Strong finish for SA runners
Elite Athlete Development Programme stars were crucial to the SA 100km World Champs success.
BONGMUSA Mthembu, Fikile Mbuthuma and Lisa Collett played vital roles in both the South African men’s and women’s teams claiming respective silver medals at the biennial IAU 100km World Championships in Sveti, Croatia.
Three-time defending Comrades Marathon champion Mthembu once again proved that he is one of the world’s best long distance runners when he finished third overall to go with the men’s teams second-place. Thusio Mosiea finished 14th while Best Ngwenya came in at 16th and their combined time placed the team ahead of third-placed Germany.
The first 2.5km loop and then the 13 7.5km loops that made up the 100km course were a bit of a surprise to Arthur Ford’s Mthembu, however the Elite Athlete Development Programme (EADP) star didn’t let that get the better of him as he attempted to chase down the two Japanese athletes ahead of him. He reflected “it was an incredible race but I did find the course a bit frustrating. It wasn’t too hilly but the weather was extremely hot which made it tough but my body held out a lot better than I thought it would.”
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The transition from the Comrades Marathon to tackling 100km was never going to be easy for Mthembu given that the event was so close to his Comrades winning run. “I was really surprised at how well my body reacted to the run. I spent quite a bit of time with Dr Kevin Subban at Prime HPI after Comrades just trying to recover because I really went hard at Comrades this year. The recovery went perfectly and I was so happy that I could run as well as I did. It was only in the last five kilometres that my body started hurting but I think that was the same for all of the runners!”
In the ladies event, EADP star Fikile Mbuthuma and programme newcomer Lisa Collett finished 14th and 19th respectively to lift the ladies team into second position. Salome Cooper flew the flag the highest when she finished the race in seventh place overall but the consistency from the team saw them come behind winners Japan and ahead of hosts Croatia.
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