Westonaria — It was a tough day at the office for local runners at last weekend’s Central Gauteng Athletics Cross-country League 6 event, held at the Westonaria Sports Complex.
Starting with the women, Jeanette Mckenzie from Nedbank (the sister of the famous Cornelia Joubert – who didn’t compete) finished fourth overall in the senior women’s 10km category with a time of 39 minutes, 50 seconds. Lelani Roodt from Boxer Athletics Club, who has her sights set on competing in the SA Champs in Potchefstroom in September and the CGA Champs in Boksburg on 12 August, finished fourth in the girls U/14 event and sixth overall.
Moving on to the men, Bokang Mabote from Boabab Athletics Club was in full control, winning the U/12 event, while local top athlete, Kabelo Melamu, put up a spirited performance in the men’s 4km category only to finish in second place with a time of 11 minutes, 36 seconds.
Kabelo lived up to the all expectations he’d created by being a former CGA Junior Athlete of the Year. He had to run a smart, tactical race to extricate himself from the pack of chaperons, but only had to deal with one really tough customer – Marko Bucarizza former runner for Bedfordview.
Towards the last stages of the race, Kabelo moved away from the pack but Marko was hot on his heels and seemed to have no intention of letting up. With just a few metres to the finish, Marko pulled away to claim the event, and Kabelo had to be happy with the runner-up tag.
“It seems everyone was on my case, I had no option but to turn up the pace and run away from the pack who were so crowded around me,” said Kabelo.
Motlatsi Sesing, Kabelo’s coach said after the race, “We never had put so much emphasis on speed in our training, we now realise this is what we have to start concentrating on. Marko took an early turn towards the final lap and this caught Kabelo unaware. We still have with a couple of leagues and we are looking forward to the SA Champs at Potchefstroom in September.”
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