Record victory for Mokoka

Having become a regular feature at the race, distance runner Stephen Mokoka (above) was full of praise yesterday for the spectators who lined the side of the road, spurring him on to a record fourth win at the Shanghai Marathon.

Mokoka won a closely contested battle, crossing the line in 2:08:35.

“During the race I always get encouragement from people along the course,” Mokoka said.

“They kept saying ‘jiayou, jiayou’ (‘come on’ in Chinese), and when they said that I knew they were encouraging me to push on. I really enjoyed it.”

Mokoka fought off a six-man lead group in the closing stages and burst clear of his last remaining opponent in sight of the finish, defeating Kenyan Ernest Kiprono by three seconds.

The 32-year-old South African covered the 42.2km distance less than a minute outside his personal best of 2:07:40, and the top five men all finished within 65 seconds of each other.

Adding to his victories at the Gold Label race in 2013, 2014 and 2016, Mokoka became the first athlete to win the top-flight annual contest four times.

It was his seventh successive top-four finish in Shanghai, and he flaunted his consistency by dipping under the 2:11:00 barrier for the eight season in a row.

After settling for 36th place in a rare poor showing over the classic distance at the Tokyo Marathon in February, the multiple national record holder was pleased to regain his best form and close out his season in style.

“I am very happy with my performance, and I’m happy after a tough year,” Mokoka said.

In the women’s race, Roza Dereje of Ethiopia was also successful in her title defence, taking the win in 2:22:43.