Cape Town braced for ‘gold label’ marathon

THE SANLAM Cape Town Marathon takes centre stage tomorrow and excitement seems to be building in the Mother City.

The weather didn’t play along yesterday, though, and the race expo at the Waterfront was cut short.

Up to 20 000 runners will make their way to the start line in Beach Road, Sea Point tomorrow.

Asefa Negewo will be the man to beat. He made history last year when he won in record time, crossing the line in two hours, eight minutes and 41 seconds.

Race organisers presented their elite men’s and women’s fields yesterday. Five of them have run under 2:10 and two have dipped under 2:09. Four women have broken 2:30.

South African 5 000m record holder Elroy Gelant, 31, will be making his debut. He was the pacemaker last year so should befamiliar with the first 30km of the route. He is the fastest in the field over 5 000m, 10 000m, 10km and the half marathon.

Many believe he has made the move to the marathon at just the right time.

The women’s field is arguably the strongest yet assembled, with Agnes Jepkemboi Kiprop clocking 2: 23.54 in Frankfurt six years ago. Leading the South African charge will be Irvette van Zyl, who has a personal best of 2:31.26.

Tomorrow’s race will be the first time that a marathon will be run with IAAF Gold Label status on African soil.