Cape Town - The 2023 women’s and men’s Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon champions are passionate runners whose dreams of standing on the podium crashed last year.
About 16 000 avid and elite runners from all walks of life participated in the races.
Women’s winner Emma Pallant from Great Britain finished sixth in 2022, but learning from her past mistakes, she reigned supreme at the 21.1km on Sunday, finishing at 1:14:17, pushing her competition, Ethiopian Bekelech Teku Wariyo, into second place at 1:14:22.
Mokulubete Makatasi from Lesotho followed at 1:16:14.
“I participated in the half marathon for the first time last year and started off very fast. Half through the race I struggled,” said Pallant.
“My strategy changed today. The competition was very tough, especially with Bekelech.
“I tried to push the pace and during the 19km, the ladies’ pace slowed which was my opportunity to push harder. This paid off,” said Pallant.
She said coming in last or not climbing the podium should be an encouragement for runners to improve themselves.
In the colours of Phantane Athletics Club, men’s winner Mbuleli Mathanga from KwaZulu-Natal came fourth in the race in 2020 but took top position in 01:03:58.
Double Olympian, Elroy Gelant, followed in 1:04:05 and Jobo Khatoane from Lesotho came in third at 01:04:13.
“I’m delighted with my achievement and performance,” Mathanga said.
“The standard of the race is very high. You can’t underestimate anyone.
“Running along strong athletes pushes one to keep on striving for more and the desire to improve. It’s important to enjoy the race but also set goals and remain focused on the race,” he said.
Cape Times