In June , Cian Oldknow fulfilled a dream she has been pursuing for some years , to represent South Africa as a full international athlete on the world stage , having been selected to run the 10,000m at the CAA African Track and Field Champs in Mauritius . The 25-year-old had been in terrific form for much of the last two years , posting PB after PB on the road and track and winning a national title in the 4km distance in cross country , so this was her big chance to show what she could do in national colours . However , just 150 metres into the race , disaster struck . “ It ’ s all a little blurry . I stumbled , and while trying to stay on my feet , my arm went up and my shoulder dislocated . I do have ongoing issues with that shoulder and have had a few operations on it , but it ’ s been pretty stable lately . I managed to get it back in before hopping back onto the track , but by then the pack was way , way down the track . I had to race 9850m by myself , and that was really tough ,” says Cian .
|
“ I ’ m frustrated and disappointed , because I felt so good out there , and know I had a better race in me had that not happened , but I am proud of what I did manage , and my time considering it all . I finished 12th in about 34:24 , which I ’ m pretty happy with , considering my 20-second pitstop ! Not quite the African Champs I had hoped for , but I ’ m taking a lot from it . Also , that ’ s my first time on the big stage done , and I ’ m sure it can only go up from here .”
Start of a Remarkable Run
While this particular race did not quite go to plan , Cian has enjoyed a success-laden couple of years , posting personal bests with almost monotonous regularity . It started in early in 2021 as she focused on the track as the sport slowly re-opened after the COVID pandemic , with PBs for 1500m ( 4:46.13 ), 3000m ( 10:09.05 ), 5000m ( twice – 17:14.38 & 17:04.32 ) all coming between mid-March and late May . In between those track bests , she also managed to post a half
|
marathon PB of 1:16:53 ( and beat her 10km PB along the way ) in the NMB Half Marathon in Gqeberha , which also played host to the SA Champs , with Cian finishing seventh .
Then later in the year , when the SPAR Women ’ s Grand Prix Series and the Absa RUN YOUR CITY races returned , Cian used the speed she had honed on the track to full effect , posting four new personal bests for the 10km distance in the space of two months . She started with a 34:54 in the Pietermaritzburg leg of the SPAR Series , improving her PB by a massive margin from the 37:25 she had run in 2019 . Two weeks later she clocked 34:16 to finish third in the Cape Town leg , then took two seconds off that mark in the Durban leg just one week later .
Another week down the line , and Cian lined up for the SA Cross Country Champs , running away with the women ’ s senior 4km title . After that , the remaining three SPAR races did not bring any further PBs – no
|
Images : Carl Fourie & courtesy Cian Oldknow & Ilma Stockton |