Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 94, May 2017 | Page 21

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form in 2017
we train in harmony with how my body feels and reacts. We also train in
a large group, which I enjoy a lot. The atmosphere in the group is always
uplifting.
MA: Take us back to where and when the track & field bug bit?
RS: When I was six years old, I ran my first 60m race at Laerskool
Menlopark and I loved it right away. My best friend, Tania Ras, with
whom I am still very close, was a phenomenal athlete and her family
helped inspire me to fall in love with athletics. Her grandfather Gert
Potgieter was the former 400m hurdles world record holder and her aunt
Ilze Ras held the SA junior 100m hurdles record, and this family played a
crucial role in my love for the sport. Tania and I always ran against each
other in the sprints and I later focused on the 100m hurdles, whereas
she did the 400m hurdles. My first 100m hurdles race was in grade 10,
and from that day I loved it. I was a late developer and only started
performing well in grade 11, as a 17-year-old. I then won my first SA
Schools title, represented South Africa at the World Youth Championships,
and in 2010 I had an awesome year, winning three SA titles.
MA: So far in your athletic career, things have not always
worked out the way you wished, but have you taken anything
positive from the challenges?
RS: The biggest lesson I have learnt is that it is OK not to have
everything under control. I always wanted to do everything perfectly, and
train hard to be the best. I view things very differently now. Life almost
never works out completely as planned. I enjoy my running a lot more
now when I am relaxed and make jokes. I also don’t see mistakes or bad
races as failures. It is part of sport to go through processes, and it’s not
possible to run a personal best in every race. I always win in my mind – I
win character, I win lessons, I win exposure, I win experience… but I
never see a race not won as “I lost.”
PJ’s
PIECE
I have a dream of running 800km in six days… However,
with little running pedigree behind me, this to many is an
impossible dream. So what? It burns at the centre of my
mind all the time, calling to me with a soft but insistent
voice, to come and take hold of it. It is my dream, and it
drives me forward. – BY PJ MOSES
M
any of my closest friends and family have questioned my sanity
in chasing this dream. My hold on reality seems a bit tenuous to
them. I don’t care. I believe with every bit of my being that with
perseverance and determination, sprinkled with a good dose of
donkey stubbornness, I will succeed.
I am an average runner, at best, and only started to run in my late thirties. I
know the reality is that I may not succeed in my goal, but that does not stop me.
I keep training. I train in the early morning hours. I train in the dark. I train in the
heat of midday. I train late at night. I run long and I run hills. I sprint from pole
to pole and I do strides. I keep grinding away and I keep the faith in the way
forward.
This path has made me sleep on street benches and in bus shelters in order to
get to races. It has made me sleep in police charge offices from Camps Bay to
Fish Hoek. It has made me brave enough to dodge early morning bullets from
unknown gunmen in my gang-filled community. It has filled me with fear and
terror. It has given me joy sprinkled with ecstasy.
It has also made me constantly push my limits. I have run from sunrise to sunset.
I have run over more than one mountain. I have seen the sun rise over shacks
and over oceans. I have lived.
If I had made the mistake of listening to all the doubters, and those who
supposedly know better, then I would not be the man I am today. I would be
a lesser man. I would be the man who let others take his eyes off his vision. I
would be the man who got side-tracked by the misgivings of those who meant
well. I refuse to be that man.
And you? Do not let them make you that person. Dream a big dream and then go
chase that dream down. No matter what they may say.
About the Author:
More speed
than ever in
her legs
Thankful
to be back
on track
PJ is a former Cape Flats gangster who
took up running when he turned his
back on that dangerous lifestyle, in
order to make sure he would be there
for his two young sons, and set a good
example for them, instead of becoming
just another crime statistic. Having
recently turned his hand to writing as
well, he will be a regular columnist for
Modern Athlete.
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