ATHLETICS:Julian Drew
LAST Saturday in the Dutch town of Hengelo Haile Gebrselassie missed out by a whisker on a million dollar pay-out for becoming the first man to run under eight minutes for two miles. By comparison, Hendrick Ramaala’s fifth place finish in the 10 000m for a new South African record of 27:36.30 was a modest effort- nearly a minute behind Salah Hissou’s current world record of 26:38.08.
For local athletics, however, it was an important step forward, picking up from the renaissance of 1995 when Ramaala and Shadrack Hoff brought South African distance running out of a lengthy period in the doldrums.
Ramaala was the revelation of the 1995 season, coming from nowhere to finish as the first South African home at the world cross country championships and reach the 10 000m final at the world championships in Gothenburg with a respectable personal best of 27:54.59.
Last year was fraught with injury problems that kept him out of the world cross country championships and saw him perform poorly in Atlanta.
This year is Ramaala’s first as a full-time athlete after graduating from Wits with an LLB last year. There are not too many articulate, black sportsmen from humble rural backgrounds who have got themselves an education and been to the Olympics, but when Ramaala went looking for sponsors he received some surprising responses.
One company representative told Ramaala they wouldn’t get value for money out of him. He said a well known sprinter races week-in-week-out for them and if Ramaala wanted to come on board he would have to do likewise.
Out of necessity rather than desire Ramaala went to Europe at the end of December to race on the World Cross Challenge circuit, earning himself more than R30 000 by the time he returned at the end of January and placing him second in the rankings after five races.
That money came in handy for Ramaala who rented a flat in Johannesburg’s Berea’s for himself and his two younger brothers whom he is helping through their studies. It was not the smartest move for his long- term plans, however, and while he was over in Europe’s freezing winter he lost much of his endurance base. He could still have rescued his situation though had it not been for the ridiculous requirements of Athletics South Africa who insisted that any athlete wanting to go to the world championships in Athens should qualify at least once in the local season.
The only opportunity to do so at the coast this year was at Port Elizabeth on February 14. A crash course of speed sessions proved insufficient and he failed to make the mark. His dismal performance at the world cross country championships in March further underlined what has been obvious for too long now. South Africa’s elite middle-distance runners cannot run the world cross country championships and the local track season.
“If we run the world cross country
championships then my thinking is that we mustn’t run on the track until April,” says Ramaala.
With a sponsorship from Mr Price under his belt Ramaala rested after the world cross country championships and then started building up for Athens. “My overall mileage was up to 200/215km a week which is the most I’ve ever done. I could never do that before but now I have the time to train and rest in between. I was also doing gym work three or four times a week,” says Ramaala.
Going back to the formula which saw him do so well in Gothenburg Ramaala built up his endurance and used cross country league races to gauge his fitness and gain confidence. “I was training right up until last Friday (the day before the race in Hengelo) so I didn’t have any speed but I didn’t blow because I had good endurance,” says Ramaala
“I heard before the race that there would be three groups and I decided to stick with the lead group who were aiming to go through 5 000m on 13:30 pace ( that’s 27 minutes for 10 000m!). I went through 5 000m in 13:43 and just stayed behind the leaders. With four laps to go I went to the front to push the pace a bit,” he says.
At 600m from home the sprint for the line began and Ramaala couldn’t respond. “My stomach began to turn and I wanted to throw up. It showed I hadn’t done my speedwork so I decided to reduce my pace a little.”
He eventually came fifth but clipped more than three seconds off Xolile Yawa’s 10- year-old South African record and paved the way for even greater things. “I wasn’t tired. It felt like any other race and I believe any of our top runners can do it with the same training.”
The modest Ramaala is likely to beat them to it though because when he sharpens up with some shorter races over the next month and gets ready for Athens at the beginning of August he could find he has a lot more in reserve.
ENDS