www.wpa.org.za June 2013 Newsletter Editorial During the month of May we have been lucky enough to experience an extended summer with some excellent weather for most of the presented events. The weather normally plays a role in the number of participating athletes at events, the thought of the nearly washed out events are still fresh in our memory. Winter is approaching but we need to squeeze some more good weather in order to host the planned activities on the WPA calendar. All four commissions are actively participating and our athletes are continuously turning out in good numbers. The past month was also host to the SA 10 km Championships in Durban. A very small WPA team competed at the event and the same trend was followed as in the past. Our senior athletes were totally outnumbered by our master athletes with the quality of performances. This is not healthy at all and an urgent appeal must go out to the clubs to assist with the current situation. The development of our junior athletes must continue and resources must be found to stop athletes leaving the province or choosing different sporting codes in which to participate. Jeromy Andreas is one of the latest athletes that prove that we are losing our future stars to the other provinces. With close to 12 000 licences sold for 2013, WPA is the third biggest province in the country based on membership. WPA must continue to develop and produce junior athletes and improve the performances of these members for the future. The total opposite is true of our Master athletes. The performances are of an excellent quality and shows that we do have the ability and caliber to lead by example. The Cross Country season has witnessed a record number of participants across all four leagues. To date close to 5500 members have participated. Athletics is healthy if participation numbers were the only benchmark used at our Road Running and Cross Country events. We want to congratulate the three Track & Field athletes selected to represent South Africa at the Southern Region Youth Team competition in June, they are: Tamzin Thomas (100m), Robyn Haupt (200m) and Carla Johnson (Long Jump). We are looking forward to some of our other T&F senior athletes to represent the country in the upcoming events and championships. The outcry must surely be heard, we need to develop and nurture our talented athletes. In past years, WPA was one of the frontrunners when it came to producing top athletes; we need to reclaim our position. Mass participation is positively growing the sport but we must not underestimate the importance of individual top performances in order to maintain a healthy core of athletics within the province. The current athletes who are participating in school competitions and the clubs must be invested in for the future of our sport. Together we can make a difference in Western Province Athletics. CCCommissionCommission News RACE WALKING The WPA Race Walking Commission hosted their 2 nd Race Walking Clinic on 5 May 2013 at Acsis VOB club house and sports field, which was targeted at long distance athletes, particularly those participating in the Two Oceans and Comrades Ultra Marathons, with the focus on using specific walking principles to get across the finish line in the most efficient way possible. The clinic was attended by 45 runners and walkers and the growing attendance, as well as the positive feedback received, indicates that there is a growing interest in the walking and running community. The discussion was hosted by Keith Reynolds who recently joined the WPA Race Walking Commission as a member and has completed 25 Comrades Marathons and currently competes in both running and race walking events. Keith used his past experience to focus everyone’s attention on walking, after which, he moved everyone onto the fields, towards the end of the session everyone was well educated on the proper race walking technique. The highlight for WPA race walkers was welcoming Olympian and 50km African record holder Marc Mundell to Cape Town to participate in our WPA Grand Prix and Inter Club Championships which were held at Youngsfield on 18 May, in perfect conditions. Of course Marc won the 30km distance in a time of 2:19:40, a personal best for him and the 2 nd fastest time ever in South Africa over this distance, this after recovering from knee surgery after his Olympic performance. Wayne Snyman (South African Student Champion) also flew down from Gauteng to win the 20km distance in a time of 1:25:10 which is a new course record and which afforded him an IAAF B qualifier for the IAAF World T&F Championships later this year in Russia. Keith Reynolds was our first WPA walker in the 30km in a time of 2:57:05; there were no ladies in this years’ 30km event. The first WPA walker in the 20km was Patrick Wonfor in a time of 2:12:55 while Fundiswa Sandi took the ladies gold in 2:25:05. The Junior and Youth 10km boys did a superb race, all finishing in 60 minutes and under, with Carel van der Merwe and Malikhiwe Poni taking gold in their respective races. Finally, the 10km Masters Men gold went to Hannes Swanepoel in a time of 59:06, while Cindy Lange won the 10km Masters Women race in 61:42. A total of 57 athletes were present on the track, with the largest field being represented in the Masters’ Women 10km event, PLUS an additional 22 young aspiring development athletes took part in the 1km, 3km and 5km events showing some truly youthful walking talent and potential. We would love to see some new faces competing at these events, so look out for our next round of Race Walking Clinics and please contact WPARWC if your athletics club would like to be the host to a Race Walking clinic…and watch your press for details! ROAD RUNNING May 2013 was a great month for Road Running; the WPA team competed at the ASA 10km Championships in Durban on 19 May 2013, producing excellent results. Well done to the athletes for their results and the WPA office and managers for making it possible for the athletes to participate. Chris Goldschmidt’s article on the Championships below provides all the details. Glynis Bowie resigned from the Road Running Commission and as Chairperson thereof, for personal and work related reasons, and has been replaced by Chris Dooner of Defence WP AC as the Chairperson. Chris will serve until the AGM in October 2013. Glynis is thanked for the time and effort that she devoted to ensuring that WPA and its members were provided with the best possible service. Glynis has not given up on athletics and will continue to perform Technical Official duties. A 3 hour Race Organiser’s Symposium held after the Ravensmead 10km race on 27 April 2013 was attended by 27 members, representing 13 clubs, and the Road Running Commission. Reports from the delegates indicate that the event was successful. Many thanks to Ravensmead AC for providing the venue and the refreshments despite having to prepare it after the morning’s races. The first of two Fixtures meetings was held on 16 April 2013. The resultant DRAFT fixtures list for 2014 has since been circulated to all clubs and associates for further comment and input at the second and last meeting on Thursday 29 August 2013. The list will then be presented to the Board and Council at the monthly and Annual General Meetings respectively. Clubs are requested to negotiate with other presenting clubs if they believe that they need to move their dates, this was explained at the meeting and in the covering email that distributed the 2014 DRAFT list. Frikkie Kotze has been keeping statistics of participation at races over the past few years. It is interesting to note that so far in 2013 most events have been recording a net increase in participation, especially when multiple events are presented. The reasons why some events have had reduced participation must still be analysed; it is known that the weather plays a major role. To all those who are fit and fortunate enough to be able to make the trek to the Comrades: Have a great one and may your run be in accordance with your plan. Gert Thys leads WPA medal charge at SA 10k’s Veteran runner Gert Thys (Maxed Elite) provided the standout performance for the WP team at the recent SA 10km Road Running Championships held in Durban. Taking the M40 gold medal and finishing in 19 th position overall he set a new provincial 40-49 age group record of 30:33. His medal was one of an impressive 9 medals achieved by the small team of 13 athletes. Graham Katzen (Itheko) secured a WP 1-2 by finishing the M40 in second place in 31.47. Pic: Gert Thys in 1 st Place, Graham Katzen 2 nd Despite battling with ongoing health complications the slightly built Annie Bothma (Helderberg) held off the challenges of the Labuschagne triplets from Gauteng North to win the Junior women’s category in a time of 36:47. Still only 17 years old, we can look forward to even greater achievements from this dedicated young athlete. Not to be outdone by their male team mates, the ladies provided at 1-2 in the W35 category with Bulelwa Simae (Nedbank) victorious in 36:01 and Ulrica Stander (New Balance Multisport) runner up in 36:37. Elmarie Coetzee (New Balance Multisport) took gold in the W45 category in 40:21 and Helen Du Plessis (Tygerberg ) gold in the W60.