Thys wins Birchwood Half Marathon
Reiger Park trainee, Gert Thys, crossed the finishing line in 1:07:54 to win the 21km Birchwood half marathon race on a chilly Sunday morning, April 13.
He was closely followed by runner-up Lucky Mohale (1:09:00) and Sipho Ncube (1:09:48) who completed the top three.
Building on the success of last year’s race, which brought over 2 000 runners, the Birchwood Athletics Club introduced a new route with prizes from Birchwood and the event sponsors won by standout runners.
“I didn’t expect to win today,” said the 42-year-old in a post-race interview.
“I was supposed to be training for the Two Oceans (Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon), but I decided to come to the race instead,” concluded a delighted Thys.
Elsewhere, Givemore Mudzinganyama kept Paulus Radebe at bay to win the 10km distance race in an impressive time of 30.22 minutes.
Winners of the day’s third and shortest distance, the 5km, were not timed as it was just considered a “fun run”.
In addition, the first 1 000 runners of the 21km and pre-entries of the 10km were awarded complimentary sports tog bags and water bottles.
Other results:
Men 10km:
* Open 1 Givemore Mudzinganyama (SAPADC) 30.22; 2 Paulus Radebe (Olifantsfontein) 30.38; 3 Africa Mailola (Nedbank) 31.19.
* Veterans 1 Tokyo Mofokeng (Team Connection) 34.17; 2 Lawrence Chipangaan (Gallopers) 34.35; 3 Piet Mosibedi (Transnet) 35.08.
* Masters 1 Piet Chauke (Gallopers) 39.36; 2 Aaron Lindi (Erwat) 40.37; 3 Andre Jansen (Gautneg Striders) 40.52.
* Grandmasters 1 Peter Erasus (RAC) 41.33.
Women 10km
* Open 1 Ngbunie Tshuma (Temp) 37.13; 2 Gillian Sieling (Nedbank) 40.54; 3 Gillian Sotto Corona (Boksburg) 42.12.
* Veterans 1 Gillian Sieling (Nedbank) 40.54; 2 Gillian Sotto Corona (Boksburg) 42.12; 3 Frith vd Merwe (Benoni High) 45.32.
* Masters 1 Rene Visser (Striders) 1:08:32; 2 Avril Coats (RWFL) 1:08:49; 3 Riana Mellors (Sunward) 1:10:00.
* Grandmasters 1 Deidre Larkin (Randburg Harriers).
Men 21km
* Open 1 Gert Thys (Maxed Elite) 1:07:54; 2 Lucky Mohale (Maxed Elite) 1:09:00; 3 Sipho Ncube (Maxed Elite) 1:09:48
* Veterans 1 Gert Thys (Maxed Elite) 1:07:54; 2 Sipho Ncube (Maxed Elite) 1:09:48; 3 Edwin Lesudi (Nedbank) 1:10:14
* Masters 1 Daniel Mothibe (New Balance) 1:18:11; 2 Themba Phulu (Panorama) 1:18:59; 3 Meshack Motla (South Deep) 1:22:29
* Grandmasters 1 Anton Reynders (Kempton) 1:47:15
Women 21km
* Open 1 Cornelia Joubert (Nedbank) 1:16:32; 2 Mpho Mabuza (Gallopers) 1:19:53; 3 Seipati Peo (Maxed Elite) 1:33:35
* Veterans 1 Julie Soicher (Rockies) 1:36:08; 2 Sarah Mahlangu (Toyota) 1:40:41; 3 Laura Venter (Nedbank) 1:52:32
* Masters 1 Rita van Wyk (Boksburg) 1:37:31; 2 Ansa Strydom (Overkruin) 1:47:35; 3 Linda Loxley (Temp) 1:51:19
* Grandmasters 1 Maz Moore (Kayalami) 2:07:18
