Johan wins 161km race for a 3rd consecutive time

POLOKWANE – Johan van der Merwe of Pietersburg Road Runners has won the 38th Washie 161km race for the third conse-cutive time.

The race started at Halyards Hotel in Port Alfred and ended at Buffalo Park in East London.

Van der Merwe finished the race in 13:21:49. He was followed by Mcebisi Yose with a time of 15:36:47 and Keith Clark with a time of 16:09:58.

According to Van der Merwe’s sister, Colinda Potgieter, the race started on Friday at 17:00, with 10 women and 50 men taking part.

“Johan immediately took the lead and soon showed why he was the favourite to win the race for a third consecutive time.

“Temperatures varied between eight and 12 degrees and the wind became a negative factor after Johan completed 130km of the 161 km,” said Potgieter.

She said Van der Merwe ran into a head wind from 130km to the end of the race. She said that was a real challenge considering the effort and distance.

Van der Merwe finished in the fifth best overall time since the race started 38 years ago of 13:21:49.

He set the best time to date in 2012 and ran the fourth best time in 2013.

In the women’s category Megan Davey claimed the first place after finishing the race in the time of 18:29:26.

“Only 36 of the 60 entrants finished the race on time. Johan will definitely return in 2015 to defend his title and the plan is to improve his own record by running the Washie in less than 13 hours,” said Potgieter.

Van der Merwe said the race was not easy because he had a knee injury and he had to manage the pain to win the race.

“The other runners were chasing me for the first 20kmm, but I managed to open a gap and kept it to the finish line.

“My wish is to run the race in less than 13 hours next year to break the Washie record. I am very happy to win the title for the third consecutive time,” Van der Merwe said.

He thanked everyone who supported him throughout the race.