The Carlsbad 5000 is known as the World ’ s Fastest 5K
Images : Courtesy Carlsbad 5000
bridge between the 1500m on the track and the 10,000m / 10km distance . More on that later .
Exciting Victory Races
In celebration of its 150th anniversary in 1995 , Old Mutual created the Old Mutual Victory Races , in conjunction with Athletics South Africa ( ASA ). It comprised a series of 150 road races around the country , with the winners of each 5km race then flown to a grand finale . The objectives of Old Mutual were not only to celebrate its 150 th anniversary , but also to create a healthier population by having professionally organised 5km events around the country , and thus get more people to become active , as well as to create an elite platform for South Africa ’ s best middle distance athletes .
The races were held nationwide , and it was intriguing to see how the country ’ s top athletes chose where they would run . So , Hendrick Ramaala would look to see where Shadrack Hoff was running , who in turn would look to see where Enoch Skosana was running , and so on , as they wanted to avoid each other in order to be able to all get to the final , as there was a huge cash prize purse at stake for the winner .
This resulted in the 150 best middle-distance athletes in the country gathering in one point to race for the cash – this prize became a car in subsequent years – and the series generated huge excitement in the sport , in the media , and amongst followers of the sport . In turn , ASA used the Victory Races as a tool to select national teams for the International Chiba Ekiden , a hugely popular annual relay event in Japan , which attracted the world ’ s best to race over the marathon distance in teams of six runners per country . South Africa won the event in 1996 and 2001 , with athletes such as Ramaala , Hoff , Skosana , Tsunaki Kalamori , Stephen Phofi and a number of others making up the teams .
The Victory Races also presented ASA with the ideal opportunity to unearth and groom new talent . For example , there was a 14-year-old in Beaufort West who won the Victory Race there , an obvious possible gem for the future . Sadly , ASA did not make use of the opportunity of development handed to it on a platter , but in fairness to the national federation , it was not geared up to do so … but that is a separate conversation .
Breaking Down Barriers
Sadly , the Victory Races came to an end when Old Mutual pulled out of road running in 1999 , and the sponsorship of the series was not taken up by another sponsor . To this day the likes of Hoff , Skosana and others still look back fondly on the series , and wonder what could have been had it continued .
Nevertheless , the series did succeed in introducing many people to a formal 5km race that provided accurate route measurement , results and rewards , as opposed to the informal 4km or 5km fun runs at most other races . This led to an influx of new runners to many clubs , as running a 5km race seemed manageable for most and presented little in the way of barriers to entry .
Today , the role of entry-level 5km events bringing new people into the sport has been largely taken up by parkruns , which are proving to be immensely popular in several countries around the world – in South Africa alone , there are now over 200 registered parkrun venues ! These runs also present virtually no barriers to entry , with a pleasant , welcoming family atmosphere , and generally easy accessibility to venues and routes . They offer an easy way for the whole family to “ get out there , doing activities together ,” and of course , they offer enormous health benefits , so 5km events are more popular than ever .
Time for a New Series
With that in mind , I believe that we should look at hosting a formal , national 5km road series again in South Africa . The Old Mutual Victory Races demonstrated quite clearly how effective such a series could be in growing the sport , from social to elite , and that in itself is reason enough to resurrect the concept , in my view .
Courses would need to be accurately measured , so runners would know exactly what times they are running for 5km – too often we see and hear runners complaining about short or long courses , because their “ GPS watch said so .” Also , courses would ideally be flat – admittedly , not always possible in some parts of South Africa – as this would allow athletes to accurately measure how fast they can go over 5km , and compare their times to athletes throughout the rest of South Africa . Yes , altitude would need to be taken into account , but that is very doable .
With a standard distance run on virtually identical terrain , you could then create a national league ( or ranking system ), and providing the series offered decent prize money , a national 5km series would be the perfect scenario to cater for the front end of the sport , incentivising the top athletes to race the 5km distance . This would also offer ASA a perfect selection opportunity , given that from 2023 , the World Road Racing Championships event will feature a new 5km race in addition to the World Half Marathon Championships race . So , in short , the 5km is just waiting to become a race of national interest on all levels .
About the Author
Manfred Seidler is a freelance sport journalist who has been in the industry since 1994 , in both print media and broadcasting , covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio , and producing various athletics shows for the SABC . Follow him on Twitter : @ sportmansa ; Facebook : Sport Man SA ; Instagram : sportman _ sa .
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