Zandreh van der Merwe dug deep into his arsenal to finish the boys’ U12 3km race in second place during the seventh CGA cross-country league meeting at Germiston City Sports Club on July 20.
On a fast and perfectly challenging course, the Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC) junior runner was third in the last half of the race but kicked into gear and pushed himself on the last corner to finish in 10:05.
“The race was fun. I enjoyed it. I prepared well for it. I went to Dullstroom for a winter camp to prepare. I really pushed myself to try and get a PB,” he said.
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It wasn’t a complete surprise to those who have seen the youngster’s resurgence this season following his previous struggles with mental strength.
Before the start of the season, he dedicated a significant amount of time and planning to his mental training and worked with his coach, Michael van Aswegen, to incorporate mindfulness.
“Before this year, I had a mental block. I couldn’t get past my competition, Matthew Pietrouisti, because of that.
“I did a lot of mental training with my coach this year. He put me in high-pressure moments where I usually didn’t perform. Today was another high-pressure moment and I performed.”
He used all his past disappointments to motivate himself when it seemed like he was losing his grip. His fight back on the home straight to be runner-up was evident as he has overcome his mental problems.
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“I looked back to all the times I didn’t fight and quit. It gave me the strength to push myself. Thanks to all the people in my coach’s group for encouraging and helping me to run this way,” said Van der Merwe.
Earlier, Northerns’ Tamica Lloyd continued her improvement when she finished fifth after clocking 11:27 in the U13 girls’ 3km race.
“I thought I would finish seventh. I wasn’t expecting a fifth. I feel awesome. It was a nice route. There were parts where I thought about giving up,” she said.
Van Dyk focused on title defence
Running in the U14 girls’ 4km race, other than her usual U13 girls’ 3km, provincial and national champion Chelsea van Dyk showed her class when she led from the first lap to finish the race first overall, ahead of teammate Jade Doran, who won the U15 girls’ category.
“It’s always good to focus on what you can control now. You can’t always be focusing on what’s coming up tomorrow. But you have to keep in mind what your goals are. My goal is to keep my title,” she said.
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She didn’t find the added distance challenging.
“I’m proud of myself because I wasn’t expecting to win. I planned to track the front people and try to run a fast time and then I won.”
Bokamoso Nonyane made it seven out of seven with another spirited run in the U10 boys’ 2km race. He started conservatively and only kicked later on to win in a new PB 06:28.
“I’m happy to have won all my races. Thanks to my coach and all the parents for always supporting us,” he said.
