colours of the USA , he became World Champion in Stuttgart in 2:13:57 , to beat another African-born athlete , Lucketz Swartbooi of Namibia .
30 January 1982
The Friendly City Marathon in Port Elizabeth , which has had several different names over the years , was first held in 1980 , then known as the Big Tree Marathon . On this day , in the third race , Eastern Cape runner Beverley Malan scored the first of three victories when she took the title in 2:52:33 , winning by almost 16 minutes from Jenny Saunders , who had won the first two races . Three months later , in the same city , Malan won the second SA Marathon for women in a PB of 2:47:44 . Later in the same year she would clock the fastest time by a South African woman in 1982 when she finished the New York City Marathon in 2:44:40 .
5 January 1984
The wind was howling in Stellenbosch on the fifth day of the Olympic year . But 17-year-old Bloemfontein schoolgirl Zola Budd was on fire that night ( as were the stands of the Coetzenburg track , where a blaze later in the evening made spectators scurry to safety ). Running barefooted as usual , she smashed American Mary Decker ’ s 5000m World
Record with a time of 15:01.83 . Three months later , Zola was a British citizen , and another four months later she faced Decker in that infamous 3000m clash at the Los Angeles Olympic Games , eventually finishing seventh amid booing from the crowd .
17 January 1987
Monica Drögemöller scored the second of three consecutive victories in the 11th Bay to Bay 30km race in Cape Town , running an impressive 1:53:01 to break her own SA Record , set the previous year , by 39 seconds . This record still stands . All three of her wins were accomplished in under two hours , and no other woman has achieved this feat . Only seven other women have ever won the race in faster than two hours , in more than 40 editions of the race .
23 January 1999
The Red Hill Marathon in the Cape Peninsula is one of the toughest marathons around , and many a runner has come to grief on the hill for which it is named . On this day Donovan Wright ( 2:31:58 ) and Karen Bradford ( 3:10:29 ) won the tenth edition of the race , which was added to the older 36.2km race in 1984 ( the shorter event started in 1975 ). Both scored huge victories – Wright by exactly 14 minutes and Bradford by one second more than 11 minutes . It was Bradford ’ s fourth win , and she would go on to be the champion an unprecedented eight times .
About the Author
These stats and results are drawn from the weekly Distance Running Results mailer compiled by internationally acclaimed athletics statistician Riël Hauman , who has more than 50 years ’ experience as a journalist , author , publisher , commentator , pundit , administrator , event organiser , coach , team manager and runner in South African athletics , road running and cross country . He is also a former editor of the South African Athletics Annual , and author of two books , Hardloop en Lééf and Century of the Marathon 1896-1996 . To subscribe to his weekly newsletter , send him a mail at rielh @ mweb . co . za .
South African Road List Leaders for 2021
This section lists the best South African performance for each of the age categories over the most popular road distances . Note that the categories are not closed , i . e . athletes can be included in younger age categories if their times qualify .
• MEN •
OPEN VETERANS ( 40 +) MASTERS ( 50 +)
10km 28:11 Precious Mashele Durban , 31 Oct 30:08 Peter Muthubi Durban , 31 Oct 34:32 George Mooi Durban , 31 Oct
15km 44:19 David Manja Gqeberha , 2 Oct 49:34 |
Mthandazo Qhina |
Gqeberha , 2 Oct 53:49 |
Makhaya Masumpa |
Gqeberha , 2 Oct |
21.1km 1:00:00 Precious Mashele Poznan , 17 Oct 1:04:22 |
Mbongeni Ngxazozo |
Gqeberha , 1 May |
1:15:13 Elias Mabane |
Gqeberha , 1 May |
42.2km 2:10:01 Stephen Mokoka |
Cape Town , 17 Oct |
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2:18:41 Peter Muthubi |
Gqeberha , 4 Dec |
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2:45:56 Lindile Tokota |
Gqeberha , 4 Dec |
50km 2:42:15 Jonas Makhele |
Gqeberha , 23 May |
2:51:42 |
Mthandazo Qhina |
Gqeberha , 23 May |
GRANDMASTERS ( 60 +) GREAT GRANDMASTERS ( 70 +) JUNIORS
10km 38:47 Sello Maphangulo Durban , 31 Oct 43:41 Hannes Els |
Gqeberha , 28 Aug |
30:51 |
Johannes Morepe |
Durban , 31 Oct |
15km 1:08:56 Hannes Els Gqeberha , 2 Oct 1:08:56 Hannes Els Gqeberha , 2 Oct 54:37 Joshua Steytler Durban , 12 Dec
21.1km 1:28:42 |
Friedl van der Merwe |
Gqeberha , 1 May |
1:35:57 Hannes Els |
Gqeberha , 1 May |
1:12:00 |
Sinethemba Jilinigisi |
Gqeberha , 1 May |
42.2km 3:02:55 |
Friedl van der Merwe |
Cape Town , 17 Oct |
3:36:00 |
Tony Abrahamson |
Cape Town , 17 Oct |
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