Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 97, August 2017 | Page 29

Championships in 1966. Later he went on to serve 11 years as race organiser of what was then the biggest standard marathon in SA, the Hyper-to-Hyper Marathon in Pretoria, as well as other events. He also managed the distribution of the SA Athlete monthly magazine of the former SAAAU national body from 1973 to 1978. Helping Hand Besides his own athletic achievement, Dewald is best known for assisting many athletes from SA and neighbouring countries with coaching, management, bursaries, jobs, accommodation, transport, entries and gear, and many of his athletes went on to win prestigious races or titles, and represent their countries on the world stage, including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships. “I think some of my favourite moments as a coach and manager was watching Mike Fokoroni of Zimbabwe finishing 11 th at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon, and then Namibian Helalia Johannes finishing 12 th at the 2012 London Olympic Marathon. Those were really proud days for me.” black athletes from outside Pretoria, obtained and drove a sponsored mini-bus to transport these runners to many races, secured jobs for many of them when their competitive days were behind them, and often paid for the athletes out of his own pocket. Deservedly, Dewald was awarded the Reggie Walker Merit Award by ASA for special services to athletics. Getting back to Dewald’s incredible books, perhaps the best way of summing up the vastness of the project is best left to Professor Pieter Labuschagne, who not only features in the books as a former great, but is also most famous for having coached Zola Budd and Elana Meyer: “The construction of the various volumes was indeed a mammoth task with the information scattered over the entire country, stored or contained in private collections and much of it dumped in card board boxes. But if you need a man with the doggedness of a committed private investigator to achieve this, Dewald is your man. In putting together this collection of information, he has once again made a major contribution to athletics in South Africa.” Dewald (194) at the 1975 Comrades He has also sent athletes to 23 different countries in Africa, Europe and Asia, and they have come back with more than 20 international marathon titles. “One of the really unique trips we do is to North Korea. I am the only South African manager who can take athletes to the Pyongyang Marathon, and we’ve been going there for more than 10 years now. On home soil, his coaching groups have produced more than 50 winners in prestigious races such as the Comrades, Two Oceans, Loskop and Om Die Dam ultras as well as the Soweto, Cape Town and Johannesburg marathons. To make all this possible, he built a room in his own backyard to supply overnight facilities for Dewald’s book is available on order for R1380 for the entire set of five volumes plus index, or individual volumes can also be ordered. For enquiries or orders, contact [email protected] or 082 442 1860. 29