Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 126, January 2020 | Page 25

Comrades Marathon. Should she still race Oceans,
this would be the perfect time to hunt that record.
Meanwhile, her absence from Comrades would make
the 2020 women’s race a very intriguing contest, as
Gerda is clearly in a class of her own, and a mouth-
watering opportunity could be there for the taking by
another woman.
On the men’s front last year, multiple Comrades
champion Bongmusa Mthembu won his maiden Two
Oceans simply by following his race plan and not
going with the suicidal record pace set in the early
stages of the race. Likewise, David Gathebe, a former
winner at Two Oceans and Comrades, ran a controlled
race to finish a comfortable second. Neither looked
as if they were even tired, like they could carry on
quite comfortably, and Bongs was most certainly
the favourite for the 2019 edition of the Comrades
marathon, with David also in the mix.
Gerda Steyn
was arguably the only athlete you would bet your
house on to win it, but as was seen in London in
2017, even he is mortal. So Akani will have a tough
ask to get onto the podium, notwithstanding his fifth
places at both the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World
Championships. Finishing fourth in Doha last year was
an incredible performance, and his best race of the
year, but that was still not good enough for a podium
position. In 2017, the time he posted in Doha would
have seen him on the podium.
There will be much interest in our 4x100m relay
squad. In Paul Gorries, the relay team has an
experienced coach – see another of my articles in the
previous edition – and there is also a good chance
here of a medal. But none of these medal prospects
are certainties. Pretty bleak picture isn’t it? Well no,
because there are so many other good events to look
forward to in what is going to be quite a busy year.
Excitement in the Ultras
Road running in SA has two “seasons,” per se. There
is the ultra season, and then the more conventional
road racing season (according to global norms). The
2020 ultra season should dish up some scintillating
racing, with the Two Oceans Marathon possibly
seeing the long-standing women’s’ record finally
falling after 31 years. The record was set when Frith
van der Merwe ran 3:30:36 in 1989. Last year, Gerda
crossed the line just 53 seconds outside that mark,
and she wasn’t even chasing it, because she was
trying to save something in her legs for the Comrades.
The question is how she approaches the Cape Town
event this year, and whether she will chase that
record, given her desire to race at the Olympics,
which would in all probability take her out of the
However, a few months later at Comrades, Bongs
was beaten by the relentless onslaught of Edward
Mothibe and was denied a second ‘Up Run’ win
and a third win on the trot after winning in 2017 and
2018 (to go with his win in 2015). In contrast, David
seemed to struggle on the day. Then again, his win
(and course record) came in the ‘Down Run’ in 2016.
The 2020 race will once again be a ‘Down run,’ and
both Bongmusa and David have shown a penchant
for doing well on the long, leg breaking descent into
Durban, while Edward will want back-to-back wins,
but the Comrades is throwing up so much depth of
late, that the 2020 edition looks set to be another
cracker.
incorporate the SA 10km, Half Marathon and
Marathon championships respectively, we can expect
some explosive racing.
We also have the Spar Women’s Challenge Grand
Prix series, and there is absolutely no doubt that
the Run Your City Series, the NMB Half and the
Women’s challenge events have all raised the level of
competition on local soil, mainly because all of these
races have international competition. In 2019, the
NMB Half Marathon had the top 10 men all run under
or close to 62 minutes, and six of the women’s top 10
half marathon times in SA for 2019 were run in P.E.
Similarly, the Durban 10K produced six of the year’s
men’s top 10 best times in South Africa, and three on
the women’s front.
This is a clear indication of an improvement in local
racing standards, especially since all of these times
are knocking on the door of some of the best ever
run in SA. And by running good times in these Label
races at home, South Africans will be getting more
and more invitations to compete internationally, and
earn some real money. And speaking of competing
overseas, the World Half Marathon Championships
are in Poland in March. Stephen Mokoka will not be
racing, so that opens the door for athletes from the
next generation to come through. I really am getting
more and more excited about the progress of the road
performances, even if we have a ways to go to make
inroads on the international circuit. It’s been a long
time since we’ve had such depth, and that is what will
push the times down still further, so 2020 on the roads
should be incredible.
Ultra World Champs
Of course, that is not it for the ultra season. There
will also be the World 100km Championships in
Winschoten, Holland on 12 September. And given his
appetite for the World 100 and 50km Championships,
there is a good chance that Bongs will once again
captain a strong South Africa team that will look to
build on the country’s incredible success at Ultra
World Championships in recent years. In 2016, Bongs
raced to an individual silver medal in the World 100km
Championships and led Team SA to a team gold. Two
years later he finished third, and Team SA second.
Bongs would no doubt want a double gold in 2020.
While South Africa did not send a women’s team to
the World 100km Championships in 2016, we did in
2018, and our women finished second in the team
competition, with Salome Cooper finishing seventh
overall in the individual race. With this success
added to the men’s success in the World Ultra
Championships, you can bet your bottom dollar that
Athletics South Africa (ASA) will be sending teams
again this year.
Chasing the Label Races
Besides the ultras, this coming year will offer South
Africa’s roadsters many other opportunities, and with
the country now having five WA (World Athletics)
Label races, that means that athletes are able to
start choosing their races better. This bodes well
for the sport (see my story on page 30 for more
in-depth analysis). Just as a reminder, these Label
races are the FNB Cape Town 12 ONERUN (17 May),
FNB Durban 10K CITYSURFRUN (12 July), Nelson
Mandela Bay (NMB) Half Marathon (25 July), FNB
Joburg 10K CITYRUN (24 September) and the Sanlam
Cape Town Marathon (18 October). Given that the
Durban 10K, NMB Half and Cape Town Marathon
Bongmusa Mthembu
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