Negewo crosses the line to win the men’s race
Asefa Negewo of Ethiopia clocked the fastest time ever run in South Africa, and Tish Jones of Great Britain bagged the women’s title at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in the Mother City on Sunday.
Negewo was locked in a tightly contested battle with Kenyan athlete Emmanuel Tirop in the latter stages of the IAAF Silver Label race, but he managed to break clear in the dash for the line to win in 2:08:41.
His time was more than a minute quicker than David Tsebe’s 2:09:50, set in Port Elizabeth 26 years ago, which had previously been the fastest time run on SA soil on a non-aided course.
While Zithulele Sinqe clocked 2:08:04 in 1986, also in Port Elizabeth, that performance was achieved on a downhill course which was not considered for record purposes.
“The pacemakers did a great job and without them we could not have run the times we did today,” said Negewo, after organisers introduced pace setters for the first time, with Elroy Gelant and Henry Kiplagat taking the lead men to the 30km mark.
Tirop, who put up a determined fight, finished second in 2:08:47, with countryman Barnabus Kiptum ending third in 2:09:21.
Desmond Mokgobu, who won the SA title in 2014, produced the best form of his life to finish fifth overall in 2:11:33.
The first South African across the line, Mokgobu shattered his personal best of 2:15:17, which he had set in Santiago in April last year.
In the women’s race, Jones paced herself well in her second appearance over the classic 42.2km distance, earning victory in 2:36:13.
Jones, who is based in Cape Town, believed she could go even quicker with more experience.
“This is my second marathon, so I need to learn from people, but the experience I have behind me helped me pace myself today,” she said.
Megertu Geletu of Ethiopia was second in 2:36:34 and South African debutant Lebogang Phalula grabbed third spot in 2:38:00.
In the 10km race, held in conjunction with the annual marathon contest, Namakoe Nkhasi of Lesotho took the win in 28:28, with local athlete Sibusiso Nzima snatching second place in 28:42.
Namibian Helalia Johannes bagged the women’s title in 32:44 and Diana-Lebo Phalula ended second in 33:25.
* Results of the open men’s and women’s races are available in our Results section