SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - At the recent SWD Masters Track and Field awards, held on January 20 at the Pine Lodge Inn in George, Sedgefield local Les Stuart was awarded his SWD colours for the third year in a row in accordance with standards set by SWD Masters Athletics.
What makes this achievement remarkable, is that Stuart is 74 years old, and that he has only been competitive in track and field for the last four or five years, according to him.
Stuart set up records in the 800m event, which he completed in 2 minutes and 54.7 seconds; the 1 500m event, with a time of 6 minutes and 6 seconds; and set a distance of 3.61m in the long jump in his age group of 70-plus.
“These are all SWD records that I set up in Oudtshoorn during 2016. I competed in all the other events too, but I found that I am more successful in these, I even run half-marathons,” says Stuart.
He now aims for the 2018 World Masters' Championships that will be held in Malaga, Spain. “I would have loved to go to the championships in Korea this year, but it’s a little out of reach,” said Stuart, adding quickly that it’s not due to physical reasons.
When Stuart turns 75 in June, it means he will move to a new age group. “The SA Masters Athletics National Championships in May will be my last big competition. After turning 75 I will be targeting those records in the new age group because it will be my ‘young year’,” Stuart laughs.
The father of three daughters says when he started running about five years ago it was for medical reasons. “My cholesterol was a bit high, but after doing some research on the medication I was prescribed, I decided to rather work on my diet and lifestyle. After a month of jogging I started enjoying it. I found out quite accidentally that I could be competitive in both long and short-distance running,” he says.
A member of the Knysna Marathon Club, Stuart enjoys taking part in 5km and 10km road races – of which he won the Athletics SWD 70-plus race last year, and half-marathons like the Knysna Forest half-marathon. He trains five days a week, alternating between speed and endurance training. “Saturdays are usually race days,” he adds.
His motivation to keep on going? “I find the spirit among runners a very special thing. I enjoy being out there for not only the competitive aspect but the social aspect too, especially in masters' athletics. You have those bad days when you think ‘what am I doing this for?’, and you turn around halfway through your run, but luckily I don’t have many of those,” Stuart says.
His wife Zelia says she is very proud of him and supports him completely in everything he does. Stuart says he can even run away from his sons-in-law, “although they beat me on the cycling”, he jokes.
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