Yzerfontein: – “I was very surprised when I recently arrived at the! Khwa ttu Game Reserve with my four athletes.
The game reserve is along the West Coast road, from Langebaan, about 1km pass Yzerfontein crossing. None of the athletes from Langebaan even knew about the existence of the reserve, although some of them regularly saw the billboard along the main road. Everyone was at least after the races and a sightseeing tour, agreeing that they would be back next month to run there again.
Future stars from lef to right:- Leander Pholman (standing) Uwaal Sameuls, Abigail Fortuin and Greyton Esterhuisen.
Those athletes were from Langebaan Athletics Club and one a coach of the Strandlopers Athletics Club, also in Langebaan. The athlete’s happened to be there, after I called Clive Cupido, coach of Leander Pholman. (Elsen Schools SA 400m Champion and 800m gold medal winner)
Leander participated in a 10km fun run with Abigail Fortuin (two times SA Elsen Schools Cross Country champion). This was Abigail’s first participation in a 2022 race, along with her brother Grayton Esterhuisen (14years).
She is currently preparing to take part in the 2022 ‘SA Cross Country competition which will possibly start in June.
In the photo above, the runners pose for Clive Cupido, athletics coach and also runner for Langebaan Strandlopers Athletics Club.
Uwaal Samuel (19y) from Hopefield, was the fourth athlete who decided to take part in athletics again, after finishing school last year. According to Uwaal, he wants to continue his studies next year, and he plans to study sports science.
The big surprise of the day was Greyton Esterhuisen (14y) , the younger brother of Abigal. Although it was a fun run, none of the four athletes did even think of a fun run, they wanna win.
The competition was between the four of them, and there was a lot of drama to it. Greyton who took part in the 5km race, was involved in a sprint competition for the last 200m with a Langebaan athlete. The Elsen pupil from Riebeek Valley Special School, very comfortably broke the speed limit and “flew” over the finish line first.
When talking about run for fun, age restriction is the last point of discussion.
In the 10km race, Uwaal and Leander also competed over the last 200+ meters, with the latter having to be content with second place. Uwaal admitted afterwards that Leander had cramps during the race, and was certainly not at his best. Leander also decided to play rugby for the rest of the season, and not take part in the Cross Country races. But he will join the trio, Uwaal, Abigail and Greyton for a 4 @ 5km relay in Darling, later this year..
Here, Leander and Uwaal are involved in a duel, on their way to the finish line..
Although Abigail completed her race, she survived a setback when she fell. That was after she accidentally stepped on a runner’s heels. Fortunately, her leg did not hurt much, although the front of her leg bled below her knee. It was also her first race, after participating in a 5km race in St Helena Bay last year. She is now seriously preparing for the South African Cross Country races which may start in June.
West Coast Sports Solutions has been given the assurance that the qualifying races of the Cross Country heats will start in May next month. The athletes are back at !Khwa ttu on Saturday 7 May, if the SA Cross Country heats have not started yet.
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