Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 57, April 2014 | Page 12

Feature

Defending the Title
Last year’s Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon champ
David Gatebe is confident going into this month’s race and
says he is ready to defend his title after a good build-up. We
caught up with him for a chat about his race preparation, and
his thoughts on the massive incentive for a new course record
in 2014. – BY DONALD MATHIPA & LAUREN VAN DER VYVER
fter David’s stellar 3:08:54 win at the 2013 Two Oceans Marathon, he arrived
back home in Rustenburg and saw posters of himself all over town. “A lot of my
friends started taking me more seriously, because before they thought I was just
running for fun!” he says. Now, he’s ready to impress again in 2014, with his training
programme for the title defence having started in December. At the recent Old Mutual
Om Die Dam 50km last month, David secured fourth place in 3:01:02, having dropped
out of the race at the 30km mark last year because of it being just three weeks
before Oceans. This time around, he had more time to recover in between the two
races, allowing him to go conquer the tough Hartbeespoort course before starting his
tapering period ahead of Oceans. “At Om Die Dam, I took it easy and was just looking
to improve myself. My intention was never to win there, but focus on preparing for
Two Oceans.”
Looking ahead to the Cape classic, David says the financial incentive offered by
Old Mutual for a new course record will definitely spur the top runners on to chase
fast times. The first man over the line in a time faster than Thompson Magawana’s

VICTORIA FALLS
42.2 KM | 21.1 KM | FUN RUN

Zimbabwe — 29 June 2014
www.vicfallsmarathon.com

Images: Jetline Action Photo

A

David winning
last year’s Oceans
in 3:08:54.

3:03:44 of 1988 will pocket a cool R1 Million on top of the R250 000 winner’s purse,
and the top women will be chasing Frith van der Merwe’s 3:30:36, set in 1989.
Unsurprisingly, the race has attracted a number of top runners from around the world,
and David says it will be a very tough battle at the front of the pack.
“The Kenyans and Ethiopians wil XY\