Strong fields chasing national titles at SA Half-Marathon Champs

Having unveiled packed line-ups in the men’s and women’s races, organisers are expecting fast times on Saturday at the SA Half-Marathon Championships in Gqeberha.

With the 21.1km race being incorporated in the lucrative NMB Half-Marathon, a strong foreign contingent will take part, but local athletes will be looking to dominate on home soil.

“We are expecting the crème de la crème of elite athletes not only from SA, but the rest of Africa as well,” race director Mike Mbambani said this week.

Men’s race

The men’s entry list includes all four of the South African athletes who earned the team bronze medal at the World Road Running Championships last year – Thabang Mosiako, Stephen Mokoka, Elroy Gelant and Precious Mashele.

Local contender Mosiako, who won the national title last season, will line up as the pre-race favourite in front of his home crowd.

Aside from former champion Mashele and experienced marathon runner Gelant, however, he will have to dig deep against a field which also includes the likes of in-form athlete Mathews Leeto and another former winner, Melikhaya Frans.

While Mokoka will be running as an individual in club colours, and will not be eligible for the national title, SA’s top road runner will also be in the hunt for the open crown.

And the international contingent will be equally confident of putting up a fight, with the likes of former NMB Half-Marathon winner Thabang Mosiako of Lesotho and Rome Marathon champion Asbel Rutto of Kenya toeing the line.

Women’s race

Meanwhile, in the women’s race, Glenrose Xaba will target her fifth successive national half-marathon title.

She too will have to be at her best, however, against a line-up which also features Cacisile Sosibo, who was the top South African woman at last year’s World Championships, and Irvette van Zyl, who will compete in the Olympic marathon in Paris in August.

Aside from the race for the SA crown, a tough battle is also expected in the open contest.

Foreign entrants include Tadu Nare and Selam Gebre of Ethiopia, as well as Lesotho’s Blandina Makatisi, who are all regular competitors on the SA road running circuit.