Northerns youngster eying national champs
"When you’re running with guys who are also training hard, it makes you step up and stay focused.”
Middle distance prospect Zandrèh van der Merwe has put the disappointment of last year’s cross-country season behind him and is focusing on new challenges, hoping to qualify for his first national championships.
Illness at the business end of the CGA season put a stop to the Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC) junior runner’s march to last year’s national championships in Vanderbijlpark.
After an exceptional season, in which he challenged the dominance of Katlehong Athletic Club’s Indiphile Myeki in their category, flu put him out of the final race at the provincial championships, virtually putting him out of contention for a spot in the CGA team for the nationals.
Following his performance, which he gave a seven out 10 rating, in the opening league meeting on May 3, the athlete is determined to see out the season with a medal at the ASA cross-country championships in Middelburg in September.
“Last season was tough. I trained hard and was ready. But then I got sick and had to stop running. This year, my goal is to get my SA medal. I want to stay healthy, keep improving, and be even better than I was before,” he said.
Van der Merwe clocked a respectable seventh place in the U13 boys’ 4km race in the opening league, crossing the line 15:21.
Although he admitted that he’s yet to reach peak fitness, he acknowledged that he would have to work twice as hard to get back to where he was last year.
“My performance was about a seven out of 10. My form still needs some work. But I think I did well, especially since it was just after a hard winter camp. We were training two or three times a day, and I was keeping to my coach’s programme. So I think it was a good start to the season.”
While the goal is the nationals, Van der Merwe will take it a race at a time and give his best at each race.
“There are a lot of really fast runners in my age group. I like that. It pushes me to be better. When you’re running with guys who are also training hard, it makes you step up and stay focused.”
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