Maseko remains Sudwala champ
Ntuthuko, running in the green colours, was part of the lead bunch from the start but broke away as the athletes started with the steady five-kilometre climb.
LVCC’s golden athlete Ntuthuko Maseko took a comfortable win defending his Sudwala Screaming Monster title, presented by Legogote Villagers, crossing the 21-kilometre finish line in 01:19:20 on Saturday.
His winning time was 01:19:55 in 2016.
The race started at Sudwala Lodge and headed out on the scenic route. Once on the top, a full 1 500 metres above sea level, the athletes turned around and welcomed the route’s descent. Here the experienced did not hold back and seized the opportunity to make up time. A treat awaited them as the route took them to the mouth of the Sudwala Caves.
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Runner-up and teammate, Richard Mokoaledi was hot on his heels in a time of 01:21:27.
Run Walk For Life’s (RW4L) Freedom Makhubela ran strong, and took bronze with a time of 01:21:57.
In the women’s race, Elsa de Beer set the pace but was overtaken by LVCC’s 20-year-old Thandeka Mnisi who won in a time of 01:47:23. De Beer, also from LVCC, was only minutes behind in 01:49:23. Alexis Badenhorst of Nelspruit Marathon Club was third in 01:53:27.
“It was a screaming success. We had a record number of entries with over 500 runners. This is the first year that we introduced the 10-kilometre route. We had some learning curves, but overall it was a well-organised event,” said Janine Bethwaite of Legogote.
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As expected, the 10-kilometre race was a battle between RW4L’s Prince Ndlovu and Born to Run’s Abednico Mashaba. However, this year Ndlovu took the gold medal with a time of 31:49 – just seconds ahead of Mashaba.
Earlier this year during the Uniwisp 3-in-1 Fast Marathon, a couple of metres separated the athletes, with Mashaba claiming the title ahead of Ndlovu.
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The first female to cross the finish line was Nkomazi’s Nomvula Sithole. She won the flat route by more than two minutes. She clocked a time of 41:49.
