Runners took to pounding the pavement for the inaugural 21.1km Men’s Race on Saturday March 16, beginning and ending at Mbombela Stadium.
The brainchild of Ngodwana Marathon Club, which hosted the event, the Men’s Race was the length of a half-marathon, and this year’s event was the first to be held. A total of 55 runners entered and took part in the race, with the leaders and winners managing to clock some impressive times.
A number of local running clubs had representatives taking part in the race, and there was a very healthy representation of the local running community on show. The route, while seemingly simple, was a tough one as the runners weaved their way through Mataffin before running out towards the Nelspruit Airport.
The route was mostly downhill out to the airport and mostly uphill back in towards Mbombela Stadium. This didn’t seem to faze Abednico Mashaba, though, who won the race in a time of 01:09;46.
He was followed over the line by Sammy Mathabatha who clocked a time of 01:10;31, with Siboninkosi Maseko finishing third with a time of 01:11;12.