Comrades victor toyed with pulling out
BONGMUSA Mthembu and Ann Ashworth, produced a golden double for South African at the 2018 Comrades Marathon Down run with both men’s and women’s titles staying on home soil.
B ulwer-born Mthembu was the star of the show as he became the first South African male athlete in 30 years to win back-to-back Comrades titles.
Mthembu raced to victory in a time of 5:28.39, winning his third title after victories in 2014 and 2017.
“When I crossed the finish line I was very emotional, to win the Comrades is not easy, it took a lot of kilometres (of training),” Mthembu said. “It means a lot to me and I am looking forward to seeing what is going to happen after this win. I am lucky because I do it for the love of the sport so I think that is the main driving force.”
Mthembu had to deal with the death of close friend and teammate Siphiwe Ndlela, who died at a training camp in the Drakensberg in March.
He had to cut his training camp in Lesotho short for a memorial service for Ndlela.
Mthembu made history last year when he became the first South African to win the race more than once since Bruce Fordyce
Fordyce was coincidentally the last South African man to win back-to-back titles in 1988.
Mthembu made his break at Cowies Hill after spending the majority of the race in the lead bunch. He dropped Edward Mothibi and David Gatebe at the final major climb.
Three-time Two Oceans champion Marko Mambo paid the price for breaking early with the lead group catching him with 26 kilometres to go.
It was a South African 1-2 with Joseph Mphuthi following behind Mthembu in a time of 5:35.14.
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“I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it but I think the experience of knowing how to win the Comrades helped,” Mthembu said. “I am happy and excited but I know it is just for this day and the next day I need to start preparing for next year.” Ashworth brushed last year’s disappointment aside to claim her maiden Comrades Marathon women’s title. Ashworth ran a composed race taking the lead for the first time with 41 kilometres to go winning with a tie of 6:10.04. She withdrew a kilometre into last year’s race after a fall at the start. It was a one-two finish for South Africa with prerace favourite Gerda Steyn entering the Moses Mabhida Stadium in second place with 6:15.34.
Russian athlete and 2017 runner-up Alexandra Morozova finished third in 6:20.21. “I don’t think there is anybody more surprised about me sitting up here than me to be quite frank,” Ashworth said at the post-race press conference.
“My coach (John Hamlet) had big plans for me and I thought he was smoking really good stuff, but I followed the plan and, wow, look what happened.”
The lead changed three times with Russian Nina Zarina making an early break before pre-race favourites Steyn, Ashworth, Charne Bosman overtook her.
Steyn held the lead briefly, but once Ashworth got her nose in front, she opened some daylight. Two Oceans champion Steyn tussled with Morozova for a major part of the race as they tried to reel in Ashworth.
Capitalising on the downhills Morozova closed in on Ashworth as they entered Pinetown with Steyn falling behind.
Morozova managed to get a slender lead but Cowies Hill proved to be the equaliser with Ashworth taking control on the relentless climb. BONGMUSA Mthembu wasn’t sure whether he was going to be able to finish the Comrades.
“I wasn’t sure whether I was going to reach Pinetown but the experience of knowing how to win the Comrades kept me going. I thought of pulling out.
“When I heard that my family which include my brother and my sister were waiting for me, I just got motivated,” a cool, calm and collected Mthembu said. The KwaZulu-Natal-born Mthembu pocked R440 000 for his first place finish and an extra R200 000 for being the first South African to cross the line.
Another R45 000 was given to Mthembu for being the first KZN athlete to claim gold.
In total he walked away with a staggering R685 000.
Asked where will he be cele- brating his victory, Mthembu replied: “I will celebrate when I retire in five years. The next day (today), I will start to prepare for next year’s marathon.”
Mthembu is the first black athlete to claim back to back Comrades titles.
“I was able to own the race. Mr (Marko) Mambo (who finished 5th) was doing a crazy race. David Gatebe has pace and I had to make sure that he didn’t open the gap.
“I wasn’t scared to run and I owned the race,” Mthembu said.
Mthembu, with three Comrades wins, is seventh on the list of the most successful male athletes in the marathon behind Bruce Fordyce (9), Arthur Newton (5), Hardy Ballington (5), Wally Hayward (5), Jackie Melker (5), and Alan Rob (4). He is tied with Zimbabwean international Stephen Muzhingi and the retired Vladimir Kotov.
The victory for Mthembu also stretched the total domination of South African male athletes in the Comrades Marathon.
Since 2012, SA runners have dominated the famous KZN ultramarathon with Ludwick Mamabolo, Claude Moshiywa, Mthembu, Gift Kelehe and Gatebe all claiming victory.
Fellow South African Ann Ashworth claimed victory in the women’s category with a time of 6 hours, 10 minutes and 04 seconds.
She walked R640 000 in total.
“It was an interesting race. I had no idea how the race was going to turn out.
“I just ran my own race.” away with