Wildschutt flies the SA flag high from Flagstaff in the US

• Brought up in the small town of Ceres, the runner achieved a new SA record time in Los Angeles in May

Just how fitting is it that the man who flew the SA flag so proudly en route to breaking a 24-yearold national track record did so from a small high-altitude base named Flagstaff in the US?

But that’s just what 25-yearold Adrian Wildschutt did as he recently rocketed to a 10,000m track record of 27min 23.10sec. That saw to the final demise of the previous best, set by Hendrick Ramaala (27:29.94) last century in Gqeberha (when it was still Port Elizabeth), way back in 1999.

Wildschutt ran the new record time in Los Angeles in May, at the On Track Fest meeting, and making it all the more impressive was that he did it on his own for much of the latter stages.

Born in the small town of Ceres in the Boland region, Wildschutt was raised with enormous love and even-handed discipline by parents Hester and Anthony.

“All of us, my older brother and two younger sisters, were taught the basics of life that involves hard work, discipline and consistency and of doing something good and then doing it over and over again.

“We weren’t well-off at all — my dad was in the construction business and my mom in the fabric business and cleaning houses to help make a living. But we all wanted to make a success of life, whether it be academically or in sport.

“I wasn’t necessarily the smartest kid but I always worked hard at whatever I did,” he recalled back “home” in Flagstaff. That dedication helped him matriculate from Bella Vista High School in Ceres as the school’s top academic and sporting achiever.

He nearly stopped running in Grade 12 as he fell ill but he credits teacher Desiree Pharo with persuading him to keep on running, and now he’s a national record holder. “She was one of many special people that I’ve always seemed to come across at various stages during my life.”

Pharo is now acting principal at Bella Vista as she nears retirement in 2024 and has fond memories of Wildschutt: “He was a very confident learner and one of our top students ... I remember him starting crosscountry and athletics when he was in Grade 10 and we could see he was going to go far ... he was really like a diamond for us at Bella Vista.

“I’ll always say of him as a very disciplined learner ... he once had a bit of a setback when the local Ceres Athletic Club lost a member who was something of a role model to Adrian and I gave him as much emotional support as I could to help him through that stage.”

Postschool, Wildschutt spent some time at the University of the Western Cape before following older brother Nadeel to Coastal Carolina University in the US where he crossed paths with SA and global running legend Zola Pieterse.

“Zola helped me so much at a time when I was battling with

injuries and soon I started running under 29min for 10,000m and close to sub-14min for the 5,000m on track.”

He graduated from that institution with a bachelor’s degree in business with specific focus on operational management. Then he was snapped up by Florida State University in Tallahassee where he got his Masters in business with a focus on supply chain/logistics.

“I was always aware that I needed something after sport, which is great, but so unpredictable. Now I’ve got something to focus on after I carry on running for a few years yet.”

Tackling life in Tallahassee was both easier and harder for Wildschutt. “There was access to so many things but I had to put in just as much if not more work. I had time to focus on my Masters even though I was running 90 miles a week at that stage but the academic requirements were very high. Anything less than 83% in a module, got you one warning and then you were out of the programme.

“Thankfully I was working on something I liked, so it ‘felt’ a bit easier.”

As for the record-breaking run, he went in both prepared and undercooked competitionwise. “It was my first race in six months, I’d had a long wait for my visa to come back to the US from SA and then going to Flagstaff I used the first month to get used to training at altitude [just more than 2,000m above sea level] ... it was so difficult to gauge my training times compared to sea level. But my coach [Alan Culpepper] was excited because he’s always been at altitude and knew I was in shape.”

And what a shape that was as Wildschutt said he knew he was in shape to break the SA mark from the gun. “We went through halfway in 13:44 which put me on target for a 27:28 and even though I ran by myself for the last 2,000m or so I was just so excited.”

ALMOST A RELIEF

Back here in SA and former record holder Ramaala says it is almost a relief that his mark has finally gone. After a hugely successful career as an athlete and now a coach with his powerful Zoo Lake (Johannesburg) squad, the former New York Marathon champion just smiles.

“You know, when I set this recently broken record it was the third time in three years that I’d broken it and I almost got to say I’d do it the next year again.

“But sub-27 always remained a dream for me. I actually thought it was quite a soft record

— well, it seemed that way to me. So many guys are capable of breaking that mark — Stephen Mokoka, Shadrack Hoff, Elroy Gallant are just three that spring to mind. And even in the squad I have now, Precious Mashele and Maxime Chaumeton might do it.”

Ramaala has never watched Wildschutt run in the flesh, only on video footage, but has seen what he is capable of and what it means in the bigger picture.

“I’m very happy for this young man — he has opened our local runners’ eyes. He’s their age — the one difference is that he had opportunities present themselves in terms of races. Here in SA we haven’t had that many chances at running a fast 10,000 in the last while but now they must grab every chance they can.”

One man who never had the chance to see what his son’s hard work and sheer grit can achieve is Anthony Wildschutt. “My dad passed away in December ‘21 and I came home for his funeral and later went on to set an SA 5,000m indoor record, which I knew would make him proud.

“But it almost wasn’t enough and it was like there was this little thing on my shoulder driving me to do even better every time I raced to make him aware of what the sacrifices he made for us had empowered me to do.”

Wildschutt senior, though (he would have turned 54 this year), will be proud that the man from Flagstaff, where he is a full-time pro athlete with NAZelite/ HOKAclub, is still planning to fly the SA flag even higher. “I feel in even better shape now than when I broke the record.

“But it’s still always going to be about balance ... between academics and athletics, and always being aware of what’s come before and what’s yet to come.”