Boxer athletes conquer New Year’s Eve race
Boxer Athletics Club too good for opposition at annual Joseph Mabodla 10km Challenge held at the Greenhills Sport Stadium.
Two Boxer Athletics Club runners stood out above the rest at the second annual Joseph Mabodla 10km Challenge hosted by Colossus Athletics and Aerobics Club. The New Year’s Eve event was held at the Greenhills Sport Stadium.
Cornelia Joubert from Boxer Athletics Club got off to the greatest of starts and eventually claimed victory in the women’s section, running away from other local athletic stars Keneilwe Sesing (KMPG) and junior Yansiswa Shange, both from KMPG.
Cornelia crossed the finish line in a time of 39 minutes and five seconds with Keneilwe in second spot in a time of 39 minutes and 37 seconds. Yandiswa was in third place and the first junior woman to finish. Her time was 40 minutes and 46 seconds.
Top runners in the men’s section provided a quality field of top runners to the race with local Kabelo Melamu in the thick of things.
From the word go Kabelo was boxed in the middle of the leading pack while his KMPG team mate, the barefooted Tumi Lephoto, proved to be more of a menace to the senior contenders. Boxer Athletics Club’s Mbongeni Nxazozo (originally from the Eastern Cape) and eventual winner in the men’s section made his intention known when the race reached the Randfontein CBD area.
He made his move and broke away from the pack just 12 minutes into the race as the runners approached Village Square and Gymnasium precinct. This left Vuyisile Choba, a Bekkersdal-based athlete from KMPG chasing him, to no avail, as they approached Westergloor. Mbongeni then crossed the finish line in 31 minutes and 24 seconds to claim to the R1 000 first prize. Tumi Lephoto claimed second place in a time of 31 minutes and 59 seconds followed by Kabelo in a time of 32 minutes and 37 seconds.
“It was not Kabelo’s day. He told me that he had no power to go all the way but we are just happy for a podium position,” said Kabelo’s coach, Motlatsi Sesing.
There was a 20 minute delay for which Vusi Mathiya and Joseph Mabodla apologised, ascribing it to “a minor communication mishap between organisers and the Traffic Department:”. Race referees insisted that the race could not start in the absence of the traffic officers.
“Next year, we promise to improve on what happened and hopefully go back to a night race,” Joseph and Vusi said.
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