GET G ING
WORLD CHAMPIONS !
perhaps a little fast , but the support team could not gain access to the runners on the lap route until the first 10km was done .
Our runners are not used to repeating 10 laps of an extremely flat and windy route , and the last two laps eventually showed that the two frontrunners had overextended themselves , but it certainly made for exciting running and proudly South African heart-pumping performances . As they began the last lap , Bongmusa led from the Japanese athlete , followed by David and Gift . The boys were fighting hard and their pulse rates from their TomToms blazed into John ’ s red zone – the world record pace coupled with the lack of sufficient recovery time after travelling for 25 hours to get to Los Alcarazes was taking its toll . hat a day 27 November turned out to be ! Los Alcarazes , a beautiful little seaside village in
WSpain , was the venue for this 2016 World 100km Championships , which really ended on a high note for South Africa as our athletes joined forces to finish as new World Champions in the team competition , along with a 6:43:00 World Record for Gift Kelehe in the Masters 35-39 division ( with David Gatebe third in the category ), and the star of the day , Bongmusa Mthembu , taking the overall second spot in a new South African record time of 6:24:05 ! That broke the record held by Bruce Fordyce , 6:25:07 , for some 27 years !
From the start the South African contingent took the lead , seemingly with little effort . That saw Ludwig Mamabolo and Rufus Photo leading the race , followed by Gift , David and Bongmusa about 80 metres back , and then the eventual winner , Japan ’ s Hideaki Masuyama . The data from the guys ’ TomToms warned coach John Hamlett that the pace was
Hideaki eventually broke the tape in 6:18:12 , followed home by Bongmusa , while Gift finished strongly in ninth overall to claim his World Record by four minutes . David finished 12th overall and third master in 6:44:34 , with Rufus coming home 19th in 6:52:43 . The Japanese and American teams pushed hard to snatch the team title , but our men had done enough to win by three minutes at the end .
Prize giving with the National Anthem saw emotions running high and proud lumps in throats , and after a return journey of another 25 hours , the team was met at OR Tambo Airport by a wonderful crowd of fans who had come to welcome their champions home . What a Success story for South Africa , thanks to these athletes who ran with their hearts and guts , and showing the world that South African ultra-running is a force to be reckoned with .
Congratulations to the new World Champions – powered by TomTom .
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22 ISSUE 90 JANUARY 2017 / www . modernathlete . co . za