Oudtshoorn - Middle distance sensation Tshemano Setone may have won his second mile in consecutive Yellow Pages Summer Series meetings, but the R5 000 incentive for the first athlete to dip under four minutes remains unclaimed after Monday's action at the De Jager stadium in Oudtshoorn.
Setone finished in 4 min 3, 90 secs, with Folavia Sehohle and Sampson Ngoepe finishing second and third in 4:06.72 and 4:11.56.
Acting in the role of pacemaker, Tlou Seloba took the field through the first 400m in a brisk 56 seconds, but Setone's biggest challenge was on the daunting, energy-sapping third lap when he had to do most of the running, before taking on the clock in the final lap.
“Going through the first lap in 56 seconds was a problem, because anything between 56 and 59 is in the right range, but when the pacemaker stepped out after 1 000 metres I had to carry the workload and chase the clock, which was just too much on the night,” said Setone, who won the mile event in windy conditions in the opening leg of the series in Stellenbosch last Friday. “There was a bit of wind out there as well, so the going was tougher than it looked,” added Setone.
The attention now shifts to the Westbourne Oval in Nelson Mandela Bay when the third and penultimate leg of the Summer Series takes place on Wednesday.
Looking forward to Series meeting in Port Elizabeth, Setone said: “I have good memories of Port Elizabeth as I ran my 5 000m career best in the Series event there earlier in the year.” - Sapa