Some big names hunting Sani Stagger crown
Philip Shezi will be back again in 2019 searching for a win to add to his impressive list of finishes at the Southern Drakensberg event.
THIS year’s Sani Stagger marathon that sold out in record time will see a number of former champions back to try and add to their wins when the race gets under way at the Premier Resort Sani Pass this Saturday.
Despite the fact that defending champion Bongmusa Mthembu and his Arthur Ford team mate Nkosinathi Duma are notably absent from the entry list this year, the elite field is very strong.
A former winner that will be back in 2019 is Skhumbuzo Dlamini. He obliterated the field in a record time of three hours and four minutes in 2014 to claim victory ahead of Shezi.
His record hasn’t been challenged since, even when won the race again in 2016. Last year he finished in fourth place and if the stars align he will be one to watch out for going into this year’s race.
There is another former winner of the start line in Prodigal Khumalo. Khumalo won the race in 2012. Khumalo missed the Comrades this year but has two gold medals to his name in the past six years, with another top twenty finishes amongst the those.
Local Underberg resident Philip Shezi will be back again in 2019 searching for a win to add to his impressive list of finishes at the Southern Drakensberg event.
Over the past seven years Shezi has been a regular on the podium, with three third place finishes and a second to his name. This consistency will make him another threat over the iconic route up and down the famous Sani Pass this weekend.
Maxed athlete Nkosikhona Mhlakwana will be on the start line this weekend. The 26 year-old finished eleventh overall at the Comrades Marathon in June and will be a threat to the top step of the podium on Saturday.
There will be a strong contingent of Maxed athletes joining Mhlakwana on the start line this weekend and they will be hoping to dominate the final results.
In a tough turn of events 2018 women’s champion Lisa Collett has had to withdraw from the race following her collapse on the finish line at the South Coast Marathon last weekend due to dehydration.
Collett smashed the women’s field in 2018, winning the race by 25 minutes and finishing in fifteenth place overall.
This means that the only lady who finished on the podium in 2018 that will be returning for the race is third place Roxanne Vale.
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