Dennis and Joyce shine at the Shikhumba Marathon

The event was held in Shikhumba village in Giyani recently. Dennis and Joyce completed the race with 02:26:31 and 03:30:43 on the clock respectively. Dennis, a Kenyan and member of the Nedbank Athletics Club, was followed by Emmanuel Ramohlale and Given Baloyi in the men’s race in times of 02:32:47 and 02:34:19 respectively. Joyce was followed by Geneva Raphahle in second place in the women’s race with a time of 03:36:23, and in third place was Gift Ramabele in a time of 03:41:28.

Dennis and Joyce both bagged R5 200 for their wins, and the runners-up took home R2 800, with R2 400 each going to the second runners-up. Rufus Photo of Murray & Roberts Running Club won the men’s 21km (half marathon) in a time of 01:11:06. He was followed by Request Msapha in a time of 01:12:45 and Rolivhuwa Matunisa with 01:17:40 on the clock.

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Roseline Isaiah won the women’s 21km race in 01:33:32. In second place was Tabitha Tsatsa with a time of 01:37:54 and in third place was Khumeleni Mudau with a time of 01:46:32. In the 10km race, Lutendo Mapoto and Kamogelo Mogano won the men’s and women’s races with 00:31:49 and 00:40:42 on the clock respectively.

Race organiser and founder of the race, Amos Sambo, told the Herald that this year exceeded his expectations as there were more entries from other provinces and big clubs. “We had a target of 300 entries, but we had over 500 runners taking part in the race. “We had a great sponsor lineup and for the first time our race was timed electronically,” he said. Sambo started the race in 2014 as a fun run, which served as a platform to raise funds to buy stationery, sanitary pads, and school uniforms for learners.

The following year it was expanded to include more distances such as 10km and 21km. In 2018 the 42km race was introduced and it is now a Comrades Marathon qualifier resulting in many runners from afar participating.