"5000m was my event!" - A race down memory lane with Boy Soke

After Tayla Kavanagh's heroics on the opening day of the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Championships yesterday (16 April), we celebrate one of the country’s top exponents of the 5000m - Moorsoi Boy Soke. A three-time for SA Champion over twelve and a half laps of the track, Soke knows what it’s like to win a national title at the famed Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch and says the three consecutive gold medals he won between 2007 and 2009 remind him of the event he loves above all others. 

Soke is now working with the Boxer Athletics Club to unearth the next generation of Free State top runners. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"5000m was my event," he tells #TheTopRunner with a smile. "Although I started with cross country and I also ran the odd 10 000m, I always felt that 5000m was my race. I used to run that event with all my heart. Even when I wasn’t feeling well, I knew that the 5000m would be where I would set the record straight," says Soke who hails from the Welkom township of Thabong where his talent was initially identified before he moved to Bloemfontein to further his studies in 2003.

Arriving in the City of Roses, Soke was first coached by the late Oom Leon Botha. But his fortunes changed when he joined renonwed coach DB Prinsloo in 2004, who at the time headed  up the athletics section at the University of the Free State. Prinsloo lit the fire inside Soke during their first training session together when he asked him what his best times were for 4km. When Soke told Prinsloo that he usually ran around 12:15 he was shocked to be informed that he would be classified as a developing athlete because he had not broken 12 minutes for 4km.

DB Prinsloo got the best out of Soke. Photo Credit: Kovsies.

“His words stuck with me and forced me to put more effort in training to try and run under 12 minutes for 4km. Even when I trained alone, I would think of his words. So from then on, I trained in the rain, I trained in the cold and in all conditions in order break that barrier.”

The results were almost immediate. In February 2005 Soke clocked 8:23.06 over 3000m in an Absa Series race and then went to represent South Africa at the World University Games in Turkey seven months later where he returned with 14:07.23 for tenth position. After donning the green and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and beating the likes of George Mofokeng, Tshamano Setome, Enos Matalane and Stephen Mokoka to take take the SA 10km crown in 2006, Soke found his best form in 2007. That year he clocked a lifetime best 13:39.83 over his beloved 5000m at the All Africa Games in Algeria and won the first of three SA track titles.

Soke won the national 8km cross country title in 2022. Photo Credit: ASA Media.

"My advantage was that I used to train for the 5000m with the likes of Johan Cronje who was the SA 1500m record holder. He would routinely break 60 seconds for 400m in training. One year I was so fit ahead of the national championships in Stellenbosch that Johan told me not to lead the race. He said I was so fit that I just needed to run a tactical race because I was not there to entertain - I was there to win. Johan won the 1500m title and I won the 5000m."

That was 2009. Soke spent the next decade campaigning as a 10km and half marathon athlete, although he didn’t enjoy as much success on the road as he did on the track. Now 43 years old, Soke remains actively involved in the sport as a both a runner (he clocked 29:40 at the 2025 Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K) and as a coach where he works with the newly opened Boxer Athletic Club Free State to groom the next generation of top runners.

Soke (centre number 38) taking part in the 2007 SA 10km Championships in Stellenbosch. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"This year I started working with Boxer. My aim is for this to be a long-term relationship because I am a loyal person that prefers to work on long-term projects. I'm also dedicated. I feel like an old Gusheshe (BMW 325) that still has a solid engine even if the body is slightly aged,” he laughs. "The challenge in the Free States is that even though we have talent, there isn’t anyone to guide this talent. We must go to the people to find talent in places like Gariep which is over 300km from Bloemfontein. With Boxer we can do so much to return Free State to it’s former glory. I’m so happy that we now have Boxer in the Free State."