Leading SA athletes set sights on Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon
A strong contingent of SA's leading professional road runners is set to compete in the 11th edition of the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon at Pollok Beach on Saturday (7am).
The 21.1km road race has also attracted some leading runners from the rest of the continent.
Glenrose Xaba, who won the Durban SPAR Grand Prix 10km race at the weekend, is back and will be looking for a podium finish on Saturday.
In 2024, the 30-year-old Boxer Athletics Club runner was only two seconds shy of finishing in the top three and settled for fourth place after crossing the finish line in one hour, 13 minutes and 40 seconds.
Ethiopians Diniya Kedir Abaraya and Selam Fente Gebre, who finished second and third in the 10km in Durban, will be in the starting line-up for the women's race on Saturday.
In the 2024 women's race, Ethiopia's Tadu Nare dominated as she led from the gun to win in 1:12:01, ahead of compatriot Abaraya (1:12:31), who finished as the first junior.
Lesotho's Blandina Makatisi was third in 1:13:39, while Xaba, in fourth overall (1:13:42), finished as the first South African.
This time round, the 19-year-old Nedbank Running Club athlete will look to be the first female to cross the finish line.
SA's Cacisolle Sosibo, who finished in fifth place in the women's race in 2024, has also confirmed her participation.
Hollywood Athletics Club will bring a competitive group of athletes to the event, including Olympians Stephen Mokoka and Neheng Khatala, and talented 23-year-old Tayla Kavanagh.
Mokoka, who has made four Olympic appearances and holds the 50km ultra-marathon world record and three Cape Town Marathon titles, is among those who will be chasing the title this weekend.
The 40-year-old last won the NMB Half Marathon in 2019.
In 2020, he was beaten by compatriot Precious Mashele, who made way for Lesotho's Namakoe Nkhasi in 2021.
In 2023, Gqeberha runner Thabang Mosiako crossed the finish line first to make sure the title remained in the Bay.
In 2024, three-time Olympian Elroy Gelant, 37, who won the first edition of the NMB Half-Marathon in 2014, crossed the finish line in one hour, three minutes and 54 seconds for his second title.
The 2022 champion, Namakoe Nkhasi, took second place in 1:04:04, and Mashele was third in 1:04:05 for Central Gauteng Athletics.
Other top runners such as 2022 NMB Half Marathon winner Melikhaya Frans of Gqeberha, brothers Daniel and Simon Paulus (Namibia), and South Africans Puseletso Mofokeng and Dino Nako will be among the entries in a powerful men's line-up.
Kenya's Rodgers Kipchirchir Murei and Saibi Chebet of Uganda confirmed their participation in May.
The 11th edition of the popular race will see the addition of a 5km distance, with the aim of attracting more development athletes.
Race organisers have exceeded their target of 2,000 entries.
The race starts in Marine Drive at Pollok Beach and includes a loop through Nelson Mandela University.
The cut-off time is three hours and 30 minutes.
The Herald
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