We Can Be Champions

Multiple Olympian and 2004 New York Marathon-winner Hendrick Ramaala is gathering his experience - and using it to craft a new generation of South African road runners.

- By David Moseley

There's passion... and then there's Hendrick Ramaala. After talking to the retired road-racing great and (now) running coach, there's only one thing you want to do - and that's tighten your laces and hit the road.

When Ramaala talks running, your heart rate rises, your blood pumps, and your spine tingles. His enthusiasm for the sport is invigorating. If you ever catch yourself at a function and he's in attendance, be prepared to talk running, then some more running, with a generous helping of running for dessert.

Of course, Ramaala is a man well known to South African running fans for his road race exploits during the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. He still holds the South African 10 000m record (27:29.94, set in 1999 in then-Port Elizabeth), boasts too many local victories to mention, represented South Africa at four Olympic Games, and was a thrilling force on the international athletics scene, including at numerous IAAF (now known as World Athletics) events.

His most famous 'runs' on the international stage were back-to-back New York Marathons in 2004 and 2005. In 2004 he pipped American Meb Keflezighi to the post by 25 seconds for a famous victory, while in 2005 the tables were turned for an even more famous second place, when Kenya's Paul Tergat out dipped Ramaala on the line to win the race by one second. Now, at the age of 50 - and like a true champion - he's giving back to the sport by way of coaching, through the Hendrick Ramaala Sports Foundation. Last year he was in the running for Gauteng Coach of the Year at the Gauteng Sports Awards, but lost out to Olympic gold-medallist Tatjana Schoenmaker's coach, Rocco Meiring.