by RIËL HAUMAN
STATS & FACTS
by RIËL HAUMAN
Stats & Facts
January Jumpstarts
The world of running produces scintillating times and interesting statistics , including these standout January performances from the annals of SA running .
12 January 1963
In the 1960s women ’ s distance running in South Africa was still in its infancy , but Anne McKenzie soon changed that . On this day in Johannesburg , she set her third official SA Record for 880 yards ( soon to become the metric 800m ) when she clocked 2:19.9 . Three months later , at the SA Championships in Pretoria , she became the first national champion for the distance when she brought the record down to 2:16.5 . In August of that year , she also became the first SA Cross-country Champion , again in Pretoria . McKenzie went on to set a total of 18 consecutive SA Records for the 880y / 800m distance , culminating with a 2:11.7 that gave her the 1964 SA title .
Anne McKenzie
26 January 1966
Only one SA Record for 1500 metres has ever been set in January and it came on this day when policeman Willie Olivier won a mile race in Paarl in 4:03.3 , which made him the second-fastest South African of all time behind De Villiers Lamprecht ’ s dream mile of 1964 . Olivier passed the metric mark in 3:45.8 to smash Lamprecht ’ s national record by exactly five seconds . Two years later , Olivier almost became the first SA athlete to run sub-2:20 for the marathon when he clocked 2:20:21 .
Willie Olivier
a mail at rielh @ mweb . co . za .
14 ISSUE 164 | www . modernathlete . co . za
25 January 1981
The Johnson Crane Marathon in Benoni was run for the first time on this day , although in its first two years the race was known as the Flight Hand Cleaner Marathon . That first race was won by Mark Plaatjes in 2:24:32 for an easy victory by more than three and a half minutes . 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 , in the colours of the USA , when he became World Champion in Stuttgart in 2:13:57 .
30 January 1982
The first edition of the Big Tree Marathon in Port Elizabeth was held in February 1980 , but since then the race has mostly been run in January . The marathon has variously been called the Big Tree , Friendly City , Embassy Achiever and Herald Nashua Marathon . On this day , in the third race , well-known Eastern Cape runner Beverley Malan scored the first of three victories when she took the title in 2:52:33 to win by almost 16 minutes from Jenny Saunders , who had won the first two races . Malan would win again in 1984 and 1986 . Three months after her first win in PE , Malan won the second SA Marathon for women , also in PE , in a PB 2:47:44 . Later in the same year she would clock the fastest time by a South African woman in 1982 , when she finished the New York City Marathon in 2:44:40 .
Beverley Malan
Mark Plaatjes
14 January 1984
The George Claassen Marathon in Pretoria , named for the 1961 Comrades winner , was first held in 1976 . On this day , in the ninth running of the race , Helen Lucre scored her third win in a row and became the first woman to dip under three hours with her 2:57:38 . Sam Ndala got the first of his two consecutive wins in the men ’ s race , clocking 2:27:59 . Like Claassen , Lucre would become a Comrades champion , in 1985 , 1986 and 1987 . The George Claassen Marathon has been changed to a half marathon in recent years .
28 January 2000
One of the best inland performances ever in South Africa came on this day in Pretoria when Carlien Cornelissen , the SA cross-country and 5000-metre champion , ran a 3000m personal best of 9:16.95 in Pretoria to beat Ronel Thomas by almost 13 seconds . Three weeks later , at near-coastal Stellenbosch , Cornelissen scored another outstanding victory over 5000m in 15:43.18 , and both her times were the second-fastest by a South African woman in 2000 . And two weeks after this , again in Stellenbosch , defending champion Cornelissen finished second to René Kalmer at the SA Championships .
About the Author
These stats and results are drawn from the weekly Distance Running Results mailer compiled by internationally acclaimed athletics statistician Riël Hauman , who has more than 50 years ’ experience as a journalist , author , publisher , commentator , pundit , administrator , event organiser , coach , team manager and runner in South African athletics , road running and cross country . He is also a former editor of the South African Athletics Annual , and author of two books , Hardloop en Lééf and Century of the Marathon 1896-1996 . To subscribe to his weekly newsletter , send him
Helen Lucre
Carlien Cornelissen
Images : Courtesy South African Sports Achievements , Athletics History , Athlete Natural Blog , Comrades Marathon , Gerda Steyn , Charlie Spedding , Houston Marathon