by RIËL HAUMAN
STATS & FACTS
by RIËL HAUMAN
Stats & Facts
February ’ s Flyers
The world of running produces scintillating times and interesting statistics , including these fantastic February performances from the annals of SA running .
11 February 1950
“ Rain pelted down on the runners for most of the race ”, as one report on the marathon at the British Empire Games in Auckland , New Zealand , read . The favourite , England ’ s Jack Holden , was in the lead from early on , but he was followed closely by Sidney Luyt of South Africa . Luyt had earned his place in the race by an almost five-minute victory over the redoubtable Johannes Coleman in the 1949 SA Championships , and by victory in the trial race in Paarl in November 1949 . But there was no stopping Holden , who a few months later would win his fourth consecutive British AAA Marathon , and exactly a month after that also the European title . Holden won in 2:32:57 , with Luyt taking the silver medal in 2:37:02 .
Sidney Luyt
25 February 1976
The Coetzenburg track in Stellenbosch was the venue for many of Danie Malan ’ s greatest races . On this evening , he produced one of his six SA Records when he raced the 1500m against Hendrik Smit and former national record-holder De Villiers Lamprecht . Malan
Danie Malan
a mail at rielh @ mweb . co . za .
12 ISSUE 165 | www . modernathlete . co . za was aiming at the SA Record of 3:37.2 , held jointly by himself and Fanie van Zijl . Pushed by Smit , he crossed the line in 3:36.8 , with Smit second in a personal best of 3:37.3 . Just more than four months later , in Zürich , Malan ran even faster when he beat Belgian Ivo van Damme in 3:35.98 . This made him the 11th-fastest runner in the world in that Olympic Year , but whereas Van Damme placed second in the Olympic finals over both 800m and 1500m , Malan was not eligible to compete because of the international sports boycott against South Africa . In fact , Malan ’ s Zürich time came just a few days before South Africa was expelled from the IAAF at its Congress in Montreal .
23 February 1985
The Peninsula Marathon launched in 1964 and was initially run in April and May , but was held in February for the second time on this day , with Ernest Tjela scoring the first of his three consecutive wins . He clocked a PB 2:15:11 , then the third-fastest winning time in the history of the race , and won by more than two minutes from defending champion Ron Boreham , with Ephraim Sibisi third and Bruce Fordyce fourth . Tjela claimed the race record the next year in 2:13:40 , and repeated in 1987 in a still faster 2:11:47 . He remains the only athlete , male or female , to win the race three times in a row .
Ernest Tjela
24 February 1990
The SA Marathon Championships , first run in 1908 , have been held in February only on rare occasions . The second time this occurred was on this day in Port Elizabeth . The men ’ s title was taken by David Tsebe
in 2:09:50 , then the fastest time ever on a standard ( record-legal ) course by a South African ( and still the second-fastest ever on a standard course on SA soil ). It put him eighth on the world list for the year . Later in the year , Tsebe would also win the SA Half Marathon and finish second in the SA 15km , and in 1992 he would win the Berlin Marathon in 2:08:07 .
No South African man has ever set a national marathon record in February , but Frith van der Merwe has the distinction of having done so twice ( although she wasn ’ t the first to do so – that honour belongs to Clare Taylor , who ran her 3:01:32 in 1979 ). The second of Van der Merwe ’ s records came on this day in the SA Championships in Port Elizabeth , when she clocked an amazing 2:27:36 – also a continental record , and the fourth-fastest in the world that year . The brilliant Van der Merwe outclassed her competition , winning by more than 13 minutes over Sonja Laxton to break her own record , set in February the year before on the same course , by one second short of three minutes .
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
David Tsebe
Frith van der Merwe
Images : Roger Sedres & courtesy Athletics History , Amazon , Two Oceans Marathon , Portland Interscholastic League Sports Hall of Fame