Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 62, September 2014 | Page 20

Ma

living legend

Master Sportsman

recommended that I take up cycling, and
the next step was duathlon, which in turn
was followed by triathlon. So there I was,
learning to swim competitively at the age
of 39!” No surprise, though, that Lood went
on to represent SA at various age category
Tri World Champs around the world, often
finishing in the top five in his category, and
also finishing third in the 55-59 age group
at the XTERRA World Champs in Hawaii in
2012.

GOOD AT EVERYTHING!

In 1974, when Lood Rabie ran 2:19:22 in his debut
marathon at the Peninsula Marathon in Cape Town,
he became only the fourth South African to break
the 2:20 barrier. Ironically, he had only taken up
marathoning because of illness, having contracted
glandular fever the previous year and seen his times
on the track suffer as a long-term result of all the
weight he lost, but now the road became his focus,
and launched him on an endurance sport career that
continues to this day. – BY SEAN FALCONER

R

unning in South Africa was a lot more
competitive back in the seventies, says 61-yearold Stellenbosch-based medical doctor Lood
Rabie with a glint in his eyes. “I can remember
one morning I ran up the old H [