Unique Curro Street Mile on Youth Day revives old tradition for middle-distance runners
Last week on Youth Day Curro revived an old favourite event in South African athletics – the street mile – and ordinary athletes of different ages were able to share the atmosphere and grandeur of this event with several top athletes.
Street miles used to be one of the most popular forms of athletic entertainment in South Africa and there was a time when this type of event attracted large crowds to the streets and also made for very popular TV viewing material.
The sports department of the education group, Curro, recently decided to bring back this once popular form of athletics entertainment and thus the Curro Street Mile, which was presented on Youth Day last week, was born.
More than 900 athletes and 45 of South Africa’s leading elite middle-distance runners eventually participated.
Photo: Charmaine Visser
By removing the traditional track environment, the Street Mile, which was hosted at Curro The Blyde in the far east of Pretoria, placed school and ordinary athletes and national champions on the same road,.
The men’s elite field included experienced performers such as Johannes Morepe and Keanu Domingo, but ultimately, Musawenkosi Mnisi won this race in 4:01.87.
The women’s elite field included track and road legend Glenrose Xaba, national 1500m champion Karabo More and top athlete Carina Swiegers, a regular presence in national elite events. More won the race in 4:49.58.
However, it was the performance of a young Curro Hazeldean pupil that attracted the most attention. The Street Mile’s model delivered exactly as intended when 16-year-old Tiisetso Malungane produced the fastest mile ever recorded by a 16-year-old on African soil when he stopping the clock at 04:03.85.
Photo: Gerrit van der Linde
For those tracking his trajectory, it was confirmation that Malungane is earmarked for great things as an athlete. Over the past year, he has collected ASA age group gold medals and broken national records at u.16 and u.17 level across the 800m, 1500m and 3000m events. He even came within three seconds of a national youth record that has stood for 44 years.
South African athletics has always had the talent. The revival of events like this Curro Street Mile will build the connective tissue that transforms raw ability into elite performance, placing athletes from seven years old on the same course as national champions and closing the gap between grassroots and elite.
Tiisetso Malungane’s performance is probably the clearest demonstration of what becomes possible when those conditions exist.
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