Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 130, May 2020 | Page 10

ROAD RUNNING
Paying it
Forward
It is always wonderful to see athletes that have reached the
top level ‘paying it forward’ by helping the next generation of
athletes to follow in their footsteps, be it through coaching,
mentorship or active support. This kind of assistance
becomes even more important in times such as these, with
the COVID-19 lockdown forcing the cancellation of running
events and leaving many athletes with no income, which
makes what seven-time SA Champion Nolene Conrad is
doing all the more remarkable. – BY SEAN FALCONER
Nolene wins the
Nutribullet Bay To Bay
15km in 2019
Hunger… That’s what motivated Nolene to
start a fundraising campaign to try and help
her fellow South African athletes. “I know
what it feels like to go to bed hungry. I’ve come from
that, and I don’t want anyone else to have to go to
bed without food, so I feel like I have a duty towards
others, because I am in a position to help through my
network. That’s why I decided to start with the food
relief for athletes,” she says.
It all began when Nolene applied for and received
relief funding from the government, through the
Department of Sports, Art and Culture, to offset loss
of earnings during the lockdown. “When I heard who
actually got relief funding, that it was only athletes
on the Olympic list, I quickly realised that many of
the athletes I race against, or work with, were not on
the list. I work with a lot of athletes in the Western
Cape specifically, and more from around the country
through the Endurocad programme, and I know that
many athletes depend on race winnings to survive, so
with no races on the calendar due to COVID-19, they
have no source of income.”
Reaching Out
Nolene therefore posted on social media that she
would like to help athletes who had not received
any relief funding, and invited athletes to contact
her about help with food relief. She also approached
several coaches to help identify those in need. “I
initially said that I was looking at Western Cape
athletes only, but later decided I would consider
applications from other areas if there is a need there
as well.”
Applications soon began flooding in, says Nolene.
“I had an overwhelming response from athletes who
need help, and also reached out to a few I thought
may be struggling, because athletes are often proud
people, and find it hard to admit they are struggling.
I quickly saw there was a massive need to raise
funds for these athletes, much more than I could give
myself, so I set up a fundraising page on GivenGain. I
then reached out to friends in the running community
to share the post and to donate as well, and there
have already been some extremely generous
donations. Just a R50 donation can buy three loaves
of bread plus half a dozen eggs, and that can ensure
an athlete doesn’t go to bed hungry.”
Nolene says the plan is to keep the fundraising
campaign going as long as COVID-19 is here, and
that the help given to athletes will be in the form of
vouchers with which to buy food. “I initially thought
of doing food distribution to them, so also asked
for food donations, but in order to make it as easy
to administer as possible, I am going to give the
money out in the form of online food vouchers from
the Shoprite voucher system. And I will be happy to
message every donor to show where the funds were
spent, so that they know it gets to the right people.”
Leading by Example
While Nolene has asked fellow athletes and friends
to rally to the cause to help those athletes in need,
she is also putting her own proverbial money where
her mouth is. As her contribution to the fund, she has
pledged to donate 10% of all income in her newly
launched online coaching business, Coaching with
Care, to the cause. She launched the new business
recently, while recovering from a long-term injury.
“I’ve been building up to this since last year, when
Images: Jetline Action Photo & Roger Sedres/ImageSA
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ISSUE 130 MAY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za