Hendrick Ramaala owns the oldest men’s track record in South African athletics, but he’s convinced his national 10,000m mark is going to fall soon, probably to one of the proteges he trains.
It could even be Precious Mashele, who broke the SA 10km road mark in Gqeberha last weekend, clocking 27min 35sec to shave three-hundredths of a second off the previous standard held by Stephen Mokoka.
Mashele, who plans to race the 10,000m at the April 24 edition of the Cape Milers at Green Point Stadium, is among several members of Ramaala’s well-established Zoo Lake training group who are making waves.
Maxime Chaumeton took the men’s 5,000m crown in Potchefstroom last weekend; Nicholas Seoposengwe won the Absa Joburg 10km last year; Tayla Kavanagh won the 2021 SA 10km championships; and Msawenkosi Mthalane — ninth at last year’s Two Oceans — returns to battle this weekend.
“My 10,000m record is on the verge of going,” Ramaala said this week. The only Olympic men’s running mark that is older is Gert Thys’s 2hr 06min 33sec marathon mark, and that’s by six days.
Ramaala has actually owned the record since May 1997, lowering it twice more after that. “Precious can do it, Max can do it, Nic can do it. I have five guys who can break the SA 10k record, 5,000m, SA half-marathon,” he said, before unleashing his trademark machine-gun laugh.
It should have gone long ago, it’s not on for a record to stay for 20 years. I think it’s not right, it means we have problems
— Hendrick Ramaala
The fact that it’s survived for so long is a worry, he added. “It should have gone long ago, it’s not on for a record to stay for 20 years. I think it’s not right, it means we have problems.”
When Ramaala became a competitive runner in the early 1990s, distance running was in a different space, with far more attention being paid to the shorter distances.
The top runners were housed at clubs run and sponsored by mining houses, although other institutions were getting in on the act, like Correctional Services, which featured a clutch of stars, such as Shadrack Hoff.
“You could focus on your running and not go to work. Before, it was balanced. Ultras [marathons] and ourselves, we were getting paid good money,” said Ramaala.
“They [sponsors] were making sure we could afford rent and [to] eat, but then they started putting most of their resources in ultra. That’s when there was a lot of movement, the focus shifted to ultra instead of Olympic sport.”
With more money going to ultras, the shorter distancers struggled. “The marathon is suffering. Last year we had only two guys running under 2:10.00.”
Thys’s record, which made him the world’s second-fastest marathoner of all time, didn’t even rank inside the top 50 runs on the planet last year.
In the build-up to the 2004 Games, Ramaala, Thys and Ian Syster all went under 2:09, territory that is familiar only to Stephen Mokoka, who ended fifth at the 2019 world championships.
But Ramaala said things were changing again, with more groups focusing on Olympic distances as well as ultra-marathons. These included Michael “Sponge” Seme in Pretoria and Elroy Gelant in Potchefstroom.
“Steven [Mokoka], Elroy, Precious are still running shorter stuff so they are telling the younger generation ‘don’t rush, let’s do this’ ... We’re reintroducing that culture. We’ll get it right soon.
“The next generation coming up are going to have it much easier because they’re coming into a system that’s in place. It’s easier for me to identify talent… We learn from our mistakes.”
Ramaala pointed out that sponsorships were key. Mashele and Chaumeton earn retainers that allow them to train properly and not rush into races trying to earn money.
Mashele, already 33, although he took up the sport late, said he was often asked why he wasn’t running longer distances. “No, no, it’s not the right time. My legs are still not strong.”
He, Chaumeton and Kavanagh are all keen to get to the Paris Olympics next year.
And along the way a record, or two, will fall. “The beauty of running... You prepare for the record, but then you don’t know when it’s going to come,” said Ramaala.
“But you must always be prepared.”
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