Siphiwe Gqele |
1983 |
3:11:54 |
1984 |
3:10:57 |
|
1985 |
3:11:57 |
Marko Mambo |
2004 |
3:07:41 |
2005 |
3:05:39 |
|
2008 |
3:11:05 |
Don Hartley |
1972 |
3:25:12 * |
1973 |
3:24:06 * |
Derek Preiss |
1974 |
3:21:40 * |
1975 |
3:22:01 |
Brian Chamberlain |
1977 |
3:15:22 * |
1978 |
3:15:23 |
Gabashane Rakabaele |
1976 |
3:18:05 * |
1979 |
3:08:56 * |
Thompson Magawana |
1987 |
3:05:31 * |
1988 |
3:03:44 ** |
Zithulele Sinqe |
1996 |
3:09:45 |
1997 |
3:07:17 |
Isaac Tshabalala |
1993 |
3:14:20 |
1999 |
3:11:20 |
Images: Two Oceans Marathon |
Out of the 43 men who have won the Two Oceans Marathon, just nine managed more than one win, and of those, just two have been able to win the race three times – Siphiwe Gqele and Zimbabwean Marko Mambo – and Gqele remains the only man to win three races in a row. |
Remarkably, the eight years from 1972 to 1979 saw just four men win the race, each claiming two wins. The first was Don Hartley in 1972 and 1973, who also recorded two course records. Next was Derek Preiss, with two consecutive wins in 1974 and 1975, and a course record to accompany his 1974 victory. He also made history as the only male athlete ever to win both the Two Oceans and Comrades ultra-marathons in the same year – and remarkably, he did this two years in a row! |
With the Two Oceans Marathon having been opened to all races in 1975, the following year saw Gabashane Rakabaele of Lesotho claim not only the title and the course record, but also the first win by a Black athlete. He would go on to win it again in 1979, with another course record, in the process wiping out the course record set in 1977 by another two-time winner, Brian Chamberlain, who also won the race in 1978. |
Siphiwe Gqele not only won the race three times in a row from 1983 to 1985, but remarkably finished one year without drinking anything en route. When asked about this at the finish by race announcer Harold Berman, he simply replied that he had not been thirsty! Even more remarkable was Thompson Magawana’ s recordbreaking double in 1987 and 1988, including his scintillating, still standing 3:03:44 course record in his second win. Along the way, he also set World Bests for 30 miles and 50km, in spite of the hilly course! |
Another two doubles followed in the 1990’ s, with Isaac Tshabalala’ s 1993 and 1999 victories having the biggest gap between them, whereas Zithulele Sinqe pulled off two consecutive wins in 1996 and 1997. Since then, the only runner able to win more than once was Marko Mambo, who took the men’ s title in 2004 and 2005, then achieved his treble in 2008. Mambo is also the last male runner to record more than one win, showing how competitive the race is in the modern era.
Marko
Mambo
Siphiwe Gqele
|
Derek
Preiss
Don Hartley
|
Brian Chamberlain
Thompson Magawana
|
Zithulele Sinqe |
Isaac Tshabalala |
||||||||||||||||||||||
25 |