ROAD RUNNING
There is a good reason that Elroy Gelant ’ s name is so well known and respected throughout the South African athletics community . The 37-year-old has quite the running pedigree , having formerly held the SA Record in the 5000m ( 13:04.88 , run in May 2016 ), won nine national titles across track , cross country and road , and represented South Africa 19 times on the world or continental stage , including twice becoming an Olympian . It is also the longevity of his competitive career that is so impressive .
Elroy is thus a major role model in South African athletics , having inspired many a younger athlete to take up the sport or push their own limits to try to emulate his achievements . In his home base of Potchefstroom , he is a leader of a training group that includes the likes of SA 10,000m silver medallist Puseletso Mofokeng , and in the home town where he grew up , Pacaltsdorp , just outside George in the Southern Cape , he is feted as a hero when he returns for a visit .
Such is his status in the running community that he inspired another athlete from the South Western Districts area , Lloyd Bosman , in his training for this year ’ s Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon . Indeed , Llyod spent quite a bit of time training with Elroy , and that helped him claim a stunning second place at Two Oceans that surprised just about everyone … but not Elroy , who had predicted Lloyd ’ s excellent performance .
Incredible Run of Form
Recently , Elroy has experienced what can only be described as a ‘ purple patch ’ in his career . At an age where many runners are slowing down and starting to shift focus to longer distances , or competing in age groups , Elroy is emulating his great friend and running rival , Stephen Mokoka , by defying the odds and actually getting faster . You could say that both are like a fine wine , aging well and getting better all the time .
That has seen Elroy record significant new personal best times for 10km , half marathon and marathon distances in the last year or so . It started with a whopping 14-second improvement at the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km last September , where he clocked 28:04 to finish second . A month later , Elroy was part of the men ’ s team that earned South Africa the bronze medal in the half marathon
Posting a first sub-28 at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K
team competition at the World Road Running Championships in Riga , Latvia . Elroy finished 13th overall and took four seconds off his half marathon PB , clocking 1:00:56 .
However , by far the most dramatic improvement came in the marathon , where Elroy was chasing an Olympic Qualifying time of 2:08:10 . In February , he lined up in the Sevilla Marathon in Spain , and up until 35km he was on track to achieve his goal of qualifying for a third Olympics . Unfortunately , the wheels then came off somewhat and he found the last 7km much harder , but he still took 95 seconds off his marathon PB , posting a 2:08:56 . The PB was small consolation , however , as the Olympics was Elroy ’ s main goal .
Chasing Qualification
In his ongoing quest to secure his spot on the SA Olympic team , Elroy then decided to compete in the Durban International Marathon on 28 April , which doubled as the SA Marathon Championships . Just one week earlier he had finished second in the 5000m at the SA Track and Field Champs in Pietermaritzburg , but quickly shifted back into marathon mode , because a win in Durban would earn him more ranking points , and hopefully that would be enough to secure his spot at the Olympics , if he couldn ’ t run that automatic Olympic Qualifier time of 2:08:10 .
Elroy duly won the Durban race in 2:09:32 , and with that his second SA Marathon title and ninth national title overall . His time is the second-fastest ever on a record-eligible course by a South African on home soil , surpassed only by Stephen Mokoka ’ s 2:08:31 in Cape Town in 2018 . And with that , he then had to hope he had done enough to book his place in Paris , with the announcement due on 12 May .
Going into the Durban race , Elroy was lying 75th on the World Athletics global ranking points in the marathon . That looked good enough to get to the Olympics , as the Olympic marathon field is limited to 80 athletes . However , on the same weekend as the Durban City Marathon was the Hamburg Marathon , and the results in Germany unfortunately bumped Elroy down the rankings , and out of the automatic qualifying positions . ( The final qualifying list for the Olympic marathon has turned into a contentious topic , as Manfred writes in his column on page 16 . – Ed .)
Meanwhile , in spite of his focus on the marathon this year , Elroy ’ s purple patch was not done yet , and on 12 May he clocked an astonishing 27:54 as he finished second in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K . ( He also finished second at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K in April .) That ’ s a 10-second improvement on his previous best , and pushed him up to sixth on the SA All-Time list , behind Precious Mashele ( 27:34 – SA Record ), Stephen Mokoka ( 27:38 ), Thabang Mosiako ( 27:45 ), Shadrack Hoff ( 27:50 ) and Adrian Wildschutt ( 27:53 ). He is now the eighth South African to dip under 28 minutes .
Time for a Chat
After such an incredible nine months , we thought it was a good time to catch up with Elroy , especially after that superb sub-28 in Cape Town , so we sat down with him recently for a Q & A session .
Coming home second in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K
MA : How big was breaking 28 minutes for you , especially after a heavy racing period that included two marathons ?
EG : Breaking 28 minutes feels great . Although it was not the goal , I knew I had a good 10-kay in
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