Ethiopians lead the pack in Mother City
• Negewo, Cherenet claim Cape Town Marathon titles
Reigning champion Asefa Negewo of Ethiopia stormed to victory in the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, covering the 42.195km in 2hr 10min 01sec to lift the crown in Africa’s first IAAF Gold Label race.
The second man home was Negewo’s countryman Ketema Negasa, who crossed in 2:11:07, with Duncan Maiyo of Kenya earning third spot in 2:11:26.
South African national 5,000m record holder Elroy Gelant delivered an eyecatching performance to finish fifth in his debut marathon (2:12:49) and was the first South African home.
Gelant sat behind the lead group before slowly working his way within striking distance to launch a bid for a podium finish and, while that never materialised, it was a brave performance by the 31-year-old. The women’s race ended in a double triumph for Ethiopia as Bethlehem Cherenet produced a powerful finish in the final kilometre to cruise past long-time leader Helalia Johannes of Namibia and claim the title in 2:30:22,6.
Cherenet was only 2sec shy of the race record set by 2015 champion Isabella Ochichi of Kenya. Cherenet pocketed R265,000 plus added sponsor incentives for her effort.
Agnes Kiprop of Kenya closed out the podium clocking 2:31. The local women were outgunned, with only Irvette van Zyl putting up a show with her ninth-spot finish.
Negewo’s hopes of improving on his record-winning time of 2:08:41 in 2016 were scuppered from the start by the pacesetters who fell away as the morning warmed up.
Only Kenya’s Henry Kiplagat performed his pacesetting duties until the 30km mark.
Reported prerace disagreements among the leading contenders to do with the time the pacesetters would set for the first 21km clearly was an issue not fully resolved.
That said, Negewo was a class act on the day and came home man alone.
The Nedbank runner bided his time as part of the six-strong lead pack that included SA’s Xolisa Tjale, before breaking clear at Paarden Eiland at 37km and maintaining a strong pace to the finishing line.
“The first half was good, but there was wind, which made things tough, and then the pacesetters weren’t doing the right job, so we had to slow down, but after halfway, it was very good and everything was perfect after halfway,” said Negewo who finished seventh at the 2017 London Marathon in April.