Spar champion Tadu Nare has the running world at her feet

Many years ago, when I was younger and less lazy, I remember my first coach teaching me how to run.

Jan Greyling, an elderly man who taught at a nearby school, would stand at the top of a hill, send a group of us to the bottom, and we’d run up and down until he told us to stop.

“Pump your arms!” he would yell, blowing a whistle when we got it wrong. “Lift your knees!”

I don’t do much arm pumping and knee lifting anymore, but I do still watch people run, and though Oom Jan’s knowledge about technique wasn’t perfect, he was right about one thing: style is crucial.

As a distance runner, holding your arms bent at 90 degrees, keeping your back straight and driving forward by lifting your knees are crucial to ensuring you can breathe properly, use less energy and cover more ground.

When athletes get it right, they are a pleasure to watch.

My favourite was Shadrack Hoff, the former national record holder in the 5,000m event.

Hoff’s form was perfect. His feet barely touched the ground and he floated over every surface. I could watch him run all day.

At international level, the likes of Kenyan icon Paul Tergat and Kenenisa Bekele also displayed superb form, and they were technically superb in driving themselves forward, making them virtually unbeatable at their best.

Style, of course, isn’t everything, and some world-class athletes get it all wrong, yet they still win big races.

But it no doubt makes things easier if you can run properly, as has been evident in this year’s Spar Grand Prix women’s 10km series.

Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare’s spectacular form has been the highlight of this year’s campaign.

Forcing local athletes into a battle for second place, Nare has coasted to convincing victories at every race in the series thus far.

Much like Hoff, she floats across the tar, and she makes running three minutes a kilometre look as easy as taking a stroll on the beach.

The results produced by the 20-year-old Ethiopian in the early stages of her career suggest she has the world at her feet, and she could become as much of an icon as the best of her compatriots in a country which has produced many of the best distance runners in history.

Nare is likely to win again at the sixth and final Grand Prix race in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, and she’ll probably make it look easy once again.

And if she can carry her form in SA to bigger races abroad, she is likely to turn heads there too.

In terms of style, performance and her gutsy front-running approach, she is a pleasure to watch.