Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 140, April 2021 Apr 2021 | Page 34

Rollercoaster Ride
TRAIL RUNNING
Early in the AFRICANX , Juan and Eric in the leading men ’ s pack think I managed more than two hours of sleep each night in my tent – but being out in the mountains was great , and competing again was great . I have really missed it , and it was great to get out there and show the fitness is still there .”
In spite of having no previous trail experience , Juan says he actually found the transition quite easy . “ I found it came quite naturally , which I think is thanks to having a good running IQ . I always knew that there is no substitute for speed , so if you can add running IQ , then you can compete on trail . Also , I think I judged it well how much to put in across the three days . Eric was good at managing his energy levels , whereas some of the other guys didn ’ t do as well . Sometimes he would lag a bit behind and I got a bit worried , but he would always finish strong . Afterwards he would tell me he was fine , that he knew the other guys would come back , and that is where I saw the benefit of having that trail racing experience , which in turn really benefited me as his teammate .”
The second day ’ s stage was approximately 32km , with a total climb of 850m , with Juan and Eric claiming a second stage win , crossing the line in 2:15:55 , adding a further three minutes and three seconds to their lead over Lloyd and Ettienne , who were once again second on the day . “ The race was good . The first 18km was easy , then it got quite technical while the last 5km was comfortable and easy , but I felt in control the whole way ,” says Juan . “ The guys started pushing quite early , but it looked like they took some strain over the last 10km , so Eric and I opened up this nice gap .”
Hanging Tough
Going into the final day with a lead of 3:29 , Juan and Eric knew they didn ’ t need to win the 20km stage in order to take the overall win , just needed to make sure the other contenders didn ’ t take too much time out of their lead . “ Eric told me day three was usually not as hard , but I told him not to relax , as I thought the other guys would be out to prove a point ,” says Juan . “ We
knew that we had a good lead , so we ran strategically . We just tried to mark Lloyd and Ettienne , but early on they made a hell of a move and we just had to hang in there and fight until the finish . The last few kilometres they went out of sight at times , but when I spotted them I used landmarks to measure the gap , and so we knew that we were still close enough for us to take the overall victory .”
In the end , Juan and Eric had to settle for fourth team on the final day , but having finished just under a minute behind their Nedbank clubmates , they had done enough to take the overall win . They finished the event with a combined time of 5:08:36 , with Lloyd and Ettienne ending on 5:11:13 , and third place going to Thabang Madiba and Renier Grobler ( Murray & Roberts ) in 5:16:34 . “ I ’ m happy and proud of Eric , and proud of our teamwork . We pulled it off , that is the main thing , and it was a fantastic experience ,” says Juan . “ I ’ m not used to three-day stage races , or camping and strange sleeping arrangements – I don ’ t
Of course , his knee injury was never far from his mind … Many road runners steer clear of trail running because they are afraid of getting injured on the rougher terrain – and Juan would be forgiven for having double that fear going into AFRICANX , given his injury record . However , he said the knee held up fine throughout the race . “ I was actually quite surprised how well it went , especially on stage two , which was a bit more technical and rocky , but I had no pain during the race , and nothing afterwards either . Other than a bit of chafing and blisters from wet shoes and wearing the wrong socks , it actually went fine .”
Has the Trail Bug Bitten ?
The obvious question , now that Juan has had a taste of trail success , is whether he would like to do more off-road running , or will his focus return to the road as soon as races come back ? He says that the Comrades Marathon was originally his focus for 2021 , but with the event cancelled , he has instead found another road race to focus on in coming weeks . “ I can ’ t give you the details yet , but I have an ultra coming up in May , so I am going back to the road for now . In terms of running more trail events , I will
Images : Roger Sedres / ImageSA & Tobias Ginsberg

A Career Derailed

When he was just 19 , Juan van Deventer clocked 3:38.87 for 1500m , which had the middle-distance pundits in South Africa predicting big things for the talented youngster . By the 2008 Olympic Games , he was in the shape of his life . That year started with a bronze medal at the African Championships , and he then took three seconds off his personal best , running 3:34.46 in Germany . Having also broken the 3000m SA Record that year , clocking 7:44:00 in Sweden , everything looked on track for the Olympics , and come the 1500m final , the 24-year-old held his own against the best in the world to finish within half a second of the medals , crossing the line in sixth place as he clocked the second-best time of his career at the time , 3:34.77 .

Two years later he made the 1500m final of the 2010 World Indoor Championships , once again finishing sixth , but then his world came crashing down in 2011 . “ I was due to fly out to Shanghai on the Friday for the Diamond League meet , so I went out for a legloosener on the Wednesday . As I was coming around a corner , a car cut the corner – the driver was late in getting his child to school , and he took me out . I felt my knee go and immediately knew I was in trouble ,” says Juan . “ I refused to get into the ambulance , and instead made sure I got to a specialist immediately . This was a serious running injury , and I needed someone who understood that to look at me . I got to John Patricios in Rosebank , who immediately took X-rays , and I found out that my patella was displaced , and that I urgently needed to go for an operation .”

… BY MANFRED SEIDLER

Rollercoaster Ride
What followed was years of unfulfilled hope and frustration , but Juan is nothing if not resilient and headstrong . With 10 weeks to the start of the 2012 European season , he hit the track hard . “ I had done no base work whatsoever , but I desperately wanted to get to the 2012 Olympics in London .” In spite of his lack of preparation , he actually came desperately close to hitting the stringent Athletics South Africa qualification criteria . “ I needed to run 3:35.50 – I hit 3:35.55 , and then two weeks later ran 3:35.52 , but it wasn ’ t good enough , and my knee was giving me trouble again , so after not qualifying , I went for the next knee operation .”
Juan tried again in 2013 , but he was two seconds off his best and another operation followed . This effectively
34 ISSUE 140 APRIL 2021 / www . modernathlete . co . za