When Arnold Geerdts gives motivational talks, a short segment is reserved for visualization. Asking his audience to close their eyes, Geerdts relates how one needs to rehearse what they wish to achieve whilst listening to recorded sounds of the Comrades Marathon. It only takes seven minutes, but this exercise sees participants literally running the eighty-nine kilometres in their minds.
“If you can't see it, you can't do it,” says Geerdts of his life philosophy. “I like to call this my “finish-itive,” in other words taking the initiative to reach the finish line; you have to start somewhere, you have to rehearse it. The Comrades Marathon is an excellent example of getting people to think out of the box. The sounds of that seven minute visualization sequence allows the audience to literally run the entire race in their minds, from start to finish.”
Be it in business, relationships or sports, the key aspect is to have a clear idea of whatever the destination. Whilst thinking “out of the box” is perhaps a cliché, the inverse is perhaps more predominant in modern day society than one might think. Case in point the multi-talented Geerdts, who was recently declined an interview for a marketing and communications position he applied for through a large recruitment agency. Your resume is unrelated they said, leading the former SuperSport anchorman to pen a brief – yet profound - rant on social media.
“We are all a mass of different things,” explains Geerdts of his own take on living. “We tend to quantify and qualify ourselves in whatever we do in life, creating a sort of identity of who we think we are and where society sees us. A narrow focus indeed but at the end of the day we all need to follow our passions and realise our potential, whatever that might be”
Born in Springs, Geerdts started realising his own potential by writing for a local classifieds newspaper before joining the SABC in the mid-eighties. Following a year-long sabbatical from the national broadcaster as owner and publisher of SA Runner magazine (“I borrowed money from Adidas to buy out the owner who was emigrating”), he returned to Auckland Park and gradually became a more frequent face on television, both as a newsreader and, more tellingly, a sports presenter. A circuitous journey indeed and, as is so often the case in that thing called life, a turning point came in his own career progression, almost serendipitous as it was defining.
“I was presenting the TV coverage for the then Million Dollar Golf Challenge when that great visionary Russell MacMillan, who was still working for Southern Sun Hotels at the time, came up to me and asked if I would join him at SuperSport. Bearing in mind this was 1992 and that the pay channel's sports arm was but a microcosm of what we know today, it was a huge risk. But Russell had a clear idea of where he was headed and had the nous to buy broadcasting rights to several major sporting events for ten year contracts.”
As they say, the rest is history and Geerdts, along with the likes of Tinky Pringle, Darren Scott and Gary Bailey, formed the nucleus what today is a corporation offering ten sporting channels. They worked hard, learned by trial-and-error and were effectively a family on a journey, something which Geerdts thinks is critical for any fledgling organisation or company intent on success.
“Koos Bekker would walk around the offices at Christmas time and personally give each and every staff member a bag of mielies from his farm.
“It is that kind of personal touch that sets successful people and organisations apart. Building solid relationships is everything.”
Unbeknownst to many is Geerdts athletic ability, something which has been an extension of his daily existence since those early days of earning R700 a month at the SABC. Ability is perhaps a bit of an understatement as his personal best time over the standard marathon is an impressive sub-2:30. Yes, that is right, under two-and a-half-hours and if the mind the boggles it is perfectly justified, although Geerdts is a little self-deprecating on this subject.
“I must admit that I was rather privileged to keep the company of Bruce Fordyce and others in training; I really have them to thank for my personal best times. Those guys drove me to great things. Running is just part of my life really and I still log over 100km a week when I'm motivated and working towards a specific goal.”
One such aspiration is to be the first South African to achieve a sub-three hour marathon time over the course of five decades, something that he was hoping to do in 2014. Whilst the Cape Town Marathon didn't go according to plan (“I bailed at 34km. That footbridge!”), Geerdts' sights are still firmly set on achieving this feat, taking into account the ebbs and flows of life of course.
“Since leaving SuperSport in March my motivation has wavered a little,” he admits before countering with another revelatory fact. “My being declined that job application last month has actually turned out to be a rather good marketing strategy; it has certainly stirred up some interest. I've been speaking to my old coach Jean Verster, and I'm following his advice whilst getting back on track. Die Vlakte Marathon in Heidelberg is definitely on the cards; I hear it is a great course and running in the Western Cape is always special. So we'll have to wait and see.”
Which is effectively what Geerdts preaches and exactly what he is putting into practice.
Impressive track sessions and long runs under the wily Verster's tutelage serve to complement a most interesting journey that has no signs of ceasing. It just moves with the times, adjusting as Geerdts goes about his daily business.
Odds are good and if he can see it, he most certainly will do it.
*Note: Header image courtesy of Shawn Benjamin and Ark Images.
