EXCITEMENT
was high at Cape Town International Convention Centre yesterday when runners visited the Old Mutual Two Oceans expo to collect their race numbers. The race will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the organisers are expecting close to 40 000 participants on Saturday.
THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY is one of the most distinctive features on the African continent. Apart from its extraordinary geological origins, it has also produced the world’s greatest distance athletes, several of whom will be lining up at the start of the 50th Two Oceans Marathon on Saturday.
Virtually all major city marathons are dominated by athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia.
To date, a similar assault by these wonder-athletes on the world’s top ultra-distance races, including the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon, has not yet occurred, but this could be about to change, starting on Saturday.
Not that athletes from the Great Rift Valley region have been absent from the Two Oceans. Kenyans John Wachira (2009) and last year’s champion Justin Chesire won convincingly but a total of two and three gold medals respectively in the past two years for male athletes from this region hardly suggests dominance, while Kenyan and Ethiopian female athletes have been even scarcer among the Two Oceans gold medals.
The Kenyan challenge has been significantly strengthened this year, with six top athletes looking to hunt down Thompson Magawana’s 31-year-old record of 3hr 03min 44sec. Leading the charge is 33-year-old French-Kenyan, Abraham Kiprotich, the fastest marathoner in the field with a 2:08:33 best to his name.
Chesire returns to defend his title, while last year’s two other gold medallists, Melly Kennedy and Jesse Gichuhi and two other fast but unknown marathoners, Isaac Kiprorir and Benjamin Tabut make up the supporting pack.
Cape Town’s Lindikhaya Mthangayi has made it clear he is chasing a Two Oceans victory and the Khayelitsha pastor has enjoyed an impressive build up, dominating early season road races including a close victory in the Cape Peninsula Marathon over his Nedbank teammate and 2017 Two Oceans champion, Lungile Gongqa. Ethiopians have struggled to make their mark at the Two Oceans and appear to lack the fire-power of their Kenyan neighbours this year, although Kebede Aberra Dinke finished within two minutes of a podium position in seventh last year and could prove an exception on Saturday.
The Two Oceans 56km debuts of two of SA’s best-ever distance athletes is a feature of the women’s competition. Gauteng-based Rene Kalmer and Irvette van Zyl have bagged countless marathon and sub-marathon titles and turn their feet to the ultra on Saturday.
The quality in the half marathon field shines brighter than ever, with top South African Stephen Mokoka back after a two-year absence to attempt to make it five wins out of five. He will be as hard to beat in the men’s competition as will Namibian soldier, Helalia Johannes, pictured, in the women’s.