Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 99, October 2017

IN THE NEWS South African Athletes Making Headlines – BY REGGIE HUFKIE On 27 August, Ethiopian Tekletsion Kassahun Tefera won the Nelson Mandela Day Marathon in the KZN Midlands in 2:28:31, with the first South African man home in the prestigious event being Skhumbuzo Seme, who clocked 2:29:32 to finish fifth overall and first South African. In the women’s race, the top four places also went to foreign runners, with 2016 Comrades winner Charne Bosman clocking 3:09:02 to take fifth overall and first South African. Greylings Shine on European Trails Professional trail running couple Christiaan and Landie Greyling have been enjoying a successful racing season in Europe this year, and in recent action, both finished on the podium at the Tour Du Neouvielle 43km on 29 August in Saint-Lary- Soulan, a ski village in south- western France. Christiaan crossed the line in 4:26:28 to take second place in the men’s field, while Landie obliterated the women’s field to secure the title in 4:56:47. The second woman only finished in 5:51:02. Two weeks later they ran as a mixed pair in the Riaño Trail Race, a three- day stage covering 98km and featuring 8000m of elevation gain in the Cantabrian Mountains in the north of Spain. They dominated the mixed category in all three stages, eventually finishing the event with an overall time of 14:09:59, almost 40 minutes faster than the second-placed mixed team. LJ Leads the SA Way in Zagreb Veteran 400m hurdles SA Record Holder LJ van Zyl led the South African charge at the 67 th Memorijal Borisa Hanzekovica IAAF World Challenge in Zagreb, Croatia, on 29 August. He finished third in his event in 49.69, while Carina Horn was fourth in the women’s 100m in 11.44. Khotso Mokoena (men’s long jump) took fifth with a best leap of 7.64m, while Pieter Conradie finished sixth in the men’s 400m in 46.66, to nicely round off what has been his best season thus far in his young career. Glenrose Dominates Cross Country Champs Gauteng North’s Glenrose Xaba stamped her name on the 2017 ASA Cross Country Championships in Potchefstroom on 9 September when she 10 ISSUE 99 OCTOBER 2017 / www.modernathlete.co.za won both the women’s 10km and 4km races. Before this, only one athlete had ever won both long and short titles at the same edition of the SA Championships, Elroy Gelant in 2013. In the 10km, Glenrose crossed the line in 35:51, with defending champion Kesa Moletsane (Free State) following her home 19 seconds later. Just four hours later, Glenrose lined up again in the 4km and managed to win the short course title as well, clocking 13:58 to win by a massive 40 seconds! In the men’s competition, Precious Mashele (Central Gauteng) won the 10km main event, beating Joel Mmone (Central North West) by 13 seconds, while Mtobisi Baloyi (Central North West) made his hometown crowd happy by claiming the 4km title in 11:43, followed in by two provincial team mates, Moeketsi Tseiso and Rantso Mokopane. The latter race featured defending champion Marko Buccariza, previous winner Mthobisi, former SA u/23 champion Jeromy Andreas and multiple SA champion Rantso, and lived up to its billing as one of the races of the meet. Dominique Runs SA’s Fastest Women’s Mile Bouncing back from the disappointment of not being selected for the IAAF world Champs in London, US-based Dominique Scott-Efurd ran a scintillating 4:19.64 to finish sixth in the star-studded field of 24 invited elite women in the 37 th New Balance 5 th Avenue Mile in New York on 10 September. Her brilliant run not only took a massive 16 seconds off her own mile PB on road, but also stopped the clock four seconds faster than the SA Record on the track, the 4:23.38 run by Zola Pieterse in 1991, pointing to the fact that Dominique now has the potential to break that long-standing mark. Star-studded Line-up for New Durban 10km The first FNB Durban 10km CITYSURFRUN on 8 October looks set to be one of the fastest races on African soil, with IAAF World Championships 10,000m silver medallist Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, the world’s fastest ever 12km runner, Kenyan Morris Gachaga, South African 10km record holder Stephen Mokoka and SA 5000m record holder Elroy Gelant, all due to line up for the event. Besides the prize money of offer, the athletes will also be chasing incentives of R300,000 for a new national record and R500,000 for a World Record. & Fifth Best for SA at Nelson Mandela Day Marathon

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 99, October 2017 | Page 10