South Africans do the double

BONGMUSA Mthembu and Ann Ashworth did the Comrades double for South Africa after winning the men and women’s down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban yesterday.

Mthembu finished almost 10 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, compatriot Joseph Mphuthi, while Ashworth was just over five minutes clear of second-placed Gerda Steyn.

The gold medal table made good viewing for South Africa, with seven out of the top 10 runners in the men’s race and five of the top 10 women.

Despite Mthembu’s emphatic victory, he was eight minutes shy of David Gatebe’s down run record of 5:18:19. Ashworth’s time was just over 15 minutes’ slower than Frith van der Merwe’s time of 5:54:43 set in 1989.

All in all it was a fantastic day and a great advert for South African sport.