Why South African runners are on the road to ruin

Decades-old regulations and a conflict of interest between athletes and professional running clubs have created an environment where runners are exploited‚ according to several top-level coaches.

“We have gotten so confused between the needs of the participants and the needs of the professionals and the elite‚” said Norrie Williamson‚ who apart from coaching is the official measurer of the Comrades Marathon route.

“The structure that is in place is the same that has been in place since 1970 and hasn’t seen any notable changes since 1994.”

The relatively recent introduction of big prize money has created an environment that Williamson calls “extremely harmful”.

He added: “Racing should be sandwiched between recovery. What we are seeing is the sides of that sandwich becoming thinner and thinner so people break down rather than improve.”

Runners were pushing recovery limits in order to add additional races to their already full schedule. “It comes down to the ... unemployment rate. These runners are just forced into it because there aren’t a lot of options‚” Williamson said.

Professional clubs are also to blame‚ according to professor of sports medicine at the University of Cape Town Andrew Bosch.

“They exploit the athletes by making them race too often and taking most of the prize money‚” he said.

“It doesn’t matter to these individuals if the athletes burn out quickly and don’t reach their potential‚ as they will get prize money from the athlete until the burnout happens‚ at which point they find a replacement. And so the cycle continues.”

According to Bosch and Williamson a restructuring of club protocol is necessary.

“It cannot carry on the way it is. Our runners‚ our true elite runners are not getting the money they are due. Our second and third tier runners are not being developed and are not put in a situation where they become as good as they can be‚” said Williamson.

“At the moment not all clubs have their interest in the wellbeing of the athlete. The vest on the podium is more important than the runner at times.”

Athletics South Africa has tried to impose race limits in the past but experienced resistance from both clubs and runners. “There was a big outcry as ordinary runners who are not prize contenders make up the field and bring in the income. Runners will travel if need be to get their 'fix'‚” said a member of ASA’s Road Running Commission.

ASA has sought comment from clubs and runners‚ who often balk at potential rule changes‚ and the commission member said “managers of pro clubs want to force ASA to fit in with their demands and needs‚ not to compromise”.

Rule changes in ASA undergo a two to three year approval process‚ meaning notable differences are still years away. Williamson and Bosch believe that in the meantime clubs need to pick up the slack.

“We need our clubs to be looking at a specific goal rather than just looking at winning each week. We can create a ladder that moves our athletes toward that goal while also finding regular income that they can survive on‚” Williamson said.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE