These are heady days for Parry

He has established himself as one of the top coaches in the country

LINDSEY Parry’s penchant for coaching was kick-started at university by a fellow student wanting to impress a girl.

Parry studied BSc at Rhodes, but spent more time partying than running, and that resulted in injuries.

So he took on a more social role at the athletics club, and that was when he was approached by a novice eager to run.

“He took up running to impress a girl,” Parry recalled. “She was doing a halfmarathon and said it would be nice if he joined her.

“There wasn’t any time to prepare and he stayed with her for 17km. He finished the race, but he had to tie splints on his legs at night because his legs were so sore.

“But he took up running and I helped him. I read every coaching book and magazine I could get my hands on.”

His new friend didn’t get the girl, but nearly 20 years later Parry, 38, has established himself as one of the top coaches in the country — in triathlon and athletics.

He guided Caroline Wostmann and Irvette van Zyl to victory at the Two Oceans last weekend, in the ultra and half-marathon races.

He also coached the two fourth-placed finishers, Charne Bosman (56km) and Rene Kalmer (21km).

Parry is riding a wave of resurgence in SA women’s distance running.

So far eight women have achieved the 2hr 45min 00sec Olympic qualifying standard for Rio 2016, and Kalmer and Van Zyl are likely to push that to 10 when they make their bids at the London Marathon later this month.

Four years ago, only three women, including Kalmer and Van Zyl, qualified for the 2012 Games.

At the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, SA had no female marathon runners.

Parry believes Van Zyl is in shape to have a crack at Colleen de Reuck’s 20year-old 2:26.35 national record in London, but said she should hold back rather than risk qualification.

He warned that SA’s women were unlikely to conquer the podium at the Rio Olympics.

“It’s going to be hot and humid [and] we’re probably not going to see a sub2:25 getting a medal in Rio, but we’ll probably still see something 2:28, 2:32, and those are times our girls could potentially run . . .

“Whatever the time in Rio, the equivalent time will be someone who has the ability to run between 2:22 and 2:26 [in ideal conditions].

“That’s going to medal on the day, and we’re not there yet . . . Irvette’s getting close.” Parry says it’s just a matter of time. “Part of it is we’re a little bit behind, but part of it is just believing we are there. It only takes one athlete to do it.

“If Irvette does it, then Rene will believe she can do it; and if Rene does it then Mapaseka [Makhanya] will believe she can do it . . . and so on.”

The growth in depth in SA’s women runners goes against the worldwide trend in distance racing where the talent pool has thinned.

Parry can back this up with statistics and his own experience.

In 2011, he ran 3:04 in a Stellenbosch marathon and finished 29th; in 1984 his father Trevor, winner of three Comrades gold medals, did a 2:34 marathon in the same area and ended outside the top 50. RUNNING HIGH: Lindsey Parry is riding a wave of resurgence in SA women’s distance running As the official Comrades Marathon Association coach, Parry also mentors regular runners.

The two biggest mistakes amateurs make is going too hard on their easy runs, which should comprise around 75% of their weekly workouts.

The other is that they build up mileage too quickly and then ignore injuries which become chronic.

Parry, with five Comrades and two Iron Mans under his belt, insists the ultra-marathon is a tougher endeavour than Iron Man.

“Comrades is eina. Iron Man is a walk in the park to do, it’s difficult to race. But pain management and discomfort — Comrades.”