TRACK & FIELD

1500m 3:51.95 Raleigh ( NC ), USA 13 May 2021 3000m 7:39.25 * Luzern , Switzerland 20 Jul 2023 5000m 13:02.46 * Heusden-Zolder , Belgium 15 Jul 2023 10,000m 27:23.10 * Walnut ( CA ), USA 6 May 2023 10km 27:53 Cape Town , South Africa 14 Oct 2023

3000m 7:52.38 Blacksburg ( VA ), USA 26 Feb 2022 5000m 13:09.30 * Boston ( MA ), USA 12 Feb 2022 * South African Record

therapists and more , so it made things much easier and smoother for me to compete , but I still had to do all the hard work . If I didn ’ t train hard and push my body to the limits , then I probably wouldn ’ t have improved as much as I did . Still , Florida is in a different conference to Coastal Carolina , competing at a higher level , so for me to go to Nationals , I had to finish in the top 16 in the conference , as we didn ’ t have regionals . That really shows the competitive environment that I was in there .

MA : Tell me more about your studies , at both universities .

AW : Sure , I did my undergraduate degree in business at Coastal Carolina , and graduated with a good enough GPA that I was able to get accepted into the Masters programme at Florida State . That made it smooth , because I got a scholarship and was able to get into the programme academically , which was always my focal point of all of this , to get an education .

In the beginning , I never thought I was going to become a professional athlete , my focus was on using my sport to get academic scholarships , so that my parents wouldn ’ t need to take out loans to pay for my studies , and so that I wouldn ’ t have study debt

Celebrating his MBA earned at FSU afterwards . So , getting an academic scholarship was perfect , and to be completely honest , when I went to Florida State , I didn ’ t actually care too much about running , I just wanted my Masters to be for free . But once I got here , the level of competition and training , and the coaching , were of such a high standard that I improved rapidly in just two months , and so I began taking it more seriously .

MA : On that , I would imagine that studying and competing in the USA has opened doors and given you access to a higher level of competition , international influences , much more than you would have perhaps had in South Africa ?

AW : Yeah , absolutely . I do think there ’ s good competition in South Africa , but to be frank , the level in the US is higher – there are so many athletes that are that good . If you get top 100 in the NCAA cross country , that ’ s considered good , because there ’ s so many people running those times . I remember one year I ran sub-29 for the 10,000 , but at Nationals I finished 24th … and this was just university level , not professional running and all that . If you make the top 40 and qualify for All American status at Nationals , that ’ s really , really good , because those 40 athletes are all probably running sub-28:30 . That ’ s how deep it is !

The NAZ Elite team offers a full spectrum of training partners for Adriaan

MA : When your running career eventually winds down , do you see yourself then falling back onto your business degree and going in that direction ?

AW : Yeah , absolutely . I like to see my life as different dimensions , not just running , because I don ’ t want to be running forever . By the time I reach 30 , I may find different interests , but I want to make sure that while I ’ m running , I exploit my opportunities and all my potential to the fullest . Once I ’ m done with running , I will definitely try to use my MBA , and I would love to get a job with my sponsor , Hoka , which is a company I love . It ’ s a people ’ s company , easy to deal with and communicate with , and it ’ s easy to get access to the highest level of the organisation as well . So yeah , I ’ ll definitely try and fall back on doing something in the business world , even if it ’ s for a different company .

MA : Speaking of Hoka , let ’ s talk about the NAZ Elite pro team you ’ re now running for in Flagstaff , Arizona . How did that all come about ?

AW : In my last year at Florida State , I was running really well . I was top four at nearly all the events I competed in , so an agent came to our university and talked to the coach – I don ’ t think they are allowed to just speak directly to college athletes initially – and since I was in my last year , I was then able to meet and sign with them , and let them go look for opportunities for me . They were asking me about exactly what I wanted , from running , what is the most

Training in his new home town of Flagstaff

75