Local coach one of the best athletes in the province

DIEPSLOOT – Precious Hlaka, an athletics coach for Lonehill-based FFA, hopes that by the end of 2020 she'll have qualified for the SA Half Marathon Championships.

April 27, 2020

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Precious Hlaka hopes to qualify for the South African Half Marathon Championships in the future. Photo: FFA Coaching

Diepsloot resident and Fitness For Africa (FFA) club coach Precious Hlaka is one of the top female athletes in Gauteng at the moment.

This bubbly athlete is passionate about her running as well as the athletes she works with.

“After having my daughter in 2017, I struggled to bounce back to peak performance in 2018 but by the 2019 season I was back in shape and ready to start winning again” she said.

During the cross-country season last year, Hlaka finished in the top five in all the local cross-country leagues and won the provincial championships.

“I made it through to South African Champs that year for the first time and finished in the top 10 under the guidance of FFA coaches Marcel Viljoen, Tamlyn Stevens and Mario Mnguni.”

Hlaka went through a big setback just before SA cross-country trials earlier in January this year.

“I ended up pulling my hamstring the week before SA cross-country trials. It affected me emotionally as I felt like my body was in peak condition after great preparation during the holidays.”

She ended up finishing the race in a great deal of pain but after two weeks of rest and gentle movement and rehab, she was able to start building up again towards the athletics season. Her goals for the year are to run the 10 000m on track in under 38 minutes 30 seconds, to run at least two 21km races (in under 90 minutes) so that she can be selected to run in the SA Half Marathon Champs, and to run 10km on the road in under 38 minutes.

She is still maintaining her fitness during the lockdown by running up and down her street for 45 minutes or skipping for 30 minutes, doing plyometric (exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time) drills given to her by her coaches as well as some strength training at home.

“There is still a lot I need to work on but with the guidance from my great coaches, I believe I will get there.”

Hlaka’s greatest achievements thus far include:

Being selected for SA 10km Road Champs
Provincial colours for SA Cross Country Champs, finishing in the top 10 and earning a silver medal in the team competition
Silver medal in the 3 000m at the CGA track and field champs with a time of 00:11:04.