Jade Doran will be one of the contenders leading the girls’ U14 4km challenge in the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) Cross-Country Championships at the Kagiso Sports Complex in Krugersdorp on Saturday.
It’s a foregone conclusion that the competition for places in the top six will be fierce, especially after the girls earned the plaudits of the CGA head honchos for how they competed in the six league meetings.
Although all eyes will be on the consistent Katelin Heymans from 32iG, who bagged four league meets wins, Doran is confident of a place in the top six after she produced a stellar performance to grab the second spot in the last league event in Randburg.
The Benoni Northerns Athletic Club junior runner clocked 17:00 for her first podium finish this season. She finished in the top 10 in all four meets she raced in.
Although the Randburg meeting was her best finish this season, it wasn’t her best performance. The 17 minutes was her slowest time this year. She clocked her season’s best in the first event in Thokoza, crossing the finish line in 15:35 for seventh place.
She maintained this with a 16:13 finish time in the fourth event at Marivate Park and then sliced off 56 seconds to cross the line in 15:57 in the fifth meeting in Westonaria.
“It’s been a good season,” she said. “I’ve done much better than I did last season. I’ve also grown as an athlete.”
She cited the lessons she picked up during races and her coach, Michael van Aswegen’s, meticulous training sessions and race planning as the reason for her success this season.
“I do what the coach tells me. Each course has a different strategy you have to use. I follow that, and I’ve learnt a lot about what to do during a race, which has helped me a lot.”
“I’ve learnt how to tackle corners, go wide, and cut in straight and how to preserve energy in the first kilometre. I’m not a front-runner. I like sticking behind the bunch,” she said.
Doran started running at school when her mother encouraged her to participate in a cross-country race. After winning that event, she saw her potential and began training regularly.
“Running is probably one of the most important things in my life. It stops my stress a lot. I’ve been able to make friends.”
Although she’s targeting a top-six finish in the provincials, Doran knows finishing anywhere in the top four will guarantee her a spot in the CGA team going to the Athletics South Africa (ASA) cross-country championships in Gqeberha in September.
She goes into the event this weekend at peak fitness after Van Aswegen put her and her teammates on a tough programme that included fartleks and longer runs.
“My coach makes running fun. If he did not train me, I would have quit. He understands all of us in his group,” she said.
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