Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 63, October 2014 | Page 8

Ma letters Have YOUR SAY Got something on your mind that you want to share, a burning question you want answered, or a good story to tell? Then send it to [email protected]. (Note that some letters have been shortened due to space limitations.) WINNING LETT ER RACE WALKING ANYONE? I am a runner who recently gained great admiration for our walkers. Having received the CGA race walking league timetable, I decided to challenge my wife, an avid walker, and we chose the Old Eds 10km event. The group of around 200 walkers started 15 minutes after the main race, which meant no congestion at the start. Coming to the end of the race, one has passed some of the slower runners in the main race. A separate finish lane dedicated to the race walkers separates the results. To my surprise, I finished in the top 20, by far my best ever placing in a race. However, two painful days went by before the stiffness subsided sufficiently to go running again. So am I hooked? I remain a runner, but I am definitely race walking the league again next year. – Alan Nemeti, Johannesburg I’ve never entered a race walking event, but have tried a wee bit of race walking, just to see what it felt like, and even a few hundred metres had my legs begging for mercy, so I have huge respect for the walkers! It’s also awesome to have them on the roads with us at races. – Ed. 8 ISSUE 63 OCTOBER 2014 / www.modernathlete.co.za I RUN BECAUSE I LOVE IT I never qualified for any running championships as I used to finish last during qualifying school running races. You see, I was never a fast runner, but I loved it anyway. All I enjoyed when we played soccer as kids was running around the soccer field. Instead of walking to the local store when my parents sent me on errands, I would run there, and instead of leaving home for school 45 minutes before the time to walk 5km, I would leave 25-30 minutes so I could run there. Through all these years, I never realised my athleticism, until 10 years ago, when I started training with my university roommate who was a basketball player, where I outran the best basketball player in the team during our 5km training run. Did I have a talent that I hadn’t properly explored yet? I then started training twice or so a week, but I didn’t