SPECIAL SECTION
Fourth place was taken by Nobukhosi Tshuma , the wife of men ’ s winner Givemore Mudzinganyama , and she was followed by three more Ethiopians , Yeshiemebet Taso Nguse , Ali and Asnakech Girma Yami , who along with Bosho , made history of their own , as it was the first time that four Ethiopian women finished amongst the gold medals at Two Oceans . South Africans Adele Broodryk and Ann Ashworth were next over the line , with the final gold medal going to Zimbabwean Loveness Madziva .
The Men ’ s Ultra : Giving More Than Ever
The men ’ s chasing group on Chappies , with eventual winner Givemore Mudzinganyama on the right
Gerda high-fives the spectators ( above ), and receives the record incentive from Jonathan Stein of Totalsports
Last year ’ s men ’ s race was turned upside down by the extreme tactics of Anele Dlamini , whose opening half marathon was faster than the previous day ’ s race over that distance , and he led by more than seven minutes at one stage . This year , Xolisa Ndlumbini played the role of hare , but his biggest gap on the main group was never more than about 90 seconds at 15km . They caught him just before 27km and Lesotho ’ s Lebello Mopenyane passed halfway slightly ahead of 15 pursuers in 1:35:06 . Going up ‘ Chappies ,’ the serious racing started , with Msawenkosi Mthalane ( ninth last year ), 2014 winner Lebenya Nkoka and 2015 champion Motlokoa Nkhabutlane ( both from Lesotho ), as well as Nkosikhona Mhlakwana ( second last year ) amongst the protagonists .
Mopenyane looked good down Chapman ’ s Peak , although he glanced over his shoulder frequently . At the marathon mark , Mopenyane ( 2:21:43 ) was still 1:23 ahead , but Zimbabwean Givemore Mudzinganyama and Dan Matshailwe ( third in last year ’ s Comrades ) were gaining . The strongly built Matshailwe seemed to be having some trouble with his left quad muscle , but it wasn ’ t slowing him . However , Mudzinganyama pulled clear of him on the winding , tree-lined climb to Constantia Nek and caught the leader shortly before 50km , which he passed in 2:50:13 , nine seconds ahead . Matshailwe was another 29 seconds behind Mopenyane , but he erased this over the next seven minutes of running .
With 2km to go , reached in 3:03:16 , Mudzinganyama started looking uncomfortable and seemed to lose his rhythm , with his shoulders swaying , but his determination carried him through to the win in 3:09:56 , as Matshailwe could gain only seven seconds to
Remarkable Milestone Finishers
Coming into this year ’ s Two Oceans Ultra , eight runners had finished the race 40 or more times , and that number grew to 11 as three more runners joined the Quadruple Blue club . Colin Bonthuys ( 6:27:24 ), Mark Raubenheimer ( 6:29:33 ) and Graham Channon ( 6:53:59 ) all finished in the final hour to join this exclusive club , while six of those ahead of them added further to their tallies .
Louis Massyn achieved his 46th medal – the most by any athlete in the history of the race – in 6:36:47 . All his Two Oceans races
Mark Raubenheimer
have been consecutive , and he also has 47 Comrades medals , the second-most in that event ’ s history . Tony Abrahamson , who finished third in the 70 + age category in 5:50:41 , came home to claim his 45th medal . Until last year he was joint first on the ‘ medal list ’ with Massyn , but missed the
Sharon Eldridge
2022 run after testing positive for COVID a few days before the race . Mark Wagenheim ( 4:54:36 ) and John Mugglestone ( 5:52:41 ) both moved up to 43 medals , Paul Leader ( 6:02:58 ) increased his count to 42 , and Hercu Hofmeyr made it 41 medals when he crossed the line in 6:29:20
14 ISSUE 158 | www . modernathlete . co . za Colin Bonthuys
Graham Channon
Amongst the women , Lucille Damon came into the race as the only female runner to have finished the race 30 times , and she came out of ultra-marathoning retirement to try increase her tally to 31 medals , but was unfortunately unable to finish within the cutoff time . In the meantime , Sharon Eldridge crossed the line in 6:13:28 to claim her 30th medal and double the size of the Triple Blue women ’ s club .