Kate ‘The Smiling Assassin’ van Jaarsveld left her competition eating dust after an aggressive and dominant display at the CGA cross-country championships to qualify for the nationals next month.
The reality is that even if they tried, no one could have taken it away from her.
That’s how determined Van Jaarsveld was on August 17 when she won the sub-veteran women’s provincial 4km title on a flat yet challenging Kagiso Sports Complex course.
What was interesting, though, was her conduct before the race started. She was composed, smiling and chatty; perhaps sussing out her competition.
But once the countdown for the start began, the mood changed and Van Jaarsveld the competitor was activated.
When the gun went off, she aggressively raced to the front and led the race from there onwards. After the first loop, the Farrarmere resident was around 100m ahead of her Nedbank teammate Tebogo Mokgosinyane and just before turning to face the cricket oval, her eldest son, Liam, who went haywire when he saw her, shouted, “Come on mommy, you got this”.
“Thank you my sweetie”, Van Jaarsveld responded, and that was the motivation she needed as she kicked into gear to widen the gap between herself and Mokgosinyane.
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She arrived on the home-straight sporting a wide smile and in her usual arm swing and stride to take the gold after clocking 17:00.
When Mokgosinyane arrived after 01:09 to take second overall and the gold in the veteran women 40-44 category, Van Jaarsveld was already unsaddling, while her two boys showered her with hugs.
“I went out hard and maintained my pace throughout the race. I kept looking over my shoulder to see how far the second lady was. I seemed to be opening up a gap. When I crossed the line, I felt like I was 800m or 1km ahead of her. I’m extremely proud of my work,” Van Jaarsveld said.
The Nedbank RC athlete battled against stiff and sluggish legs in the week leading to the championships, but was extremely relieved everything worked out on race day.
“I felt sick this morning. My legs were tired and sluggish all week but I guess everything came together on the day. I took an early lead. I’m proud of my achievement. I didn’t expect to win. I was hoping for a top three finish to qualify for the national championships.”
She missed a medal at the last nationals in Gqeberha after finishing fourth. This time around, however, she knows what to expect and the kind of competition she will be up against.
“I’m looking forward to that. I know the competition at that level is going to be extremely difficult. Last year, I placed fourth. I was disappointed. This year I’m ready. I’m going to train hard from today. Hopefully. I will be at peak fitness at the nationals,” she said.
Kefile Mabote of Colossus took the sub-veteran women’s silver in 18:48 and the Boksburg Athletic Club (BAC)’s Charlotte Venter completed the top three in 19:08.
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