From parkrun to cross-country
Davidsonville-based athlete Eden Hendricks has his eyes on a professional running career.
Park and cross country runner Eden Hendricks is bursting with confidence, and for good reason.
After performing exceptionally well at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) National Championships, Eden is now setting his sights on the ultimate goal, which is to compete at the world championships.
“The future looks bright; I just need to be consistent with my training because if I can continue to work hard as I did to make the team for the nationals, then I’ll get to run at world champs one day, and I believe that I will get there,” says Eden.
This young man has been a running enthusiast throughout high school. After completing his matric in 2018, he started running the weekly parkruns and used it to his advantage as training for this greater cause.
On September 7, he was selected to participate in the ASA Championship, where he performed exceptionally well in the men’s 4km, securing a finishing time of 12:45, ranking him 30th overall.
His journey was not one without challenges, as he had to go through tough selection processes to secure this spot.
“I started cross-country this year, and the process for the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) team selection is that I had to do four leagues out of eight, including CGA champs. At the CGA Champs, I placed seventh in the senior men’s 4km with a time of 14:11, and I was selected for the provincial team, which took place in Vanderbijlpark.
“I didn’t realise that I was selected at first,” he said. “I thought that I didn’t make it, and I was stressed because I worked so hard during training. When I found out that I was selected, I was happy; it meant a lot to me and I couldn’t stop talking about it.”
Eden’s dream is to take his love for running further and he plans to pursue a professional career in running.
