STATS & FACTS
by RIËL HAUMAN
Stats & Facts
Running Down Memory Lane
The world of running produces scintillating times and interesting statistics , including these standout performances in February from the annals of SA running .
6 February 1966
The Durban Athletic Club Marathon was the oldest club marathon in South Africa and was first held , as the Siedle Shield Marathon , on 19 November 1927 ( at 1pm !). On this day in 1966 , Oelof Vorster scored his third win in the race , in 2:32:11 -- more than eight minutes ahead of Manie Kuhn ( who would win the Comrades in 1967 ). Defending champion William Jardine was third . Vorster had also won in 1962 and 1963 , and two months later would win his second SA title in Bloemfontein in 2:33:07 . On 31 May he was second in the third Peninsula Marathon . Sadly , the DAC Marathon was discontinued after 2001 , when it had had 68 runnings .
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TOP 10 STATS
All-time Fastest Men ’ s Marathon Performances
The Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP in Spain is now the second-fastest marathon course in the world , after Kenya ’ s Kelvin Kiptum ( 2:01:53 ) and Ethiopian Amane Beriso ( 2:14:58 ) won the 2022 edition in early December in times within a minute of the current men ’ s and women ’ s World Records . Kiptum ’ s time is the fourth-fastest ever run by a man , and Beriso now has the third-best women ’ s time . Also , Kiptum and Ethiopia ’ s Letesenbet Gidey ( second woman in 2:16:49 ) both set World Debut Records .
Valencia has now surpassed the London Marathon on the list of quickest top 10 averages – its average is now 2:03:18 to London ’ s 2:03:46 , with Berlin still leading with 2:02:40 . Eight of the top 20 times on the men ’ s all-time list were run in Berlin , five in Valencia and four in London . Here are the 10 fastest times ever , by seven athletes ( all those under 2:03:00 ), of which Berlin has five and Valencia one .
NEW YORK MARATHON : TOP 10 S . A . WOMEN
1 2:01:09 * Eliud Kipchoge ( Kenya ) Berlin , 25 Sep 22
2 2:01:39 * Kipchoge Berlin 16 Sep 18
3 2:01:41 ** Kenenisa Bekele ( Ethiopia ) Berlin 29 Sep 19
4 2:01:53 Kelvin Kiptum ( Kenya ) Valencia 04 Dec 22
5 2:02:37 Kipchoge London 28 Apr 19
6 2:02:40 Kipchoge Tokyo 06 Mar 22
7 2:02:48 Berhanu Legesse ( Ethiopia ) Berlin 29 Sep 19
8 2:02:55 ** Mosinet Geremew ( Ethiopia ) London 28 Apr 19
9 2:02:57 * Dennis Kimetto ( Kenya ) Berlin 28 Sep 14
10 2:02:57 Titus Ekiru ( Kenya ) Milan 16 May 21 ISSUE 156 | www . modernathlete . co . za
25 February 1976
The Coetzenburg track was the venue for many of Danie Malan ’ s greatest races . On this evening , he produced one of his six SA Records when he raced the 1500m against Hendrik Smit and former national record-holder De Villiers Lamprecht . Malan was aiming at the SA Record of 3:37.2 , held jointly by himself and Fanie van Zijl . Pushed by Smit , he succeeded when he crossed the line in 3:36.8 , with Smit second in a
Danie Malan personal best of 3:37.3 . Just more than four months later , in Zürich , Malan ran even faster when he beat Belgian Ivo van Damme in 3:35.98 . This performance made him the 11th-fastest runner in the world in the Olympic Year , but whereas Van Damme placed second in the Olympic finals over both 800m and 1500m , Malan was not eligible because of the international sports boycott against South Africa . In fact , Malan ’ s Zürich time came just a few days before South Africa was expelled from the IAAF at its Congress in Montreal .
25 February 1978
In its early years , the Peninsula Marathon , first run in 1964 , was usually held in March , April , May or June . On this day , it was run in February for the first time , and since 2005 , the race has always been held in the second month . In this 15th running , Brian Chamberlain of Wanderers scored a comfortable victory over the Cape ’ s best runners , clocking 2:32:43 , with Bay to Bay winner
KEY
Kelvin Kiptum wins the 2022 Valencia Marathon
* = Set a new World Record | ** = Set a new National Record
Images : Courtesy Amazon , Two Oceans Marathon , Stephen Granger , Dewald Steyn , Zola Budd-Pieterse Collection , Boclassic , ValenciaMarathon