Chase Elana Meyer’s road-running record? Hot on her heels, Houston

“Houston, we have a problem,” is a phrase made famous in the 1995 space movie Apollo 13. But when it comes to athlete Dominique Scott, the SA road-running scene had no problems, and was all abuzz with the news that Houston heralded the landing of a new pocket rocket.

In only her second official half-marathon road race, Colorado-based, Cape Town-born Scott scorched her way to becoming the second-fastest yet SA athlete over the 21.1km distance. Only the mercurial Elana Meyer has gone faster.

Meyer ran 66min 44sec in Tokyo in 1999, and 23 years later Scott clocked 67:32 at the Houston half-marathon in Texas, US. En route to her third-place finish in Houston she also improved on the SA 20km record, set by Colleen de Reuck, who has been based in Boulder, Colorado, too for many years.

That mark was 65:11 and Scott ran 64:04.

Now a two-time track Olympian, Scott is still on track to represent Team SA at her first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England later in 2022.

“I was left off the team for the last games in Australia for some or other reason but I’d definitely like to race in England, probably just the 10,000m but maybe also the 5,000, depending on fitness and speed,” says Scott.

Certainly it would seem Scott’s road to yet more fame may well lie on the road. And though at this stage she still sees it as supplementing her track efforts, the signs are plain to see.

“I’m not necessarily moving to the roads but will be racing a lot more on the road, so the focus this year is to still run 10,000m at World Champs in Eugene, Oregon, and [Commonwealth] games in Birmingham and then start dabbling in road events.”

Exciting times and certainly, every time she laces her road-running shoes on she looks entirely at home.

“I feel like the roads are where I’m meant to be in terms of my running style, the way I like to race and the whole set-up of road races.”

The mental aspect is key as well. “I find them so less stressful in terms of how you get to warm-up, you just jump on the start line a few minutes before race, whereas track has so much more procedure — you have to have warmed up say 30 min or even more before the start of a major race, so for me it’s always been a more stressful environment.”

Scott certainly shocked even herself with the improvement on her previous best of 70:42 at 2021’s Great North Run in England.

“I knew I was in good form after an eight-week training block. My coach [Joe Bosshard] was confident in my training and thought there was a small possibility I could break 68 min which was really exciting. The B-goal was to break 70 min [a benchmark in 21.km women’s races] and the A-goal was to break 69 min.”

The initial plan was not to run faster than 5:10 per mile but just three miles into the race Scott realised there could be a problem, Houston.

“My watch beeped and said it was a 5:01 mile! I thought there must be a watch problem as we were running through quite a built-up area so I decided not to look at it again.

“I knew we were running really fast, though.” She kept her eyes firmly on the road from that point and just after the 10-mile mark, an excited coach yelled out from roadside. “He said Sara Hall, just in front of me, was on American record pace! I was so shocked that we were running that fast but the news gave me a ton of motivation to finish as fast as I could.”

Couldn’t see

But it wasn’t until the last few metres that she realised just how fast she’d gone.

“Because of the angle of the road, the finishing straight and the glare of the sun, I couldn’t see the clock until I was right on it so I only realised I’d run 67-something as I crossed the line.”

One person who realises Scott’s enormous potential is the current record holder, Meyer. “I’m super excited about the performance of our female athletes such as Gerda Steyn, Tayla Kavanagh, Dom Scott and Glenrose Xaba.

“It was great to see Dom’s half-marathon time and I really think she’ll come to her full potential on the road. She’s patiently developed a great career — by staying focused on championships and the track.”

Can her own record be broken by Scott? “Definitely, things have progressed so much since the 1990s and today’s athletes have also now have great technology supporting them.”

The remainder of Scott’s year will be made up of 10,000m track races, some 10km road events and a few half-marathons, and there is even talk of a marathon, maybe not this year but on the cards for 2023.

She is lapping up the Boulder experience. “It’s just an incredible place to live for a pro athlete: so many world-class athletes, and we’re not even talking about Olympians but Olympic medallists. It’s pretty cool: so many people to meet, so many trails, dirt roads, concrete bikeways, no shortages of places, or runners to train with.”

Being in Boulder does not come without its testings, more specifically the nine-hour time difference. “It’s hard to have family and roots in both SA and US. I wish the continents were closer, but I realise just how fortunate I am to be a pro athlete, living and training in Boulder. And it means the time we do get to spend together makes it even more special.”

Trusted coaches

Back home in Cape Town and Scott’s mom, Renée (herself a national-class athlete over many disciplines in her day), and younger sister, Tash (a keen road runner too), are 100% behind the Olympian.

Says mom, “Even though I participated in many sports codes at a high level I didn’t participate on the track. This is one of the reasons why I’ve never offered Dom any advice. We’ve completely trusted her coaches in the US.

“Now she has started doing some road races she likes to ask me what my personal bests were for certain distances … there’s no comparison. Dom’s first attempt at all road distances so far are way faster than my [personal bests],” she says.

Tash Scott is also a huge fan of her “big sister”.

“I’ve been lucky enough to live with her for a few months in the States and see just how hard she trains and experience what it takes to run professionally. I have different goals and ambitions for myself, but Dom has always been my number one  supporter in encouraging me to follow my dreams.

“I do love running, though I don’t think I would have had much option not to, growing up with my mom, dad and sister around.”

Tash may soon be making some family running history too. “I’m running my tenth Two Oceans half-marathon this year. I was scheduled to run my tenth in 2020 — then the pandemic hit.

“I ran my first on my 16th birthday, so it would have been 10 consecutive if it weren’t for the pandemic. I guess that would have made me the youngest person to achieve 10 Two Oceans halves.”

The combined athletics talent runs deep in this continentally divided family.