Bonitas Run for Rhinos

For those athletics enthusiasts, cast your memories back to the 80s when the likes of Johan Fourie, Deon Bummer, Willie Mtolo, and Matthew Themane graced our roads and tracks with their amazing talent, and during this time, we saw these elite athletes participating in "Street Miles".

The athletes were easy to spot on television or in person, with Johan Fourie and his 'mullet' type hairstyle and the white shell necklace of Willie Mtolo. Those were the days where athletics in South Africa was extremely popular, drawing large crowds to events.

South African athletics seems to have lost this support from the general public, with the likes of Comrades and Two Oceans dominating the running scene. All too often, our top athletes have turned to the ultra-running distance too early and this has caused them to not realise that a sub 2h10 marathon or a sub 0h28 10km is possible, as ultra-running requires less raw speed and greater endurance.

There has been a lot said recently by many running experts that our athletes need to get back to basics and focus on shorter distances on the track, such as 1 500m, 3 000m and 5 000m events, which will allow our athletes to gain that much needed speed when competing at marathon distance.

One only needs to look at the career path of Willie Mtolo before he won the New York City Marathon; he held pretty much every KZN and or SA record from 800m to marathon distance. So the experts out there have all been crying for the shorter distance to be tackled and mastered by South African athletes before stepping up to marathon distance and then Comrades and Two Oceans. A fantastic intervention by Bonitas Medical Fund, Hatfield City Improvement District and Run4Rhino just may be the catalyst for this to happen, through supporting a serious cause close to all South Africans in that of "saving the Rhino", as well as maintaining a healthy active lifestyle, through their introduction of the Street Mile, which is to be hosted by Bonitas Medical Fund in the City of Tshwane, Hatfield on 7 September. No stone has been left unturned to get the elite athletes back onto the streets in a one-mile dash. We are delighted to announce a star-studded men and ladies race, with the likes of:Elroy Galant: Represented South Africa at the 5 000m in Moscow recently and competed against Mo Farah, and has been making huge strides on the international scene. This is pure talent that is now starting to be realised, and I have no doubt that great things await this young man.Steven Mokoka: Has incredible speed over 10km and half marathon, and is now starting to realise that he can compete against the marathoners from Kenya and Ethiopia, as he is improving with each race he takes part in on the international scene.Men Reinhard van Rensburg Hannes Naude Gladwin Mzazi Clinton Swanepoel FolavioSehole Jerry Motsau RanstoMokopane Elroy Galant Steven Mokoka

Ladies Danel Prinsloo Myrette Filmalter Mandie Brandt Mapaseka Makhanya Nolene Conrad Anuscha Nice Ashly SchnettlerNolene Conrad: she is improving each and every time she runs races. In 2012, she knocked off 30 seconds from her 5 000m best at the Koblenz Mini-Internationals meeting, in Germany, on 23 May, finishing fifth in the process in a time of 16:05.98. She then went on to run another PB 10 days later, in France, dipping under the 16-minute barrier. Conrad is often on the podium at various distances around South Africa, so knows how to win races. She is a very small lady, and as they say: "Dynamite comes in small packages," which she definitely is.Mapaseka Makhanya: Here is one to watch for the future. She recently won the Overall Spar Ladies 10km title, winning the final race in Pretoria in a time of 33:37. She smashed a star-studded field of women athletes that included the "golden girls" Irvette Van Zyl and Rene Kalmer in the process. She has improved tremendously over the last 12 months and we hope to see her competing against the leading Kenyan and Ethiopian ladies in the very near future. She is now realising her talent and ability and if she continues on her huge improvements, she will be a world beater very soon and an athlete that all South Africans can get behind and support. John Hamlett, aka Colonel Coach, arguably one of South Africa's best coaches across all distances from track to Comrades, endorsed athletes wanting to run faster marathon times to go back to the short distance to improve their overall speed. Hamlett stated: "if you look at the men athletes running sub 2h07 and women running early 2h20 and below, they have all had good success on the track and have fantastic 3 000m and 5 000m times. I use a lot of track work with training my athletes, even those like Gift Kelehe and Fanie Matshipa who run Comrades and have very impressive track times. I feel that bringing back the street mile races will only encourage better times from our elite women and men. Apart from assisting athletes, it's also fantastic entertainment for spectators."