For the fourth time in his career, Lucky Miya represented SA internationally. The BUFF Epic Trail on 23 July was the Skyrunning World Championship in Aigüestortes, Spain. He worked hard an placed 30th in the world!
Lucky has come a long way from a childhood soccer player, to blitzing roadie, to mountain runner on the international stage.
Let him tell you about the journey.
Origins
I was born in 26 March 1981 in Warden in the eastern Free State, then moved to QwaQwa where I did my schooling.
At school I ran during the athletics season, then played soccer the rest of the year. Soccer was the popular sport in our community.
I continued running after leaving school. It’s part of my life that I enjoy so much and I’m not stopping anytime soon.
I am the first born at home, with a younger brother, and four sisters.
I am lucky to still have my mother. My father passed on 14 years ago.
I left QwaQwa after completing my matric in 1999. I came to Johannesburg to look for a job as I didn’t have any money to continue with my studies.
Family Life
Mokgadi, the love of my life, married me in 2008. She is beautiful and the caring mother of my three very active boys. Their names are Tebogo (15), Tshepo (10), and Sifiso (4). They all love running already.
Tebogo is a sprinter (100m, 200m, and long jump) and represented the province (SA Youth and Juniors Champs this year).
Tshepo does track and cross-country, and little Sifiso enjoys running around the field while his big brothers train.
We spend a lot of time together at sporting activities especially running (participating or supporting), helping each other with all the housework, watching movies or sports, and traveling!
The Wider World of Trail
The 2016 World Skyrunning Championships won’t be my first international race.
I competed in Chamonix, France, in 2014 and didn’t finish due to groin injury. That year I also competed in Colorado in the USA. I finished 19th at the Pikes Peak 21km ascent.
Last year I competed in Zermatt, Switzerland, for the IAU Long Distance Trail World Championships.
To prepare for the Skyrunning World Champs, I will spend two weeks in the Drakensberg, in mid-June.
I am planning to spend few days at the Mountain Splendour Resort with Iain and Su Don-Wauchope to run around that part of the Berg. Then I will head to Witsieshoek and Golden Gate further north. While up there I will do quality endurance training at altitude, with a plan my coach, Neville Beeton, will write up for me.
Lucky Miya’s Sponsors
K-Way plays a huge part as the main sponsor of my trail running.
They also contribute to help the youngsters in my community (Gallopers Athletic Club) with the expenses of getting them into running.
I train and race with either short or long sleeve moisture manager shirts and use Knox ’14 Active Shorts which are lightweight and comfortable. I love to wear the Staden ’15 Softshell 3 Hoody, Golfer Moisture Manager, and K-Way’s beanies and caps.
32Gi fuel me with the nutrition I need for both training and racing.
Saucony SA make sure I run with light and comfortable shoes.
If you meet Lucky Miya at a race, say hello! He’s one of the friendliest folk on the trails.
Read the full interview on page 82 of TRAIL magazine issue 20. Here Lucky Miya goes into detail about his start in track running, road running development, return to track, and finally his trail running obsession. Get the details on what his weekly workouts look like! There is also a mini-interview with his coach, Neville Beeton, with unique insight into who Lucky is as an athlete.
Keep up with him on social media
