This Sunday sees the running of the New York City Marathon. And while all eyes will no doubt be on the front runners, one competitor looking to go around 2:40 might be familiar to South African athletes.
These are heady days for Lindsey Parry. With a coaching stable including such road running luminaries as Caroline Wostmann and Irvette van Zyl, Lindsey's CV speaks itself. Add in ancillary roles such as Official Comrades Marathon coach and Head Tukkies' High Performance Lab, not to mention a bit of writing for Runner's World Magazine, the Pretorian is indeed a busy man. But that's OK with him – wearing many hats might seem daunting to some, but it clearly works for Lindsey. Not that he's exactly basking in the limelight either.
Six weeks ago, much of the South African and African running elite were in the Mother City for the annual Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. The invited elite athletes were accommodated in an upmarket hotel, which doubled as the focal point for all of their culinary and logistical activities. If they weren't jogging, they were eating and relaxing. In the foyer sat a fellow, anonymously immersed in his laptop and minding his own business. Lindsey Parry was in Cape Town to support his athletes and compete in the event's 10km race. He's getting sharp for New York, said one of his star athletes, adding that Coach Parry occasionally joined them on some of their training runs just to test his legs.
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John Wakefield just loves riding his bike. Which is pretty much to be expected given his day job as a cycling coach. A wizard with power files and big on the human connection, Cape Town-based John is a fixture on the domestic cycling scene. How's life, he asked a friend as he rolled down to the support village of the FNB Wines2Whales Adventure. A last minute entrant, John was riding with one his clients, enjoying the trails and some time away from his PC. Yes, time in nature is important and, like Lindsey, he still has a desire to push his own physical limits just for the love of it. He's got nothing to prove and that's just the way he likes it.
But John has been in the news of late, although his name has been conspicuously absent in the various press releases. You see, his athletes have been doing well on the international stage and they are stepping up to the next level. Alan Hatherly finished in a superb second position at the UCI MTB U23 World Championships in September, confirming his class and potential. Then only a few weeks later, Team Katusha-Alpecin announced the signing of Willie Smit. Both riders had finally made the big time after years of hard work, toil and no small amount of hardship. And both are coached by one John Wakefield, not that the media were paying much attention to that fact.
Not that this oversight seems to bother John. Far from it actually, as I'm sure he is revelling in both his success and his place away from the limelight. And besides, he's got work to do in ensuring that Alan and Willie and Matt and ...(the list goes on) are doing the right thing in training and resting when they should be. Just like Lindsey, I'm sure he'll attest to real coaching being an ever evolving dance: sometimes a hard thumping percussive pressure cooker, other times soothing sandwich machine With lots in between.
So, whether sitting in a hotel foyer crunching the keyboard or catching up with an athlete on Skype post-race, these guys jobs are quite literally 24-7. And whilst real coaches inspire and protect, they also need a little time to themselves.
Dominate the single track this weekend John!
Sub-2:40 in the Big Apple Lindsey!
