Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 14

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
MEN’S ROAD RUNNING ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
We came up with a shortlist of three nominees to pick our winner from.
AND THE
WINNER IS...
1 BONGMUSA MTHEMBU
With his third Comrades win, and posting consecutive wins for 2017 and 2018, plus an individual bronze medal and team silver at
the World 100km Championships, Bongmusa put himself firmly in contention for honours in this category. He also finished fifth in
the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, in what was so obviously a hard training run for him ahead of Comrades and World Champs.
2 PRECIOUS MASHELE
It was quite some year for Precious: A successful defence of his national 10km title on the road, to go with a successful
defence of his national cross country title over 10km, and even though cross country is actually a running discipline of its
own, it should be included here for the purposes of making a decision. He also ran the fastest half marathon of the year by
a South African, clocking 61:17 in France in November.
3 LESEGO STEPHEN MOKOKA
With the fastest 10km time in the country for the year (28:18), Stephen was already a contender, but more importantly, his
win at the IAAF Gold Label Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is an even bigger factor in his nomination. He clocked 2:08:31,
his second-fasted marathon to date, to post the fastest time on South African soil since Zithulele Sinqe and Willie Mtolo
ran 2:08.04 and 2:08.15 respectively in 1986, albeit on an aided course. By winning in Cape Town, Stephen also added the
SA Marathon title to his name, having already won the SA Half Marathon Champs title in July in the Eastern Cape.
Lesego Stephen
Mokoka winning an
IAAF Gold Label event
is the deciding factor
in him being our male
road runner of the year
for 2018.
WOMEN’S ROAD RUNNING ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Just as with the men, the excellent choices in the women’s category made for a tight competition, with five athletes all in contention for top honours.
Irv showed just how good she can be by running some incredible races over 10km, both before and after the birth of her
second son, even while hevily pregnant. She went on to become the third fastest women’s runner ever in South Africa over
10km, after she clocked 32:01 in Durban in October – this a mere four months after giving birth. Making use of that good
form, she then smashed the course record as she successfully defended her Soweto Marathon title, clocking 2:33.43. On a
brutal course and at altitude, many feel that her performance was on par with a sub-2:30 on a faster course.
AND THE
WINNER IS...
2 ANN ASHWORTH
Clocking 6:10.10, she destroyed the women’s field at the Comrades Marathon, showing real guts and determination in her
breakthrough performance. She also won the Legends Marathon, finished fifth at Two Oceans, and rounded off the year
by running a massive personal best of 2:35:47 in the Valencia Marathon in Spain, taking 12 minutes off her PB, which had
been run on an aided downhill course!
3 GLENROSE XABA
The 24-year-old makes a strong challenge for the award after running three PB’s on the road (two in the 10km and one over
12km), winning the overall Spar Grand Prix series prize, and also successfully defending her SA 10km Cross Country title.
Overall, she won eight of the 15 10km road races she entered in 2018.
4 GERDA STEYN
This was a dream year for Gerda, with her win at the Two Oceans Marathon, runner up at Comrades, despite running with
an upset stomach, an incredible 10km PB and an even more incredible marathon PB in New York for the fastest women’s
marathon time of the year. Steyn won Two Oceans in 3:39.32. Many felt she was favourite to win the Comrades Marathon
but for Ann Ashworth’s destructive run, this could well have been the case. Steyn brought her 10km PB down from 34:35 to
33:36 before going to finish 13th in New York with an incredible PB of 2:31.04. This was the fastest women’s marathon time
of 2018, followed by Irvette Van Zyl (2:33.43) and Nolene Conrad (2:34.39).
5 NOLENE CONRAD
Not only did she clock the fastest half marathon of the year by a South African woman with her 1:11:44 at the World Half Marathon
Champs in Valencia, Spain, but that also earned her IAAF Gold Label status, which will open doors to more international racing
opportunities. She then added the SA Marathon title with her PB of 2:34:39 at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.
14
ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
It has to be Gerda
Steyn this year, not only
for her fast times, but
also for consistency and
versatility, from 10km
all the way to 90km. As
we said, it was a dream
year for her!
Ginsberg
1 IRVETTE VAN ZYL