Cape Town – Ethiopian Asefa Negewo made history by breaking the long-standing fastest time set on South African soil over 42.2km with a stunning win in the Cape Town marathon on Sunday.
Negewo stormed to victory at the prestigious race, in a time of 2:08:42 to lift the men’s crown at the IAAF Silver Label race. Negewo’s effort beat out the previous record on SA soil of 2:09:50 by Davud Tsebe.
The second man home in a field which included top local and international athletes was Kenyan Emmanuel Tirop, who crossed the line in 2:08:47, with Barnabas Kiptum also from Kenya earning third spot in 2:09:21.
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Tish Jones won the women’s race in 2:36:13, holding off a challenge from another world-class elite line-up. Mergertu Geletu came second, in 2:36:34, finishing ahead of third-placed athlete and South African Lebogang Phalula, who finished in 2:38:00.
“It is great to see such fast times being run on SA soil, which shows how much value a race of this stature brings to the sport at domestic level,” said race ambassador and former world half-marathon record holder Elana Meyer.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, one of Africa’s most iconic road races, boasted a mass field of 8000 entrants, cementing its position among the continent’s most popular road running events.
“Three years after it was relaunched, we have seen the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon develop into a world-class event,” said race director Janet Welham. “We are confident it will continue to grow in success and popularity as the race goes from strength to strength in our goal to achieve IAAF Gold Label status.”
– ANA