Violations rock PE half marathon race

SOUTH Africans clinched both the men’s and women’s titles but not before a rules violation rocked the ASA Half Marathon Championships at Pollok Beach on Saturday.

In a fast men’s event, Central Gauteng’s Stephen Mokoka clinched his seventh South African 21.1km title in 10 years in a time of one hour, one minute and 21 seconds. That was enough to edge Central North West’s Elroy Gelant into second place by nine seconds. Precious Mashele finished third in 1:01:56.

He was, however, competing as an individual and was ineligible for championship medals, so the bronze went to EP star Melikhaya Frans, who finished fourth overall in 1:01:58.

There was also drama in the women’s race where first- and second-placed Ethiopian runners Genet Abdurkadi (1:11:45) and Elisabeth Arsedo (1:12:20) were both disqualified for not having their race numbers visible on their backs as per ASA regulations.

This after an appeal was lodged by team Central Gauteng. It was a costly mistake, especially for Abdurkadi, as the R50 000 for first place and the title were then awarded to Cornelia Joubert (Central Gauteng), who ran a time of 1:12:31, beating her previous best by six seconds. Her teammate Mapaseka Makhanya was declared second in 1:12:43, smashing her best by almost two minutes.

Lebogang Phalula made it a full house of medals for Central Gauteng women, winning bronze in 1:14:25.

“They [the Ethiopian runners] wore the front race number correctly but the back race number, which has all the competition sponsors on it, was covered up by the licence number,” race director Mike Mbambani said.

“Rules are rules and they were stipulated on the entry form. Everyone has a duty to read the entry form correctly.”

Meanwhile, Mokoka, 32, said he had to fight hard for his money as this year’s competition was tough.

The long-distance runner added he was happy with the win after a tricky start to the season.

“This year started very rough for me,” he said. “I had an injury during the year, so this win shows that I am getting better day by day. Running a 61 minutes, I didn’t expect that and I am very happy with my performance. The weather was good, the pace was good as well, because I think we ran almost even splits.”

Female winner Joubert said the race conditions were perfect.

“The last two years we raced here, the weather was not nice, but today it was beautiful. The supporters were also amazing which gave me the power to go on.” – Additional reporting by Mogan Segadavan