ROAD RUNNING
Waiting for the starter ’ s gun to fire
DEBUTANTS TAKE CENTRE STAGE
Together they negotiated the last major climb , Cowie ' s Hill , and then on the gently climbing 45th Cutting , it was all over . Dijana , who works as a security guard , surged away from his training partner as Mothibi ' s rhythm fell apart , and he went on to win in 5:30:38 , just over three minutes clear of the former winner . Another debutant , Dan Moselakwe , finished third ( 5:36:25 ), with three-time winner Bongmusa Mthembu fourth . Dijana , Mothibi and Moselakwe all hail from Rustenburg and train together .
The first half of the race was dominated by two newcomers to the Comrades , with Onalenna Khonkhobe and Adele Broodryk setting the pace in the men ’ s and women ’ s races respectively . Khonkhobe , who finished sixth earlier this year in the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon , set off at what looked a crazily fast pace , reaching halfway in an unprecedented 2:26:15 , which translated to a projected finishing time that would have knocked more than 25 minutes off David Gatebe ’ s ‘ Down Run ’ course record of 5:18:19 , set in 2016 !
Early runaway leader Onalenna Khonkhobe
A bit further back , a brave performance saw 2013 winner Claude Moshiywa finish 13th in 5:50:19 , in spite of being hijacked four days earlier on his way to O . R . Tambo Airport and held captive for hours before he was released by his attackers . Other former winners who also finished amongst the top athletes were 2012 winner Ludwick Mamabolo ( 14th ) and 2016 winner David Gatebe ( 36th ), while 1995 winner Shaun Meicklejohn took the men ’ s grandmaster ’ s category win in 7:18:12 .
The runners start to get into racing mode
Unsurprisingly , the murderously fast pace eventually broke his challenge , and he was caught and passed just after the four-hour mark , on the quad-destroying descent of Fields Hill , and would later drop out of the race . Having broken up the chasing pack while closing down the leader , the race was now between another debutant , Tete Dijana , and 2019 winner Edward Mothibi . Dijana first burst onto the ultra-running scene when he finished second to Stephen Mokoka ' s World Record in the Nedbank Runified Breaking Barriers 50km in Gqeberha in March , while Mothibi was third in that race .
Men ’ s winner Tete Dijana
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