Van Zyl ‘grateful’ to be back on the road and finding her best form

After a crushing year which has seen her sidelined for most of the season, distance runner Irvette van Zyl says she is relieved to be back on the road and running well.

Van Zyl picked up an injury last year but it was misdiagnosed, and she discovered in January that she had a stress fracture.

Despite being confined to crutches, and facing a long rehabilitation process, she was able to recover in time to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August, where she finished 45th in the marathon.

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Taking further steps forward, she returned to the podium at the Absa Run Your City race in Johannesburg last week, and she finished third again at the Spar Grand Prix 10km race in Joburg on Sunday, crossing the line in 35:08.

The Spar race was dominated by Ethiopian athletes Selam Gebre and Debash Desta, who finished first and second in the absence of Grand Prix series winner Tadu Nare, with Nare giving the last race of the campaign a miss in order to focus on next week’s Chicago Marathon.

Podium return

Van Zyl, however, was delighted to be the first South African athlete, albeit somewhat thanks to a handful of local stars turning out at the World Road Running Championships in Latvia over the weekend.

“The podium is such a nice place to be, and training has been going well, so I’m grateful,” said Van Zyl, a former national champion in the 5 000m, 10 000m and half-marathon events.

No stranger to injuries, Van Zyl admitted this latest setback had been the hardest to overcome throughout her lengthy career as an elite athlete.

“It has been a frustrating year and I was gutted to miss the Two Oceans ultra-marathon (in April),” she said.

“It was a tough injury and it hit me hard, but I’m happy to be enjoying my running again.”

Van Zyl confirmed she would compete in the 10km contest at the Cape Town Marathon in two weeks’ time, before beginning her build-up to her next 42km race.