Overcoming hardship seems to be almost a rite of passage for elite athletes. Be it social or economic (or both), it seems that many top performers on the tracks, roads and pools of the planet have had to overcome some sort of hurdle in their quest for athletic glory. But every so often one performer stands out from the rest of the best, one who's story to glory makes one's own life trajectory seem rather cushy.
The header image is of Mark Plaatjes. It shows the irrepressible former South African winning the Nashua Marathon in Johannesburg around 1985 or 1986. And it is this very photograph that adorned the pages of SA Runner magazine in April 1991 when the by now USA-based Plaatjes had finally had a breakthrough performance by winning the Los Angeles Marathon of that same year. Crazy to think that he was still "stateless" at this time though.
To say Mark Plaatjes is an inspiration is perhaps an understatement. From a pure running standpoint, Mark's talent and sheer capability put him in a select group of South African athletes in the mid-eighties, a time of great turbulence in our now-Rainbow Nation. A long story short, Mark and his family left South Africa in 1988, applying for political asylum in the USA. This followed an earlier – and unsuccessful – attempt to compete in under the flag of Swaziland, so desperate were he and middle distance star Johan Fourie to compete on the world stage. Yes, he yearned for the opportunity to compete internationally, but Mark also wanted a better life for his wife and kids. Already a qualified and highly-skilled physiotherapist, he began working in practice in Chicago, combining this with forging his elite running career on the road. Mediocre results prevailed, and I think Mark experienced chronic bouts of overtraining, well-meant training "advice" and the too much speedwork not suiting his own physiology (more is not always better). Him and his family were effectively "stateless", having surrendered their South African passports in order gain US residency and eventual citizenship. The wait was agonizing but if that was it took, then so be it. You see, there was simply no Plan B or fall back option for the Plaatjes family; they were truly "all in." Sure, their backs might have been against the wall but their motivation was pure, and that is what really counts.
Fast forward to 1991 and Mark's victory at the LA Marathon was a sign that things were on the up. He had gone back to his own more intuitive training methods and was getting his bounce back. But how conflicted he must have felt with South Africa's readmission into international sport at the end of that year. Barcelona 1992 loomed on the horizon and Mark was still ineligible to compete for the USA. But he stayed true to his principles, as agonizing it must have been for him knowing that he could (and would) have been a contender there.
By the time the 1993 IAAF World Championships came around, Mark was finally on the startline of a major championship. He was quoted in a publication that he although felt he was on the shape of his life, he had fellow physiotherapist on call for the slightest muscle twinge and was just waiting for a sore throat to derail his training. But these ailments never surfaced and he was literally "climbing the walls" in the week leading up to the race, limiting himself to daily half-hour jogs and saving up all that nervous energy for when it really counted. Chasing Namibian Lucas Swartbooi down in the closing kilometres, Mark ran those final three miles like a man possessed, crossing the line as 1993 World Marathon Champion. It was his last chance, he said, after twelve years of fighting. Twelve years! Think about that for a second. Then consider how long an hour takes when you've got time to kill – a pretty sobering thought indeed.
It was in 2001 that Mark decided to have a crack at Comrades. The record books will show that he was unsuccessful at this maiden attempt, an unintentional kick in the calf muscle from another competitor pulling him up lame early in the race. But his zest for life was shone through there for all to see, just as it had been when interviewed post-Worlds win eight years previously in Stuttgart. Like many former elite athletes, Mark has made the Colorado city of Boulder his home, having moved on from a successful running store but still practicing as a sought after physiotherapist. Unlike many of his peers, though, he is still in amazing shape, running for fitness and playing golf as often as he can.
A well-known coach said to me recently that when it comes to hardship, most of us have no idea. Pointing to one of his athletes from Lesotho, he said we should look to him as an example, adding that his athlete simply had no choice to be in peak form and race well the next day. You see, his life simply depended upon it, just like him being worth every sent of his appearance fee for that same race. So the next time things get tough in a race or you're just having a bad day in general, think about Mark and what it took for him to get a normal life. Or read Bob de la Motte's comprehensive Runaway Comrade, which gives a great insight into Mark's and other SA athletes' search for a better life.
