BAC runners give it their all

Rieghardt Rautenbach and Chirstina Silale were in top form to lead the Boksburg Athletic Club charge during the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town on April 5.

After a hard slog from Main Road in Newlands through Muizenburg, Fish Hoek, over Chapman’s Peak and through Hout Bay and Constantia Nek, Rautenbach and Selale claimed the BAC’s bragging rights.

Gerda Steyn and Lesotho’s Khoarahlane Seutloali recorded convincing victories in the women’s and men’s races. Steyn won a record sixth title, while Seutloali improved from eighth last year to claim the bragging rights.

Rautenbach was in sensational form, covering the first 14km in 56:41 and was at the 21.1km mark in Fish Hoek in 01:25:41. He then covered the next 7km in 29:35 to arrive at halfway in Noordhoek in 01:54:56.

The second half was more of the same, going from halfway to the marathon point in 01:02:58, before arriving at 50km in 03:50:46. He eventually finished the 56km ultra distance in 04:20:13 to become the BAC’s first male at the finish.

Selale was targeting to finish between 04:45 and 04:00 but was instructed to not race and reserve the energy for the Comrades Marathon in June.

“I didn’t run as well as I would have liked to. I was hoping to finish under four hours. But Comrades is around the corner. I have to think about that as well,” she said.

She finished 48th in the women’s race and 19th in her category.

The Wattville resident started well, clocking 21:58 in the opening 5km before reaching the half-marathon point in 01:32:29. She reached halfway in 02:04:00 and ran the 14km in 01:01:34 to arrive at 42.2km in 03:05:34.

The wheels came off a bit on the back end of the race as she arrived at the 50km mark in 03:56:24 and eventually crossed the line in 04:30:14, 55 seconds outside her Two Oceans PB of 04:29:19 from last year’s race.

In the half marathon on April 6, Matthew Gallant was the club’s first athlete at the finish after clocking 01:55:36. Stout Elaine was the first lady. She finished the race in 02:22:04.

A total of 28 BAC athletes completed the ultra-marathon on April 5 and 15 ran and finished the half marathon the following day.

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