ROAD RUNNING
The leading women ’ s group with pacesetter Stella Marais on the right
benchmark in a women-only race , which tends to be slightly slower than a mixed race .
Thanks to excellent pacing by Stella Marais , who ran a PB 2:38:22 in the Cape Peninsula Marathon just two weeks earlier , the women ’ s leaders were on target until around 25km , but when the pacesetter stopped earlier than expected , the pace slowed noticeably . Even so , Irvette was not able to stay with the leaders , Amelework Bosho of Ethiopia and Kenyan Shelmith Muriuki , and by 30km she was 39 seconds adrift .
Manager , Nick Bester , was obviously pleased with a second consecutive year of announcing a new World Record in the World Athletics Elite Label Road Race event . “ Following the success of the first ultramarathon in 2021 , and after months of planning , I put my neck on the line to say that we would break a record for the second time , and that ’ s exactly what we did today . We took the learnings from last year and ticked every box to make sure that all procedures and rules were adhered to in order for our race to meet World Athletics standards .”
Stephen Mokoka breaks the tape and the World Record for 50km
that he was tired : “ It ’ s a long way , and I don ’ t know how I ’ m going to feel later , but I enjoyed it .”
Behind Stephen , fellow South Africans Tete Dijana ( 2:44:09 ) and 2019 Comrades Marathon winner Edward Mothibi ( 2:45:27 ) claimed second and third , and a share in one of the largest ultramarathon prize purses in South Africa . Fourth-placed Mabuthile Lebopo of Lesotho , the 2010 Two Oceans Marathon winner , finished in 2:45:59 to smash the IAU World Age Best Time for the 45-49 age category , improving the 2:55:00 mark set by former Comrades Marathon winner Claude Moshiywa last year . Frenchman Guillaume Ruel , who finished fifth in 2:47:24 , shaved 18 seconds off the European Record .
Not Quite for the Women
In the women ’ s race , which started half an hour before the men ’ s race , pre-race favourite Irvette van Zyl tackled the run with the express purpose of improving on the women-only World Record of 3:04:24 that she set in the 2021 race . The overall World Record in a mixed ( men and women ) event is held by American Des Linden , thanks to her 2:59:54 clocked in April last year , whereas Irvette set the
At 32km , the Ethiopian moved clear , and though she tried hard to increase her pace in the last few kilometres , she fell 34 seconds short of the record , crossing the line in 3:04:58 . Like Stephen , she also set an IAU World Age Best Performance for the 35-39 age group . Behind her , the Kenyan was next home in 3:08:29 , with Irvette rounding out the podium positions with a 3:13:22 finish .
Reason to Celebrate
Race Director and Nedbank Running Club National
Early in the race , with Stephen biding his time near the back of the lead pack
Echoing Nick ’ s satisfaction with the event ’ s results was Nthabiseng Matshekga , Nedbank ’ s Executive Head of Group Marketing . “ Today we witnessed world-class performances from our South African athletes , and we are proud to incentivise them for their achievements . Nedbank remains a proud supporter of running , and the success of Breaking Barriers has set a high benchmark for what the Nedbank Runified series stands for , and what is to come .”
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