The Tuks-athlete Aynslee van Graan will aim to repeat a unique double on Saturday when she competes at the South African Cross Country Championships in Centurion. 

Three weeks ago during the Gauteng North Cross Country Championships, she managed to win the 4km as well as 10km races. What made it remarkable is that she was able to do so within than an hour.

Van Graan admits it might not be as easy on Saturday to win as she is competing against seasoned cross country runners the likes of Glenrose Xaba who is the current South African women’s cross country champion. Cornelia Joubert and Zintle Xiniwe are also expected to be amongst the frontrunners. 

The Tuks athlete reckons a 10km cross country race is all about ignoring the pain as it boils down to a very, very long sprint. 

"My first and foremost challenge is going to be just to try and stick with my more experienced runners. If I manage to do so, I might just surprise myself. The one thing I definitely need to work on is self-confidence. I tend to allow myself to be intimidated when I compete against athletes who I consider to be better."

She did, however, surprise herself during the provincial championships. After she had won the four kilometres Van Graan had minutes 40 minutes to recover before she had to line up to compete over the longer distance. 

"The plan was not to win. My only goal was to ensure that I qualify to compete in the 10km race during the national championships. After the second lap, however, I realised that some of the pre-race favourites might have erred starting off to fast wasting valuable energy. It gave me confidence. Slowly, I started to increase my speed to move up through the field," explains the Tuks athlete who earlier this year represented South Africa at the Cross Country World Championships in Denmark.

Van Graan considers the World Championships to be a reality check. 

"It was, without a doubt, the toughest race I ever ran. We had to race through sand as well as mud pits. It felt like I was continuously facing either uphill or downhill. The steepest climb turned out to be running to the top of a museum's roof.  

"After the first lap, I was not sure whether I would be able to finish. I am glad that I was able to stick it out as it turned out to be a mental victory. Afterwards, when looking at the results, I was at first disappointed, but then I realised my name appeared amid those of seasoned international campaigners.”