Khunonyane and Joubert dominate Johnson Crane Marathon
The 42.2km race of the event has been selected by the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) road commission.
Kemang Khunonyane and Cornelia Joubert secured first place to win the 2022 Johnson Crane Hire Marathon at Willowmoore Stadium on March 6.
Khunonyane outclassed a quality line-up in the men’s contest, covering the 42.2km distance in 02:23:22.
The Rocky Road Runners athlete stormed to the finish line 2 minutes and 19 seconds ahead of the runner-up. He told the paper that he was excited for his win.
“I prepared well for this race. The weather was okay and the breeze made it easy for me. I’m very excited to have made the qualifying time for the nationals,” he said.
He was followed in second place by Rookies runner Xolisa Tyali who completed the race in 02:25:40. Zithulele Ntazi completed the podium after finishing third.
Joubert outran a strong line-up that included multiple winner Charne Bosman and 2015 champion Yolande Mclean. She finished in 2:56:08 to claim first place.
Also Read: 35th Johnson Crane Marathon, Sunday, January 29, 2017
The Boxer runner said she was pleased with her performance.
“It was a bit hard today. I just wanted to qualify for the South African National Marathon Championships. I didn’t have enough time to prepare for this race but if I’m selected for the nationals, I will have enough time to prepare,” she said.
Bosman, who finished behind Joubert in 2:58:44, explained that she aimed to finish in under three hours.
“This was my longest run after my injury. I am happy with my performance. I finished second overall and was the first veteran.
“I aimed to run a sub-three hour. I ran 2:58 for 43.75km because of a marshal error just before the halfway mark. Thanks for a well-organised event, and mistakes do happen,” she said.
Lucky Mohale won the men’s 21km race while Daniella Morrison-Jones of Phantane Athletics Club won the women’s race. The 10km event was won by Nicole van der Merwe in the women’s category while Samuel Moloi finished first for the men.
Brighton Mikolongwe of the Benoni Northerns Athletics Club (BNAC) finished eighth in the men’s 42km. Catharina Botha, also from BNAC, was fourth in the women’s 21km while Samantha Coetzer from Boksburg finished seventh.
ASA National Marathon Championships qualifier
The 42.2km race of the event has been selected by the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) road commission as a provincial qualifying event for the ASA national marathon champions.
“The provincial championships are aimed at giving an opportunity to our elite athletes to compete and to also select a provincial team for the national marathon championships in May, June and August.
“All athletes that belong to the CGA will get an opportunity to be selected to represent the province at the nationals if they have met the qualifying times,” said CGA’s Mandla Radebe.
Radebe added that the organisation will give out a prize money and award provincial medals to the top-three finishers.
The full results of the Johnson Crane Marathon can be found here: https://live.ultimate.dk/desktop/front/index.php?eventid=5516&ignoreuseragent=true
Also Read: Kilometres crushed on Benoni’s roads as record field takes on the 2018 Johnson Crane Marathon
Gallery:
