STATS & FACTS
by RIËL HAUMAN
Stats & Facts
Fast Starters in the New Year
Taking a look back through the annals of the history of SA athletics and road running , these are a few of the standout performances in the month of January .
25 January 1964
The redoubtable Ann McKenzie , who gave South African female middle distance running respectability in the sixties ,
ALL-TIME BEST WOMEN ’ S 10KM IN SA
Ethiopia ’ s Tadu Nare moved into sixth position on the all-time list of 10km performances recorded in South Africa with her 31:28 PB in the Cape Town leg of the 2021 Spar Grand Prix . Here is the all-time list of the top 10 women , with secondary performances also listed , where SA Record-holder Elana Meyer leads the way with four times on this list .
30:55 Sheila Chepkirui ( Kenya ) Durban , 13 Oct 19 30:57 Evaline Chirchir ( Kenya ) Durban , 13 Oct 19 30:59 Helalia Johannes ( Namibia ) Durban , 23 Jun 19 31:01 Beatrice Mutai ( Kenya ) Durban , 13 Oct 19 31:14 Stella Chesang ( Uganda ) Durban , 14 Oct 18 31:28 Tadu Nare ( Ethiopia ) Cape Town , 4 Sep 21 31:33 Mercyline Chelangat ( Uganda ) Durban , 14 Oct 18 31:33 Elana Meyer ( SA ) Durban 4 May 91 31:38 Chelangat ( 2 ) Durban , 8 Oct 17 31:38 Colleen de Reuck ( SA ) Durban , 25 Jun 00 31:40 Meyer ( 2 ) Port Elizabeth , 28 Nov 98 31:43 Meyer ( 3 ) Bellville , 30 Jan 99 31:45 Johannes ( 2 ) Cape Town , 26 May 19 31:47 Meyer ( 4 ) Durban , 22 Jul 89 31:48 De Reuck ( 2 ) Durban , 22 Jul 89 31:48 Pascalia Kipkoech ( Kenya ) Durban , 8 Oct 17 31:51 Johannes ( 3 ) Port Elizabeth , 4 May 19
set two national 800-metre records in January . She ran an unprecedented streak of 18 consecutive SA records , with the second January one coming on this day in Benoni – her seventh such mark . She clocked 2:15.7 for 880 yards to break her 2:16.5 record set in December ( both times were also accepted as metric records ). In the course of 1964 she would improve this time on seven occasions , with five of them recognised as SA Records , and the final one ( 2:11.7 ) also giving her the SA title .
25 January 1981
The Johnson Crane Marathon in Benoni was originally known as the Flight Hand Cleaner Marathon and on this day the first running was won by 19-year-old Wits student Mark Plaatjes . He
Tadu Nare in action in the SPAR Grand Prix Cape Town in 2021
took the title in 2:24:32 , winning by nearly four minutes , and among the wellknown runners behind him were Dave Wright , Riël Hugo , Bruce Fordyce , Jax Snyman , Ian Emery , Derick Marcisz and Dudley Hulbert . Barbara Gilfillan was the first woman in 3:20:22 . Nine months later Plaatjes won the first of his two SA Marathon titles , in Potchefstroom , and after another 12 years achieved his most famous victory when , in the
Evaline Chirchir , Sheila Chepkirui and Beatrice Mutai in the 2019 FNB Durban 10K CITYRUN
Images : Action Photo SA , Carl Fourie , Tobias Ginsberg & courtesy Athlete Natural Blog , South African Sports Achievements , Two Oceans Marathon , Zola Budd Pieterse Collection
8 ISSUE 148 147 JANUARY DECEMBER 2021 2021 | | www . . modernathlete . co . co . za. za