really quite poor, for a couple of reasons. I broke my baby toe in
May and was cross-training for the next nine weeks, only starting up properly in
July again. Then in July I came home to see my ailing mother for two weeks, and
returned late in August for her memorial, both of which were disruptive towards my
training, when travelling is 35 hours door-to-door each time. No regrets that I did
so, but as a result of all this, I hadn’t raced once since my miserable performance
at Nationals in April, so I was really rusty going into Doha.
30
ISSUE 124 NOVEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
directly, but I am still very disappointed. That said, race walking remains the only
event in South African athletics where it is impossible to qualify for the Olympics
or World Champs in South Africa itself. Also, there has not been an African 50km
Championship since 2009, and it is not raced at the All Africa Games either,
so throughout my international 50km career there has never been any effort to
promote the event throughout the continent. That has also been disappointing...
Thanks to Mark for sharing his thoughts with us, and we wish him all the best
going forward not only in his walking, but also his next ‘chapter’ as he begins
a 15-month Sports Masters degree in Lausanne, Switzerland!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Race Walker Anel Oosthuizen is a multiple SA
Champion and Record Holder, and represented SA in the women’s 20km at the
2016 Rio Olympics.
MM: I have decided that 2020 will be my final season, so it will not affect me