Van Jaarsveld settles for silver at CGA champs
She finished second behind Cornelia Joubert in the sub-veteran women's 4km race.
Kate van Jaarsveld secured second place in the sub-veteran women’s 4km at the CGA cross-country championships on August 16, booking her spot at the ASA championships in Middelburg where she will defend the national title she won last year.
The Nedbank Running Club athlete ignited her season-long duel with Boxer AC’s Cornelia Joubert, and the two lived up to the hype, pushing each other to the limit in one of the day’s most thrilling showdowns.
While the in-form Joubert, a former national half-marathon champion and 2022 winner of the Johnson Crane Marathon, looked set to dominate proceedings, Van Jaarsveld – upright, compact and efficient yet ready to strike with a timely surge – stuck to her own rhythm.
Despite not being in the form she was in at this time last year due to intermittent injuries and illness, she didn’t let Joubert have it her own way.
They were neck-and-neck in the opening half of the two-lap race but Joubert showed her class after 3km, opening a gap the Farrarmere resident couldn’t close to ultimately take the provincial crown, with Van Jaarsveld settling for the silver.
“At the start of the race, all the ladies started singing Shosholoza which created such a lovely atmosphere before the race sprang into action. I managed to stay with Cornelia for the first 500m, but she began to open up a gap on me in the second half, which I could unfortunately not close,” said Van Jaarsveld.
Van Jaarsveld now turns her attention to the serious matter of defending her national title at the nationals on September 6.
“As runners, we are constantly searching for methods to improve on our past performance. Due to intermittent injuries, colds, and the flu, I haven’t been running as much this year, and my training has been continually hindered.
“Before the SA champs, I would like to do some last-minute preparation, but three weeks don’t permit that much time to allow for more improvement, so one can only hope for the best on the day.
“I feel extremely proud to have won SA Champs last year, but running is a sport which is continually evolving, younger faster runners will always be emerging, and I can only hope for the best on the day.”
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