Masters… On your marks, set, go!

Masters athletes (30 years and older) from Parys are returning to the athletics track and rediscovering their hidden talents and love for this fast-paced sport. What started as small-talk between some “oldies” back in 2019 is now becoming a reality and the youngsters are finding themselves lined up with athletes that are up to four times their age.

Due to the lower number of participants the master athletes are commonly integrated into events with the Junior and Senior athletes. Although the masters run with the younger athletes, they are not actually competing against each other.

The younger athletes always enjoy the company of the seasoned master athletes, the stories they share of past experiences, and the little motivation it provides to not get beaten by someone more than twice your age.

Local masters athletes who competed at athletics meetings in Potchefstroom and Sasolburg since the beginning of 2021 include familiar names in our community like Wida De Klerk (3000m), Callie Kruger (800m & 1500m), Hardus Engelbrecht (400m & 800m), Koos de la Rey (80m, 100m, 150m, 200m), and Pierre Fourie (80m, 100m, 150m, 200m).

Masters athletes also have to affiliate with a club, like Parys Multisport, and be licensed with Athletics South Africa (ASA) in order to compete at athletics meetings. In addition, athletes who want to participate on a more competitive level also affiliate with South African Masters Athletics (SAMA) in order to compete at provincial, national and international competitions.

Coach Pierre Fourie from Parys Multisport affiliated with both ASA and SAMA in 2021 and qualified to compete at the Athletics Free State Masters Athletics Championships that takes place in Bloemfontein on Saturday 30 October 2020. Pierre obtained the required qualifications standards and will be competing in both the 100m and 200 sprint distances.

This year’s AFS champs will be open to all provinces and the results obtained at this meeting will also count towards the ASA Masters Athletics National Championships presented by KZN Athletics.

“I get most of my training on the track while I coach the young athletes. I never expected to be going to provincials this year”, says Pierre. “I organised the 2021 Fezile Dabi Cross Country league this year and consequently couldn’t compete in Cross like I did back in 2019. Road Running is slowly returning since COVID brought the sport to its knees. I haven’t personally adapted to comply with the stricter COVID compliance protocols of Road Running events yet. The only athletics discipline I could really take a shot at this year was track, and I am having so much fun with it”.