Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 151 June 2022 | Page 15

following weekend , beating another of Weightman ’ s marks – see below ). Another Ethiopian , Selam Fente Gebre , finished third in a PB 32:23 , narrowly missing Zola Budd ' s SA Junior All-comers Record by three seconds . The race had tremendous depth , with 12 athletes under 34 minutes ( five with PBs ), and 19 under 36 minutes .

Helalia Johannes

PB ’ s Galore in Windy City Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon , incorporating SA Half Marathon Championships , Gqeberha , 4 June

Thanks to windless conditions and a fast course along the beachfront , for the first time in SA , 12 men dipped under 62 minutes in the same race , while 15 of the top 20 men ran personal bests . The win went to Lesotho ' s Namakoe Nkhasi in a PB 1:01:01 , missing Stephen Mokoka ' s SA All-comers record ( set in the same race in 2019 ) by five seconds . Local runner Melikhaya Frans was only two seconds back , smashing his PB by 55 seconds and winning his first national title , with defending champion Precious Mashele taking third in 1:01:13 . The women set a new standard as well , with seven running faster than 71 minutes and 10 of the top 15 setting PBs . The winner was Ethiopia ' s Bezabh Ftaw Zeray in a PB 1:06:57 , which is 36 seconds faster than the previous best time ever on SA soil . She finished 52 seconds clear of Namibian Helalia Johannes , whose 1:07:49 not only gave her a new PB and Namibian Record , but also a new World Record in the

40-49 age category , taking 59 seconds off the mark set by Australian Lisa Weightman in 2019 . For the third year in a row , the SA title went to Glenrose Xaba , who finished seventh in 1:10:41 .

Melikhaya Frans

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 .

OPEN VETERANS ( 40 +) MASTERS ( 50 +)

GRANDMASTERS ( 60 +) GREAT GRANDMASTERS ( 70 +) JUNIORS

21.1km 1:32:30 Judy Bird Gqeberha , 4 Jun 2:08:16 Pat Fisher Hillcrest , 5 Jun 1:33:09 Ela Meiring

Gqeberha , 4 Jun

25km 2:11:08a Debby de Koning

Pinetown , 30 Jan

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42.2km 3:34:22 Julie Shadwell Durban , 8 May ------ ------

KEY * – Set enroute during a longer distance event . a – course is aided , e . g . downhill or point-to-point , and therefore not record-legal

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