Cape Town - It won’t be an Easter weekend affair, as it traditionally has been, but the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon is sure to be the exciting festival of running.
This year’s festival – which incorporates the flagship 56km event, fondly referred to as the ‘World’s Most Beautiful Marathon’, as well as the half-marathon the day after – takes place on the weekend of April 15 and 16, a week after Easter.
Running enthusiasts are still in awe of the thrilling races they witnessed last year, with both the men and women’s events producing scintillating finishes that they will hope could be replicated this year.
Gerda Steyn’s record-breaking run of three hours 29 minutes and 42 seconds, which saw her smash Frith van der Merwe’s long-standing mark of 3:30.36 from back in 1989, remains arguably one of the best displays of ultra-running this country has ever witnessed.
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And the fact that Steyn did not have things all her own way, despite her magical run, told the story of just how competitive the race was last year.
Second-placed Irvette van Zyl, who gave Steyn a fright as she crept closer to her towards the finish, also dipped under Van der Merwe’s record (3:30.31), such was the fast-paced nature of the race.
Last year’s men’s race was equally fascinating, with Anele Dlamini taking off like he’d stolen something to lead the race until he faded after the 45km mark.
He started so fast that the eventual winner, Edndale Belachew of Ethiopia revealed after the race that he was shocked at finding Dlamini in front of him because he’d thought he was in the lead all along.
Belachew’s victory was achieved via a sprint finish inside the stadium, as local Nkosikhona ‘The Pittbull’ Mhlakwana threatened to pull the rug from beneath the Ethiopian’s feet.
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Both men have confirmed they would be racing in 2023, and it will be fascinating to see how their tussle for glory pans out this time around.
Belachew was in the country recently for the Nedbank Runified 50km race in Gqeberha, but had a forgettable outing due to hamstring problem.
His team manager, Martin Ngwenya, said yesterday that the problem then was that Belachew and his compatriot Tariku Abdi had arrived from Ethiopia very late, having struggled to secure visas.
“They were still very tired from the travelling and they did not have a good race. But we are looking to make sure that they arrive on time for Two Oceans, so that we don’t have a repeat of what happened in PE (Gqeberha),” Ngwenya said.
“Belachew is keen to defend his title. But we will also have Lebenya Nkoka of Lesotho, who is a former Two Oceans champion, and he is ready to give the race his best shot.”
With clubs sure to send strong teams to the race, this year’s Two Oceans Marathon could be as thrilling an event as last year’s, if not better – the fact it won’t be taking place during its usual Easter weekend slot notwithstanding.
@Tshiliboy